This week, Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Major League Baseball legend John Smoltz about his participation in this year’s American Century Championship, which will take place July 9-13 at Edgewood Tahoe, and his thoughts on winning consecutive division titles like the Kansas City Chiefs‘ current AFC West streak in relation to his classic Atlanta Braves teams.
“Well, the one thing that we did is keep our pitching together to give us a chance every year to compete. We turned our lineup over and our roster over quite a bit during the time I was there. I was there for 21 years,” said Smoltz, “We had the greatest leader in our manager, and that’s the big thing that nobody talks about today because I think there’s a misconception that they feel like anybody can manage as long as you don’t deviate from the information that trickles down. But you have to manage people.”
The Atlanta Braves won an extraordinary 14 consecutive division titles, reigning supreme as one of the best teams in baseball. Smoltz credited his manager in the same fashion many Chiefs players credit head coach Andy Reid’s influence.
“We had an edge because of Bobby Cox, and we played that way. We got through the playoffs when we shouldn’t have,” said Smoltz, “I know it’s not quantifiable; that’s why people don’t talk about it, but if you’ve got a good culture. You’ve got something that you can build on, and you’ve got a manager that you’ll run through the wall for; I think that it puts everybody in the best position to be successful. So I could give you, as a broadcaster, reasons why teams didn’t win a championship, and it had nothing to do with talent. So those things are apparent, but they’re just not quantifiable for people to put a number to, so they don’t talk about it.”
Kansas City has won nine consecutive division titles, the second-longest streak of division championships in league history. Only the New England Patriots, who won 11 successive AFC East titles from 2009 to 2019, had a longer streak in NFL history.
The annual golf tournament awards $750,000 in prize money, much of which the celebrity players donate to local and national charities. Over the years, nearly $8 million has been donated to non-profit causes. Network television exposure on NBC and a first-place prize of $150,000 make the celebrity tournament one of the most prestigious in the golf world.
Check out the website for more information about the American Century Championship.
