That leads me to one other behind-the-scenes scene. Each time I've been in the Atlanta Braves clubhouse, neither the television screens nor the tables and couches have displayed raunch, so I recently asked top closer John Smoltz, an outspoken Christian, about that.

He replied: "This was never as bad as some other places, but a few years ago we did have the Playboys lying around. I didn't want to make a big deal of it -- not in the sense of ‘I'm better than you guys,' because I have the same desires -- but the clubhouse is where we all spend a lot of time. It's like our living room, and I didn't want that stuff in my living room."

Smoltz continued: "I talked with the clubhouse boys about it. Now we have a box in the bathroom with those magazines, but they're not all around here, in our common living room."

He grinned and concluded: "A few years ago, I put a Bible in each player's locker, just to see what happened. Most of them also ended up in a box in the bathroom."