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A conversation with Tom Glavine about getting to Cooperstown on his own terms. The classic image of Tom Glavine is one of the lefty standing on the mound, steely-eyed, looking in icily to the catcher getting the sign for the next pitch. He’d eventually nod in agreement, although that was merely a formality, as Glavine already had his mind made up as to what he was throwing. Whether the hitter knew what was coming or not, Glavine not so much said, “Here it is, hit it” as much as daring him, “Here it is, good luck.” With a fluid, mechanically perfect motion he delivered pitch after pitch. Each one looking like the previous, like a poker player playing a nut hand or holding off-suited 2 and 7. He won 20 games five times in the Braves’ 14 straight division championships run and never won fewer than 14 in a complete season. But there was never recognition as one of the greats. That’s what came from pitching on the same staff as Greg Maddux, and throwing from the same side as fireballer Randy Johnson. In five seasons in New York his numbers weren’t ace-like but he was the constant and a leader as the Mets ascended from fifth place when he arrived in 2003 to ending Atlanta’s streak of division titles in 2006. Glavine won 305 games in all, fourth-most for southpaws in baseball history, actually two ahead of Johnson and his 244 with the Braves rank second for lefties behind only the legendary Warren Spahn. Amongst those wins was the biggest in Atlanta Braves history, Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, when Glavine threw eight innings of one-hit, shutout ball, as the Braves brought Atlanta its first World Series championship. Glavine was World Series MVP. He’d win No. 300 with the Mets, in Chicago on Aug. 5, 2007. Glavine also helped win with his glove, he was a career .977 fielder, and his bat, winning four Silver Slugger Awards. A good enough athlete to be drafted in the 1984 National Hockey League Draft ahead of future-Hall of Famers Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull, the Billerica, Mass., native averaged 31 starts per season and only went on the disabled list once in his 22-year career—in his final season. He returned to Atlanta in 2008, retired prior to the 2009 season and on Aug. 7, 2010, had his No. 47 retired by the Braves. Glavine, who is now a Braves broadcaster, talked with GameDayHQ about getting into the Hall of Fame, going in with close friend and longtime teammate Greg Maddux and longtime manager Bobby Cox, and how doing things his way proved to be the right way. THE SPORTING NEWS


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