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Team: Philadelphia Phillies How Obtained: Phillies 2nd round pick in the June 1971 free agent draft Bats: Right Throws: Right Position: 3rd Base, 1st Base Length of Service: 16 years, 23 days |
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The best third baseman to ever play Major League Baseball, Mike Schmidt was a great slugger, a record-setting fielder, a three-time National League Most Valuable Player, and the finest Philadelphia Phillie ever, according to a 1983 vote by Philadelphia fans. Schmidt ranks seventh on the all-time home run list with 548. Only Babe Ruth, Harmon Killebrew, Jimmie Foxx, and Mickey Mantle scaled the 500-home run peak in fewer at bats. Schmidt's ratio of one home run to every 15.24 at bats is eighth best among all hitters. He led the NL in home runs a record eight times; only Ruth led his league more often. He slugged 30 or more home runs in a season 13 times, a figure surpassed only by Hank Aaron, and reached 35 homers 11 times, more often than anyone but Ruth. His 44 games with two or more home runs tie him with Willie McCovey for 10th overall, and Schmidt and Ralph Kiner are the only players to homer in four consecutive at bats on two different occasions. Schmidt hit 509 of his home runs as a third baseman, including 48 in 1980, both records for the hot corner. 
Schmidt was no slouch with the glove either. He won 10 Gold Gloves, more than any third baseman except Brooks Robinson, and his 2,212 games at third base rank third all time. Schmidt is third in career assists, second in assists per game, and third in double plays. He holds the NL records in each of those categories and in seven others. He led NL third basemen in assists seven times, a record he shares with Ron Santo. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Schmidt received All-America honors as a shortstop, as well as a bachelor's degree in business administration at Ohio University. The Phillies selected him in the second round of the June 1971 draft. In his first and only full season in the minor leagues, Schmidt was selected as the Pacific Coast League's All-Star second baseman and earned a late-season promotion to Philadelphia. In 1973 Schmidt shared duties at third base with Cesar Tovar but was overmatched at the plate. He batted .196, the lowest average among major league regulars, and struck out 136 times in 367 at bats. But Schmidt told Sport Magazine that while playing winter ball in Puerto Rico he'd "found a swing that made things happen". He explained, "I was standing at the plate nice and relaxed and that sucker went off my bat a mile". Schmidt led the NL with 36 homers in 1974, the first of three straight home run titles. He also had the first of nine 100-RBI seasons and won his first of five NL slugging titles. Schmidt batted .282 that year, his best average of the 1970s, despite 138 strikeouts. Among his hits that season was perhaps the longest single ever, a drive off a speaker suspended from the roof of the Astrodome. Schmidt also drew 106 walks for the first of his seven 100-walk seasons, stole 23 bases (he had a career-best 29 the following year), and received the first of his dozen All-Star selections. Schmidt had one of his greatest days on April 17, 1976, at Wrigley Field, when he became the 10th major leaguer to hit four home runs in four consecutive at bats as the Phillies erased a 13-2 deficit and won, 18-16, on his 10th-inning homer. Schmidt finished the contest with eight RBIs and 17 total bases, one shy of the major league record. He went on to tie Willie Stargell's record with 11 home runs in April and won his third straight home run title that season. Beginning in 1976 the Phillies won three straight NL East crowns, but were defeated in the National League Championship Series each time. Schmidt received much of the blame from Philadelphia fans, who have been known to boo Santa Claus as well as the best third baseman ever. In the 1976 playoffs against the Cincinnati Reds, Schmidt made a key error in Game 1, trying to tag a runner at third instead of taking a routine out at first. Schmidt tied for the team lead by batting .308 in the Series, but the Phillies were swept by the Big Red Machine. In the 1977 playoff opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Schmidt reached on an error and scored one run, then singled in the winning run in the ninth for a 7-5 Phillies win. But he went 0-for-11 the rest of the way. The Dodgers won the next three games to advance to the World Series. In a 1978 playoff rematch with the Dodgers, Schmidt's error in the opener helped create a four-run inning, erasing a 1-0 Phillies lead. The Philadelphia pitchers served up four Dodger homers in the 9-5 loss. Phillies Manager Danny Ozark batted Schmidt in the leadoff spot in Game 2. He got a single, but the Phils were shut out. In Game 3, batting sixth, Schmidt doubled and scored in the Phillies' 9-4 win, forcing Game 4. Leading off again, he doubled in the first as the