FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As John Smoltz walked to the bullpen mound a little after 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday to begin his first side session of Spring Training, there were reporters and cameras in position to chronicle the moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the most celebrated bullpen session in Red Sox history," quipped Boston pitching coach John Farrell.

In actuality, it was Smoltz getting back to being a pitcher again -- this after his 2008 season was ended prematurely because of season-ending shoulder surgery. His days will now be dictated by when his next throwing session is instead of the monotonous yet vital rehab and strengthening exercises that have dominated his time for the past several weeks.

Smoltz eased back into life on the mound, reeling off 40 pitches, all fastballs. The right-hander estimated that he was throwing at 70 percent intensity.

And when it was over, Smoltz wanted more.

"I went in with the right approach, but I left with the wrong approach, because I wanted to do so much more," Smoltz said. "Then when I had time to really think about it, I finished my workout, I was like, 'That wasn't so bad.'

"As I'm taking these steps forward, I have to tame the beast, because as much as in my mind, I know what I'm going to be able to get to -- I want to get there faster than I'm probably capable of getting there. For the second time in eight months, I had my spikes on. So now, I have to get used to all the components that deal with the mound, the height of the mound, all of those things that you take for granted."

The 41-year-old Smoltz will be back out there Saturday, and on an every three-day progression for the next two weeks. Then he will progress to facing hitters and eventually a schedule of rehab starts.

"I think every day he has the ball in his hand, there's excitement," said Farrell. "I think today signifies in his mind that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter, and now we're in a two-week period where he'll throw bullpen [sessions] that will lead into batting practice starting that third week in this four-week phase."

The timetable hasn't changed since the Red Sox signed Smoltz in January. All along, they told the righty they envision him being on the mound at Fenway Park somewhere in the neighborhood of June 1.

But Smoltz, with his Hall of Fame credentials, is hardly out of sight and out of mind to his teammates. It spoke volumes that Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, the team's Nos. 1 and 2 starters, sat on a bench in the bullpen to watch Smoltz's side work.

Nice to have an audience like that?

"It is, and it isn't," Smoltz said. "Yeah, it really is, obviously. But it's like, you get a little anxious and you get a little nervous. It only happens to me when I'm doing something for the first time in a while and then I go back to ... I didn't even have time to check anything.

"I was out there kind of racing and wanting to get it over with. Then my mind goes through the process of, 'What did I just do, and what do I want to do the next time?' That's how I go about it. For me, it's going to start kicking in, like, 'Hey, it's my first step to being a pitcher.' Everything else up to this point really had nothing to do with pitching. It had everything to do with strengthening and time. It was all part of the process, but until you get off the mound, there's nothing like it."

There was one humorous moment when what was supposed to be Smoltz's 11th pitch fell right out of his right hand as he completed his delivery.

"You know, I'll probably have that happen once a side session. I'm trying to not grip the ball, trying to grip it as light as I can," said Smoltz. "It's never happened in a game thankfully."

It gave Beckett a good talking point with his new teammate when he was done pitching.

"Josh said I made a nice adjustment on the next pitch, probably the best adjustment he's ever seen anyone make," chuckled Smoltz.

Even the seemingly natural event of throwing the ball downhill to the catcher seemed a little out of the ordinary on this day for Smoltz, who hadn't done it since December when he was auditioning for the Red Sox.

"I can't explain the awkwardness," Smoltz said. "I didn't think it would be that awkward. I've been doing this for a long time, but it was awkward. I've never really gone that long without being on the mound. I look forward to the month. ... It's going to be a month's worth of mounds and bullpen [sessions]."

"Today, if I had to simply put it, all I cared about was getting the ball to the catcher. But in my mind, I was trying to hit the outside corner, inside corner. That's for times to come. I have to remind myself, I'm a pretty hard critic. It's allowed me to be the kind of pitcher I've been in the sense that I don't take lightly anything I do. I'm a pretty hard critic. I've learned how to whip myself and how to take it a little bit easy, and this was one of those 'take-it-easy [days].'"

Smoltz looks forward to Saturday, when he brings the breaking ball back into his repertoire. And in the side session after that, he will find another challenge. At this point of his comeback, the hurdles are more mental for Smoltz than physical.

"If I start thinking about June, it does me no good," Smoltz said. "So now, I get a day off tomorrow, and I look forward to Friday and Saturday. That's really my small step. These guys are doing things totally different for obvious reasons trying to get hitters out and worrying about those things. I'm just worried about trying to get the ball to the catcher and doing what they allow me to do."