FORT MYERS, Fla. – John Smoltz couldn’t do much, so what he did was witness what he calls “the most amazing thing I’ve ever watched.”
 
When Tiger Woods punctuated his U.S. Open victory at Torrey Pines, Smoltz had just undergone season-ending shoulder surgery a week before. The pitcher’s path to the operating table ended with a 96 mph, ninth-inning fastball to Florida’s Jorge Cantu and had now left him with loads of time to view his other passion, golf.
 
Smoltz’s accomplishment was getting through that June 2 relief appearance at Turner Field, knowing the next day the decision to have surgery was inevitable. He had fought his battle, now it was time to enjoy his friend’s feat.
 
What Smoltz saw Woods do on that golf course -- with a torn ligament in his left knee and a double stress fracture in his left leg – offered the 20-year major leaguer an appreciation for the moment few could understand.
 
“People know what they think what they know, but they don’t know,” Smoltz explained. “I knew from the inside, watching that put a whole new perspective watching someone go through the most amazing thing I’ve ever watched. People come to conclusions on whether someone is hurt or not on how they deal with it. I think some people tried to say, ‘Oh, he winced on the bad shots.’ But that’s not true. Until you find out the severity of it you might say, ‘Oh, how bad can it be?’
 
“I literally thought he was going to walk off the course. I did. But to see him win it, and then everybody jumping to conclusions, and then him having surgery to put everything to rest… People just jump to conclusions.”
 
Now, after months of comparing notes regarding their respective ailments, Woods is back and Smoltz isn’t far behind.
 
Woods participated in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona this week, while his sometime golfing partner, Smoltz, continued his steady march back toward the mound with his new teammates, the Red Sox, at City of Palms Park.
 
But while the two comebacks were unfolding thousands of miles away, the image of Woods on the clubhouse television offered Smoltz reminders as to how bad it can get, and how good it can be.
 
“He’s the ultimate competitor and there was never any doubt in my mind he would come back,” Smoltz said. “Everybody is going to be cross-referencing everything to his previous success rate, which is unfair. There will always be naysayers trying to find a loophole in his incredible career. But to me it was incredible.
 
“Again, it’s all relative to your perspective. If you’re watching a college basketball game and a guy is carried off the court and then he comes back five minutes later, you’re going to question the severity of the injury. But I guarantee you there’s not an athlete in the world who is going to tell you everything that is going on with his body.”
 
The lessons reaffirmed by Woods’ comeback, and his own injury, have cropped up thanks to Smoltz’ most recent showdown with pain. Going head to head with your own physical limitations isn’t always the easiest endeavor, but one that, as the pitcher points out, is unavoidable for most athletes.
 
“I have a process that I go through, but tried every possible option and when I’ve exhausted every option I try one more time to see if I can still do it,” he explained. “And when I do it the pain is so magnified it’s the answer I’m looking for. When I came and threw sidearm, closed that game and threw 96 mph on the surface it looked like it was going to be OK. But when the next day comes and the pain was so great I was like, ‘OK, I can’t do it anymore.’ It was affecting my quality of life.
 
“Each athlete deals with it differently. I went through mine thinking the pain was so great that maybe it’s not as bad as I think. You start doubting your own pain tolerance. Then they go in for surgery and they tell you what they did, it reaffirms your pain tolerance knowing it was what it was.”
 
In Smoltz’s road back, this week has been momentous for the 41-year-old. First was the sight of Woods holding up his end of the bargain, and then there was that feeling of normalcy that might adjust any sort of timelines, but did extend some more of that all-important peace of mind.
 
“I stretched the other day and was like, ‘Golly, June’s a long ways away’,” said Smoltz, referencing his scheduled return to the mound. “The interesting thing about what I’m going through for the first time ever is that it feels and looks like everything is normal, but until I get engaged in throwing off the mound only time will tell.
 
“It has been (tough) but it’s rewarding that the organization here values what I can bring to the table. I’m patient about this, and their patience is going to pay off. June’s not that far off.”
 
Rob Bradford is the site editor for WEEI.com.