Martin Scorsese and John Smoltz – Two Guys Who Need to Hang it Up
Martin Scorsese and John Smoltz. What do these two have in common? They were both once great…but are not anymore.
Martin Scorsese once made movies like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and The Last Waltz – works of art that helped redefine Hollywood in the ’70s. Now he makes pure paycheck flicks like The Aviator, The Departed and the forthcoming Shutter Island, which looks like it could’ve been directed by one of the hacks who made Saw.
The lesson here is simple: greatness has its day, but eventually that day ends, and there’s nothing left but the afterglow.
That day of greatness has long-since ended for John Smoltz, who, along with Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, was part of one of baseball history’s most formidable starting rotations. In the last year Maddux has retired, and Tom Glavine has found himself involuntarily booted from baseball. Smoltz? He continues toiling for the Boston Red Sox, who gave him his first start of the season Thursday night against the lowly Washington Nationals, and watched the borderline Hall of Famer get rocked for 5 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings.
That might not be as bad as, say, Chien Ming-Wang, but it’s still pretty bad. Bad enough to make us doubt that Smoltz will ever regain the form that made him one of baseball’s best starters and closers at various points in his career.
I’m sure Smoltz has taken positive things from the experience. Pitchers always do. They say they had good stuff but just missed their spots. They say they’re pretty close. They say next time they’ll put it together.
And maybe Smoltz will. Maybe, next time, he’ll have a solid start, and will be encouraged.
Unfortunately, one decent start every now and then is not the stuff of greatness. It is barely the stuff of adequacy. And, frankly, when you’re as old and accomplished as Smoltz, it gets hard to justify hanging around for the sake of hanging around. Unless you just like the paychecks.
Not that I think Smoltz is only doing this for the money – he clearly thinks he can still help a team win. The problem is, he probably can’t. Not consistently enough to make it worth his or the Red Sox’s while.
Like Scorsese, the best Smoltz can do now is muster an odd flash of greatness amidst the general mediocrity. And far from making us grateful, that flash only causes us to pine bitterly for the master who once was.
We don’t want Shutter Island – we want to take out our Taxi Driver DVD and watch the genius at work. And we surely don’t want John Smoltz the faded ace playing out the string like Steve Carlton or Tom Seaver or, god forbid, Nolan Ryan, who had to blow out his arm before he figured out it was over.
Greg Maddux got out at the right time, just as his skills were beginning to seriously erode. Tom Glavine, like Smoltz, still thinks he can pitch, but he is unable to find a job, and should probably just take the hint, and hit the course with Maddux.
Maybe, as Greg and Tom play their 18, all the while reminiscing about glories past, one of them will whip out their cell phone and give their old buddy Smoltz a call. Answer the phone, John. Make it a threesome.
And, while you’re at it, maybe you could call up Marty. I don’t think he plays golf, but it’s never too late to learn.
Srsly? The Departed, No Direction Home, Gangs of NY = all amazing films. Skip a few documentaries and one (or two?) movies before ‘Gangs of NY’ and you’ve got Casino, also an amazing movie.
As for John Smoltz, in his limited appearances last year (2.57 ERA in 28 IP) and his full season the year before (3.1X ERA in 200 someodd IP).. well that pretty much says it all. His walk/strikeout ratio is about the same as his career average in those seasons and the rest of his numbers match up too. What’s to think he can’t do the same this year? One game?
June 26th, 2009 at 11:34 pmDid Smoltz win a Cy Young award for his most recent season? Was he competitive in Cy Young balloting for his last three seasons? If not, there’s no comparison to Scorsese who accomplished the film industry equivalent of that.
June 27th, 2009 at 8:58 pm[...] PacMan Jonesin’ says Martin Scorsese and John Smoltz should both consider retirement. [...]
June 27th, 2009 at 11:20 pmDid you ever consider that Martin Scorsese wants to make different films? That he can’t just make Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, or GoodFellas over and over again? What a complete lack of respect for an artist: “Since some of us can’t psychologically or emotionally grow with you, you are hereby considered a has-been”. Ridiculous.
July 1st, 2009 at 8:24 amWhoever wrote this really needs to consider hanging it up as a writer. Aviator is a wonderful film, as is The Departed, and Gangs of New York. Great Films! Great Films! This man clearly has no idea what he is talking about at all. I expect his Sinatra film to be amazing, and Silence. Shutter Island doesn’t tell much from the trailer but it reminds me of another great Scorsese Film, “Cape Fear.” Whoever wrote this needs to do two things…cut his wrists off, and go fuck himself.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:59 pm