ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120107
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
John Smoltz can rest easy. He finally has a Cy Young Award, just like teammates Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.
``Everybody felt I needed this to be on par with Greg and Tommy,'' Smoltz said Monday after a landslide victory over Florida's Kevin Brown. ``At least winning the award takes the pressure off of that.''
Atlanta's prized pitching staff became the first to win four consecutive Cy Young Awards and has won five of six, a streak that began with Glavine's honor in 1991.
Maddux won while playing for the Chicago Cubs in 1992, then won in each of his first three seasons with the Braves.
``I know down the road I'll be honored to have played with those two guys,'' Smoltz said. ``Everybody felt I needed to win it more than I did. For years things did not go my way and I was pitching hurt.''
Smoltz, 29, received 26 first-place votes and two second-place votes for 136 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Brown was second with two firsts, 26 seconds and 88 points.
Smoltz, a right-hander, was 24-8 with a 2.94 ERA, winning 14 consecutive decisions from April 9 through June 19. He led the majors in victories and his total was the Braves' best since 1965, when Tony Cloninger went 24-11. Smoltz also led the majors in strikeouts (276) and innings (2532/3).
``Aside from us winning the World Series, this is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me,'' he said.
Smoltz, who earned a $250,000 bonus for winning the award on top of his $5.25 million salary, became a free agent following the World Series,
``There's a lot pressure to stay here, a lot of pressure from people to do the right thing, do the nice thing,'' Smoltz said. ``My idea of a perfect situation would be to stay here, but I'm not going to close any doors.''
The Cardinals' Andy Benes was third, with nine points, and Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers was fourth, with five points. Tied with Maddux for fifth were Trevor Hoffman of the Padres and Todd Worrell of the Dodgers.
Atlanta's six-game World Series loss to the Yankees took away some of the joy for Smoltz.
``That tarnishes this a little bit. I truly wanted to win the World Series,'' Smoltz said. ``But if I can remove myself from being a team player and just look at it personally, this is the most gratifying award I've gotten to this point.''
He also paid tribute to Maddux.
``I consider Greg Maddux to be the best pitcher in baseball,'' he said. ``He helped me out a lot. He kept telling me, `This is a special year. Make every game count.' Coming from him, it meant a lot.''
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Atlanta's John Smoltz is the fourth consecutiveby CNBBrave to win the NL Cy Young award. color. Graphic: Chart. color.