As FOX Sports baseball broadcaster John Smoltz was working on his golf game, he joined Shan & RJ on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas to promote an upcoming appearance in the Invited Celebrity Classic. The hosts, however, had ulterior motives for having Smoltz on as a guest.
Shan Shariff and RJ Choppy got an update on Smoltz’s golf game and then got right to the heart of the matter. “We do have an elephant in the room, do you know what that elephant is?” asked Shariff.
“Does it have something to do with the World Series?” replied Smoltz.
The topic they are all referring to is the crticism which was thrown at Smoltz and his broadcasting partner Joe Davis, stemming from broadcasts of the Texas Rangers games in the World Series. At one point during the series, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran an article with the title “Texas Rangers fans complain about Fox broadcaster: ‘John Smoltz is insufferable.’
“…It’s the most ridiculous claim in the history of baseball,” Smoltz said. “But, it’s alright, I was told that’s what’s going to happen when I got into this job. People are so used to their local broadcasts that they have no conceptual idea that we come in neutral.”
Smoltz went on to say exactly who gave him that advice. “Joe Buck told me, he said, ‘Listen, when you get into this, don’t pay attention to everybody thinking you’re rooting for somebody else, just do your job,’ and that’s what I’ve done. It really is ridiculous.”
Smoltz said in the 2021 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros, it was Braves fans who were critical, complaining he wasn’t more of a “homer,” and that he wasn’t rooting hard enough for the Braves. “So, if that doesn’t tell you all you need to know,” he commented.
The hosts asked Smoltz if the criticism from Rangers fans was something he heard about while the World Series was going on. “No, I dont pay attention and I could care less,” Smoltz said. “It has no relevency whatsoever. I don’t have any social media. My job is to call the game neutral.”
Smoltz went a step further about not being on social media. “Thank god I don’t have any social media because I’d be meeting some people in some places,” he remarked.
As for how he approaches the national broadcasts when he is working for FOX, Smoltz said, “…I’m looking in the game for moments that can change a series, or what a player is going through or what he is thinking. I’m looking at it as if I was playing against the other team and vice versa. So, when I’m talking about what a pitcher is trying to do to a hitter and what a hitter is trying to look for in a pitcher, that’s just studying, working and seeing trends.”
Before Smoltz jumped off the interview and got back to his round of golf, the hosts “cleared the air” and confirmed Smoltz wasn’t secretly rooting for the Arizona Diamondbacks nor did he hate the Texas Rangers. He did, however, check with Shariff and Choppy about what he planned to wear at the celebrity golf event coming to Dallas later this year. “Should I change my apparel, because I did have a Diamondbacks hat I was going to wear?”
