"His face was long, and dripping with perspiration, when he handed the ball to Terry Francona in the bottom of the fourth inning of last night's 13-6 loss to the Yankees.

Moments later, he sat at the end of the Red Sox bench, staring into space, likely reflecting about the nine hits and eight runs he surrendered over 3 1/3 innings and the long journey of his comeback that had just reached a head-on crash with reality at Yankee Stadium.

And he was probably wondering, as many of us are, what is next?

"I'm frustrated,'' said John Smoltz, a refrain he repeated several times during his postgame remarks. "Nobody should have to watch that. I can't share with you all the thoughts that were going through my mind.''

Smoltz, 2-5 with an 8.33 ERA, is one of baseball's class acts, a future Hall of Famer. None of us will ever know the blood, sweat, and agony of the long rehab he put in this offseason from major shoulder surgery just for the chance to pitch one more time, to finish his career on top.

“I knew coming into this that everything was going to be a little more challenging, and I was ready for it,’’ said Smoltz. “So back to the drawing board to make some changes.

“Nobody’s worked harder or tried more things than I have, but this is a results-oriented business. This is an organization that expects high standards and I expect them of myself.’’

In the end, the Braves were probably right in their decision to not re-sign Smoltz, though the execution was barbarian, given the contribution the great pitcher had made to that organization for 20 years.

Now there is no easy way to say goodbye, even for the Red Sox. Do they give him one more chance - out of respect for his great career or simply because they have nobody else? How long is their commitment? Was it specified when the Sox signed him to a one-year, $5.5 million deal (with another $5.5 million in incentives) how long this was going to last? That we don’t know.

Could he turn this around? Smoltz thinks so. In his voice, there didn’t seem to be any sign he was going to quit. If the decision to stop pitching comes, it will have to come from the Red Sox.

Asked if he felt his problems were correctable, he said, “I do. But time may not be on my side. I’ve been here before - not like this - I’ve been in this position and always fought my way out of it.’’

What we do know is that it’s August and the opponents, the Yankees, are relentless. We know that we have not seen even a sneak peek of the John Smoltz of yesteryear, the pitcher once so dominating with an explosive fastball and biting offspeed stuff. We have not seen the Smoltz who could carry a team on his back when it counted most."