Phillies loaded the bases but failed to score. They lost in 10 innings. During the 1978 season Schmidt had made a key change at the plate. Always a selective hitter, he started looking for pitches he could drive to any field instead of trying to pull every pitch. "He changed his whole approach to hitting late in his career, which made him an even better hitter," says broadcaster Richie Ashburn, who saw Schmidt play as many games as anyone. In 1979 Schmidt hit 45 home runs, including 4 in a row over two games in July. He also led the NL with 120 walks. In 1980 Schmidt won the home run crown with 48 and the RBI title with 121, the first of four times in seven seasons that he would win two jewels of the Triple Crown. He batted .286, the best mark of his career up to that point, and, at age 31, won his first MVP Award. It was also his final year playing with Greg Luzinski, with whom he combined for 503 home runs in nine years, the sixth-best home run total by two teammates in NL history. In the 1980 NLCS against the Houston Astros, Schmidt had two hits and scored in the Phillies' 10-inning Game 2 loss. He had two more hits and drove in a run in Game 4. The Phillies advanced to the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. After winning Game 1, the Phillies were down 4-2 in Game 2, when a Schmidt double sparked a rally in the eighth inning. They won the game 6-4. In Game 3, Schmidt slugged his first post-season homer in a losing cause. He beat out a bunt in Game 4 and knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly in another loss. In Game 5 Schmidt's two-run homer put the Phillies on the board. Then, with Philadelphia down 3-2 in the ninth, Schmidt singled to ignite the rally that won the game. In Game 6 he singled in the Phillies' first two runs in the third inning. The team went on to win, 4-1, for the first world title in franchise history. Schmidt batted .381, scored six times, knocked in seven runs, and won Series MVP honors. In the strike-shortened 1981 season, Schmidt again took two jewels of the Triple Crown, leading the majors with 31 homers and 91 RBIs in 102 games. He batted a career-high .316, led the league in both slugging and on-base percentage, and won his second straight MVP Award. The Phillies came out on top in the first half of that year's split season, but lost to the Montreal Expos in the division playoff. Schmidt missed two weeks of the 1982 season with a fractured rib and fell two home runs short of the NL crown. In 1983 he led the league with 40 homers and also had the NL's best on-base percentage for the third straight year. The Phillies' "Wheeze Kids," with veteran imports Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, and Gary Matthews, won the NL East and met the Dodgers in the playoffs. In the NLCS Schmidt's first-inning homer off Jerry Reuss was the only run of Game 1. Schmidt went on to bat .467, best among the Phillies regulars, as the team advanced to the World Series against the Orioles. In the Fall Classic, Schmidt was hitless in the first three games before blooping a broken-bat single to keep a rally going. But it was his only hit and his only time on base. He went 1 for-20 with six strikeouts as the Phillies lost in five games. In 1984 Schmidt won the home run and RBI titles and his ninth straight Gold Glove. He was moved to first base in 1985, then went back to third in 1986, his third MVP season, when he again won two-thirds of the Triple Crown. He also won the slugging title, his 10th Gold Glove, and led NL third basemen in fielding percentage for the only time in his career. Schmidt suffered his most serious injury in 1988, a torn right rotator cuff. He missed more than 50 games and broke his string of nine consecutive seasons with 30 or more homers. He rehabilitated the shoulder during the winter and came back for the 1989 season at age 39, but retired on May 29. He struck out 17 times, enough to pass Perez for third place on the all-time list. His 28 RBIs moved him into 21st place on the all-time charts. Schmidt and the Phillies never came to terms on a job for him in the front office. They reconciled sufficiently for him to deliver the first pitch of the Phillies' first home game of the 1993 World Series, the team's first postseason appearance since his retirement. Before the ceremonial toss Schmidt admitted, "When I watch films of myself, I wish I had more fun playing. I wish I enjoyed myself more. But I was consumed with the pressure of trying to perform at a high level." On January 10, 1995, Schmidt was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Schmidt, appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, received 444 of the 460 votes cast and easily surpassed the magic number of 345 (75 percent) needed for election. His 96.52 percent was the fourth highest in history, surpassed only by Tom Seaver's 98.84 percent in 1992, Ty Cobb's 98.23 percent in 1936, and Hank Aaron's 97.83 percent in 1982. Schmidt became the 26th player to win election on his first ballot. |