from: atlantabraves.com

The Atlanta Brave's John Smoltz struck out five through three innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.  His fifth gave him 2,913 career strikeouts and put him ahead of Hall of Famer Phil Niekro on the Braves' franchise list and at the head of the class as the Braves all-time strike-out king. Smoltz became more overpowering in later innings, striking out seven more for a total of 12 strike-outs -- the Diamondbacks went down swinging 11 times.

"I've been struggling lately mechanically, and I've been really trying to fight to get it right," Smoltz said. "The last five or six innings were outstanding. I wanted to keep going. I knew they wouldn't let me, but I've been working to try and get this way so I can be more of the pitcher I want to be down the stretch."

Smoltz didn't have a feel for his offspeed pitches in the early innings, but he found it and then some after the third. The Diamondbacks could have pulled away against Smoltz, but they stranded a runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings.

"It was vintage Smoltz today," Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said. "He really was on top of his game -- a lot of strikeouts and great pitching from him. A great fastball today, and his breaking ball was probably better than it's been all year. How they got two runs off him, I have no idea. He was that good."

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How should N be defined?  It is derived from the Latin word for the color black.  It is a term used to impose contempt upon some as an inferior race.  It has seeped into every form of American culture, from literature to popular debates, from cartoons to song.  Throughout history it has cropped up in children's rhymes.

Randall Kennedy - Author

It has been a familiar form of the vocabulary for whites high and low.  It has been used in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Huey Long, "The Kingfish" used the term with no awareness that it might be offensive.  Judges in Georgia and Mississippi seemed likewise ignorant of the posibility that the word might be offensive.  U. S. Supreme Court Justices used the term.

For many blacks the word has constituted a menacing prescence and has influenced significant course changes in the directions of their lives.  No one has more seriously dramatized N-as-insult than Richard Wright.  Malcolm X remembered that during his childhood after the murder of his father whites serving as his guardians openly used the term.  When Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, the manager openly questioned whether or not blacks were human.

Carl Rowan was denied the right to buy a paper in the white waiting room at a train depot.  I didn't even know Rowan was black.  I love his journalistic writings.

Carl Rowan - Journalist

Michael Jordan was suspended from the school bus for hitting a white girl that called him N.  Tiger Woods was tied up in kindergarten by older students who called him N.  Branford Marsalis says he was called N from the time he was born.  Hank Aaron, my number one sports hero of all time, in 1973, on the brink of breaking Babe Ruth's career home run record, received hate mail calling him a N. 

I don't remember if the first baseball glove I had even had a name in it. It was an off brand. Diamond Star, Little Star, Little Leaguer? Something like that. Seems like in my poor/middle class line world we had a lot of off brands.

But I still have "The Spalding." It was a little small. But I had small hands.

"Tommy Helms" it said across the palm. Of course it was small, it was an infielders glove. But on my small hand it played left field just fine.

I didn't pitch or play shortstop, so no Little League or Babe Ruth All Star teams for me. I did have my name printed in the local paper as having the 10th best average in the league at mid-season as a twelve year old. But after seeing my name in print the average plummeted.

However, "Tommy" and I came into our own in High School. 13 stolen bases in 26 games (I wore a handmade leather protector on my hip to protect me from raspberries from sliding), decent handling of the bat batting second and knowing how to play left field after studying the game and being taught by ex minor leaguers got me on the All Star Team as a Junior while a sudden hitting streak and blue shoes freshly painted before each game got me on the All Tournament Team as a Senior.

Ahh, "Glory Days, Gone in the Wink of a Young Man's Eye."

Thanks Tommy!

Special Thanks to bmoynahan for inspiring this with his blog "Something You should Know Before Reading My Blog."  That man can write.  He deserves his recognition as one of the "Most Interesting Blogs" today based on this post alone.

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/bmoynahan
/2006/12/18/Something_You_Should_Know_Before_You_R
ead_My_Blog