John Smoltz and co-host Ben Verlander work together on the “Flippin’ Bats” and “Saturdays With Smoltz” shows.Fox Sports
Despite no presence on social media and no interest in ever joining Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) or any other digital platform, John Smoltz expressed only excitement when he was first approached by Fox Sports about appearing on a podcast to complement his role as the network’s lead baseball analyst.
“He loved the idea,” said Michael Bucklin, Fox Sports senior vice president of digital. “He’s like, ‘Look, I don’t necessarily fully understand all of this, but I can talk baseball all day.’”
There was only one problem: Smoltz — by choice — did not have working Wi-Fi at his house.
What Smoltz did have, however, was great standing at Hawks Ridge Golf Club north of Atlanta, where the Braves legend is a regular and hones his considerable golf skills that once landed him in the U.S. Senior Open. So Fox got creative and sent a producer to set up a computer in an office at the course. And that is why most of Smoltz’s appearances on “Flippin’ Bats,” the popular podcast hosted by Ben Verlander and Alex Curry, have come from Hawks Ridge, either before or after he plays a round.
Fox Sports
“It’s working out pretty good,” Smoltz said, “and I’m having a really good time with it.”
Smoltz has appeared in over 40 episodes of “Flippin’ Bats,” including daily appearances during last year’s World Series before he joined play-by-play announcer Joe Davis in the booth for Fox’s broadcast of each game between the Phillies and eventual champion Astros. The podcast, which doubles as a digital show that is available on YouTube and across Fox Sports’ digital platforms, is in its third year. This season, Fox opted to make Smoltz’s interviews into their own weekend show, branding it as “Saturdays with Smoltz.” The 56-year-old weighs in on trending baseball topics but also is quick to delve into stories from his life and career — such as the time he got into a car accident with fellow former Atlanta aces Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who were along for the ride with him, and memories from the night in 1993 when a fire broke out at Fulton County Stadium ahead of a Braves game.
“You quickly realize it’s not hard to get a story out of him,” said Verlander, who grew up in Richmond, Va., just a 15-minute drive from the Braves’ at-the-time Class AAA affiliate, and a big fan of the Braves and Smoltz.
“I often step back for a second and think, if you were to tell 10-year-old Ben, ‘You’re going to have a baseball show with John Smoltz on every week,’ I think I’d struggle to believe that,” said Verlander, who played baseball at Old Dominion and spent parts of five years in the minors.
Their pairing on “Flippin’ Bats” is the marriage of an old-school Hall of Famer and a Gen Z-era influencer. Fox first discovered Verlander, the younger brother of future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, when its research team was piqued by his following and presence on Twitch.
“Our president of production, Brad Zager, made a joke once that it’s like Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett doing a duet,’” said Bucklin, who runs the company’s digital division and was named to SBJ’s 2022 Forty Under 40 class.
“Flippin’ Bats” had a hot summer: It had its most downloads in a single month in August, when it was up 10% over its previous high set in July. The podcast is up 115% over 2022 overall, while the show’s YouTube channel has 45.3K subscribers and its 1.6K videos have generated over 14 million views.
It all started, though, with a snag.
Ahead of Smoltz’s first appearance on the podcast, there were audio issues.
“You’re trying to prove to this Hall of Fame legend that this world is not that intimidating, that everything is going to work easily, that technology is so effective — and we can’t hear each other,” Bucklin recalled.
So Bucklin ringed Smoltz, who put the call on speaker. Bucklin then tried addressing anyone who might be around Smoltz to see if they might be able to help.
“I saw that competitive side of him come out,” Bucklin said. “The idea of someone else fixing this problem was not going to happen that day.”
Sure enough, after a few minutes, Smoltz got it fixed. He has since had no technical issues, and has occasionally used his iPad to FaceTime into the show from remote locations such as the airport or his car.
Smoltz might be old school, but Verlander insists you won’t find a bigger advocate for the sport and its current direction — new rule changes and all — than the 1996 National League Cy Young Award winner.
“He has this burning love and passion for baseball that comes across any time you talk about it with him,” Verlander said. “Hopefully it’s something that everybody sees, especially now that they get to hear him weekly on the show.”
Fox has not pushed, even gently, for one of its most prominent personalities to create any social handles of his own.
“One of the best things that we can do as producers is bring out the authenticity of these athletes,” Bucklin said.
At least Smoltz now has Wi-Fi at home — sometimes. Unlike the man who won 213 games and saved another 154 in his 21-year-MLB career, it isn’t very reliable.
And if he still doesn’t want to dive into X, at least he’s now willing to explore modern technology in other ways.
“Still no interest in social media,” Smoltz said, “but this has interested me in future podcasts.”
