That time John Smoltz called off Chipper Jones to make a jump-throw gem against Tom Glavine

Smoltz once called off Chipper to throw Glavine out

By Mike Bertha

January 7, 2015

The line between friend and enemy briefly blurred a bit for Hall of Famer Tom Glavine and Class of 2015 electee John Smoltz. In 2003 -- after 16 years as a Brave and 15 as John Smoltz's teammate -- Tom Glavine took his talents to Flushing to pitch for the Mets.

In their five years as division rivals, the two longtime aces had their share of success, but there's one instance in particular that Smoltz has been holding over his friend for more than a decade.

On April 22, 2007, Glavine came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth, two batters after Shawn Green tied the game with a solo home run. Glavine copped a ball toward his former teammate Chipper Jones and was hustling down the line to first. Smoltz called Chipper off and fielded the ball bare-handed, throwing his best friend and adversary out at first with an incredible jump-throw:

Smoltz Throw

When I was walking off the field right there I had to ask my first-base coach. I said, "Who made that play?" And he said, "Smoltzie." I said, "You've gotta be kidding me!" So, I refused to give him the recognition on the field at the time, but, ya know ... for a slow guy that was a heck of a play he made.