Mike Schmidt
Encyclopedia
Michael Jack Schmidt (ˈʃmɪt; born September 27, 1949) is a Hall of Fame
third baseman
popularly considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball
. He played his entire career
for the Philadelphia Phillies
.
Schmidt had an unusual batting stance, turning his back somewhat to the pitcher
and waving his posterior while waiting for the pitch. By standing far back in the batter's box, he made it impossible to jam him by pitching inside. Schmidt was one of the best athletes of his time; teammate Pete Rose
once said, "To have his body, I'd trade him mine and my wife's, and I'd throw in some cash."
in , Schmidt attended Ohio University
in Athens
, where he joined Beta Theta Pi
Fraternity
. Schmidt led the Ohio Bobcats
baseball
team to the College World Series
in , and was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft
with the 30th overall pick.
On June 11, , he was signed by scout
Tony Lucadello
, who had followed him since Little League Baseball. Six days later, Schmidt made his professional debut in an exhibition game between the Phillies and the Reading Phillies
in Reading
. Schmidt played the whole game at shortstop
for the Phillies and hit a game-winning home run
against Reading. Along with shortstop and third base, Schmidt also played some second base
in the minors.
Schmidt spent two seasons in the Phillies' farm system, where he batted .263 with 34 home runs and 122 runs batted in. He received a September call-up to the Phillies in , and made his major league debut against the New York Mets
on September 12. Four days later, Schmidt ended Montreal Expos
pitcher
Balor Moore
's streak of 25 scoreless innings pitched with his first career home run.
to the Milwaukee Brewers
to open a spot for Schmidt on their infield
. Schmidt batted only .196 with 136 strikeouts his first full season, however, he did demonstrate his power potential with 18 home runs.
Schmidt's batting average
climbed as high as .356 in to received the first of his twelve All-Star
nods. On June 10, Schmidt hit a ball into a public address speaker suspended 117 feet above and 329 feet away from home plate in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas
. The ball then fell to the field, and by the Astrodome's ground rules, it remained in play. Schmidt was held to a single
, and the runners on first and second each advanced just one base. It is believed that had it not hit the speaker, the ball would have carried beyond 500 feet. For the season, Schmidt finished sixth in National League
Most Valuable Player
balloting as he batted .282 with 106 RBIs and a league leading 36 home runs to help the Phillies avoid a last place finish in the National League East
for the first time since . His 404 assists
in 1974 remain a record for third basemen. He also filled in at shortstop and first base.
Schmidt's batting average hovered below .200 through the month of May . Solid months of July and August saw his average rise to .249 by the end of the season as he led the league in home runs for the second year in a row with 38. Schmidt started the season off by hitting twelve home runs in Philadelphia's first fifteen games, including four in one game on April 17, a feat accomplished only 15 times in the history of baseball. For the season, Schmidt drove in 107 runs
, and led the league in home runs for the third year in a row (38), and won his first of ten Gold Gloves to lead the Phillies to their first division crown since division play started in .
The Phillies captured the NL east crown three years in a row, however, the were swept by Cincinnati's
"Big Red Machine" in 1976, and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers
in and . On December 5, 1978, the Phillies signed Pete Rose as a free agent
, temporarily making Rose the highest-paid athlete in team sports when they signed him to a four-year, $3.2-million contract. With Rose on board, the Phillies were early favorites to repeat as division winners in . Instead, the Phillies finished the season at 84-78, and in fourth place in NL East. For his part, Schmidt broke the club record for home runs in a season with 45, eclipsing Chuck Klein
's 43 hit in .
tied with the Expos for first place in the NL East. With a sacrifice fly
in the first, and a solo home run in the sixth, Schmidt led the Phillies to a 2-1 victory to capture first place. A day later, Schmidt hit his 48th home run of the season in the 11th inning to give the Phillies the 6-4 extra innings
victory over the Expos, and clinch the division. His 48 home runs broke his own team record, and led the National League by a margin of thirteen over his nearest competitor (His home run mark would stand for 26 years until first baseman
and National League MVP Ryan Howard
hit 58 in 2006). Coupled with a league leading 121 RBIs, Schmidt was a unanimous choice for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award
.
The Phillies defeated the Houston Astros
in the 1980 National League Championship Series
to reach the World Series
for the third time in franchise history. Though Schmidt had just a career .191 post-season batting average with no home runs and five RBIs, his bat came alive in the World Series, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs against the Kansas City Royals
to earn him the World Series MVP Award
. Following the World Series, Schmidt and four of his Phillies teammates appeared on Family Feud
for one week in 1980. He, Larry Bowa
, Garry Maddox, Dick Ruthven
and Del Unser
took on five members of the Kansas City Royals: Dennis Leonard
, Dan Quisenberry
, Paul Splittorff
, John Wathan
and Willie Wilson.
Schmidt's best season may have been the strike shortened season. His 31 home runs were seven more than anyone else in the league. He also led the NL in runs scored, RBIs, total bases
and walks, and sett personal highs in batting average, on-base average and slugging average. He won his second consecutive MVP award, this time with 96% of the vote.
The Phillies led the NL East by 3.5 games when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike hit. As a result, the Phillies were named NL East champions for the first half of the season, however, they lost to the second half champion Montreal Expos in the 1981 National League Division Series
.
