<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>ATLANTA (AP)—John Smoltz knew the pain was too intense to keep pitching this season. Now, the Atlanta Braves right-hander hopes to add one more comeback to his remarkable career. Smoltz will undergo season-ending surgery on his ailing right shoulder next week, but the 41-year-old is not ready to concede his next move is retirement. “I’ve pulled off a lot of miracles,” Smoltz said Wednesday at a hastily called news conference before the Braves’ game against the Florida Marlins. “I probably shouldn’t have played this long. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can extend it.” The only pitcher in baseball history with 200 wins and 150 saves already has returned from four operations on his elbow, but it’s highly improbable for someone his age to come back from a major procedure. No wonder the news conference took on the tenor of a retirement announcement. “This is a sad day for us in many ways,” general manager Frank Wren said. “We don’t know the outcome of the surgery, whether it will allow him to come back and pitch, or just allow him to go on with his life.”</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>His loss was a huge blow to an Atlanta team already dealing with a rash of injuries to its pitching staff. The Braves went into Wednesday’s game 3 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the NL East. “Not having him at all for the rest of the season is devastating, flat out devastating,” third baseman Chipper Jones said. “Going into this season, I said there’s one guy on this club we cannot do without. That’s John Smoltz.” The Braves already lost Peter Moylan for the season, Mike Hampton has yet to pitch in a game after sustaining yet another injury and Mike Gonzalez is still on the mend from elbow surgery that kept him out most of 2007. Still, Atlanta had the NL’s lowest team ERA, 3.58.</div> Linker Another pitching staff injury, another possibly disappointing year. Still, I'm surprised with the ERA. A sweep of Florida is looking good for the Braves right now, too. Much needed, too, after we got swept by Cinci. Our young guys are lookin good btw, along with Chipper...
