If John Smoltz has indeed thrown his last pitch in an Atlanta Braves uniform, it’s ok. We won’t know for sure until he goes under the knife of Dr. James Andrews next week in Birmingham, but it’s so ok if he’s done for good.

The news came Wednesday morning and it was a stunner. Smoltz’s shoulder had been bothering him since midway through last season, so it wasn’t shocking that he’d shut it down for the year. The shock was the reality that the Smoltz Era in Atlanta is most likely over.

And what an era it was.

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I grew up a Braves fan so if this column has a ‘homer’ feel to it, well, quit reading or deal with it. To say I grew up a Braves fan in the 1980s means a lot of different things.

For starters, it means losses galore. Throw heartache in there as well.

In 1982, the lone season the Braves won the National League West (yes, the Braves and Falcons both played in the NL West and NFC West, respectively, back then), they got swept by the St. Louis Cardinals.

However, what many forget is that Atlanta had a 5-0 lead in Game 1 with ace Phil Niekro on the mound. But then the rain came to Busch Stadium before the fifth inning and the 5-0 lead vanished in a brutal postponement.

In 1983, Atlanta led the division virtually the entire season, only to collapse in September. The dagger came in Los Angeles when Jerry Royster booted a routine ground ball in the ninth inning that allowed the Dodgers to pull out a thrilling comeback victory. The next day, Tommy Lasorda called for a suicide squeeze that broke a tie in the ninth inning. The Dodgers went on to win the West.

Joe Torre was fired after the ’84 season and mediocrity ensued. There was the greatness of Dale Murphy and the power of Bob Horner, but there was little else to excite Braves fans for the rest of the decade.

Brad Komminsk was supposed to be the next coming of Murphy, but he couldn’t even stick in the big leagues. Ozzie Virgil was supposed to bring power to the catcher position, but he left his best years behind in Philadelphia. Chuck Tanner was supposed to bring his winning attitude over from the Pirates, but he lost 208 games in less than three seasons.

The roster was filled with no-names like Terry Harper, Albert Hall, Andres Thomas, Paul Runge and Paul Zuvella. The rotation was engulfed with losers like Jim Acker, Len Barker, Craig McMurtry and David Palmer.

Nothing went right for the Braves in the mid-and-late ‘80s. They were the laughingstock of Major League Baseball.

But the climb out of mediocrity began with a move at the trading deadline, as Atlanta shipped Doyle Alexander to Detroit for a prospect named John Smoltz. At first, it looked as if the Tigers got the better of the deal, as Alexander went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA to lead Detroit into the playoffs.

But it’s safe to say the Braves were the winners in the long run. Smoltz and Tom Glavine became fixtures in the rotation in 1988 and soon after, Atlanta became a fixture in the playoffs.

Glavine and Greg Maddux have more wins than Smoltz, but it says here that the latter was the best of the trio. They toiled together for nine seasons from 1993-2002, winning the World Series in 1995. But Smoltz is the only Braves player who was on every team during the organization’s run of 14 consecutive division titles.

Sure, critics will point to just one World Series title in 14 chances for the Braves, but those same critics can’t point at Smoltz for those failures. The hard-throwing right-hander was always nasty in the playoffs. In fact, he went 15-4 with a 2.65 ERA and four saves in 40 post-season appearances (27 starts).

When the Braves lost Game 7 of the World Series at Minnesota, the blame certainly didn’t fall at Smoltz’s feet. He threw seven-plus scoreless innings in the 1-0 defeat in 10 innings.

He won the Cy Young in 1996. He went to eight All-Star Games. He struck out 3,011 batters. Finally, he’s the only pitcher ever to win more than 200 games and save 150 (Dennis Eckersley is the only hurler that has pulled the 150-150 trick).

Maybe the shoulder isn’t as bad off as Smoltz thinks. Maybe Dr. Andrews works his magic next week and Smoltz returns next year in the closer role. Maybe he’ll save 55 games like he did in 2002.

But if not, it’s ok. If his life’s work is complete, Smoltz can hit the pillow tonight in peace.

He’s the greatest pitcher to ever wear a Braves uniform. He’s arguably the best post-season pitcher of the last 50 years. He’s perhaps one of the top 5-10 right-handers of all-time. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer with no questions asked.

Yeah, I’d say it was worth giving up Doyle Alexander.

Brian Edwards can be reached at briane@vegasinsider.com.