In , in celebration of the team's 100th anniversary, Schmidt was voted by fans the greatest player in the history of the franchise. That year, he led the league in home runs for the sixth time in his career to lead the Phillies back to the post season. Schmidt led his team with a .467 batting average and scored five runs as they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1983 National League Championship Series
. It was, however, a way different story against the Baltimore Orioles
in the 1983 World Series
. The Phillies were held to a .195 team batting average; Schmidt went just 1-for-20 with a single.
Following the 1983 season, the Phillies dealt Pete Rose to the Montreal Expos. Tim Corcoran
and Len Matuszek
platooned at first in , however, neither provided to the offensive spark Rose did. In , Schmidt was moved to first base
from late May through the end of the season with Rick Schu
assuming third base duties. The Phillies finished with a below .500 record for the first time since 1974.
In , the Phillies moved outfielder
Von Hayes
to first base and shifted Schmidt back to his natural position. He responded by winning his third MVP award, a record for third basemen, with a league leading 37 home runs and 119 RBIs.
6-5 at Three Rivers Stadium
on April 18, , Schmidt hit his career 500th home run, a three run shot off of Don Robinson to win the game, 8-6.
Injuries to Schmidt's rotator cuff caused him to miss the last month and a half of the season. He returned healthy for the season, however, after a poor start, Schmidt suddenly chose to announce his retirement in San Diego
, on May 29. He demonstrated little emotion on the field, and was known as "Captain Cool" by many in Philadelphia sports circles, however, Schmidt surprised many with an emotional, and occasionally tearful, retirement speech. His last game was May 28, 1989, against the San Francisco Giants
.
Despite his poor start and subsequent retirement, fans again voted Schmidt to the NL All-Star team. He decided not to play, but he did participate in the game's opening ceremony.
five times, and walks four times. He was named to twelve All-Star teams. He is the Phillies all-time leader in games played, at-bats, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, home runs, RBI, walks, strikeouts, total bases, runs created, sacrifice flies, outs, Adj. Batting Runs, Adj. Batting Wins, Extra Base Hits, Times On Base, and Power-Speed number.
Schmidt's 548 home runs are the most ever hit by a player who spent his entire career with just one team.
or coach. He has written a number of articles on baseball for CBS
and regularly participates in charity golf
tournaments. He spent one season as a member of the Phillies broadcast team on the now-defunct PRISM network. He was known as a very candid and honest broadcaster despite his limited experience in the area.
In 1991, he and Nolan Ryan were inducted into the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum's Hall of Excellence (established in 1988), thereby becoming only the second and third MLB players inducted into the Hall.
In 1995, Schmidt was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
with what was then the fourth highest percentage ever, 96.52%. (Nolan Ryan
and George Brett
surpassed his percentage in ).
In 1999, he ranked number 28 on The Sporting News
s list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking third baseman, and the highest-ranking player whose career began after 1967. Later that year, he was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
. His uniform number 20 has been retired by the Phillies, and he has been honored with a statue outside the third-base gate at the team's home, Citizens Bank Park
.
Schmidt has publicly expressed his thoughts on various baseball controversies. He has been a vocal advocate for the reinstatement of Pete Rose to baseball. In July 2005, he appeared on Bob Costas
' HBO show Costas Now
to discuss steroids, and said, "Let me go out on a limb and say that if I had played during that era I would have taken steroids... We all have these things we deal with in life, and I'm surely not going to sit here and say to you guys, 'I wouldn't have done that.'"
In his 2006 book, Clearing the Bases: Juiced Players, Shrinking Ballparks, Sham Records, and a Hall of Famer's Search for the Soul of Baseball, he somewhat recanted that statement, saying that he understood the desire to get a competitive advantage even though he could not condone breaking the rules to do so.
. In October 2003, Schmidt was named the manager of the Phillies' Single A Florida State League
affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers
. He managed them for just the 2004 season, then resigned. In 2009, he served as third base coach for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic
.
tournament known as the Mike Schmidt Winner's Circle Invitational at Old Bahama Bay in West End, Grand Bahama Island. The first event raised $27,000, and has since raised over $1.5 million for cystic fibrosis
.
In 2008, Schmidt released a charity wine
called Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel
, a reference to his 548 career home runs, with proceeds also going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
.
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
popularly considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. He played his entire career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
for the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
.
Schmidt had an unusual batting stance, turning his back somewhat to the pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
and waving his posterior while waiting for the pitch. By standing far back in the batter's box, he made it impossible to jam him by pitching inside. Schmidt was one of the best athletes of his time; teammate Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
once said, "To have his body, I'd trade him mine and my wife's, and I'd throw in some cash."
Early days
Upon graduation from Fairview High School in Dayton, OhioDayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
in , Schmidt attended Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
in Athens
Athens, Ohio
Athens is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Athens County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Hocking River in the southeastern part of Ohio. A historic college town, Athens is home to Ohio University and is the principal city of the Athens, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...
, where he joined Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
Fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
. Schmidt led the Ohio Bobcats
Ohio Bobcats
Ohio University features 16 varsity sports teams called the Bobcats. The Bobcats compete in the Mid-American Conference in all sports. The Bobcats were a charter member of the Mid-American Conference in 1946 and are the only team still in the conference from the original 5 team league that...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team to the College World Series
College World Series
The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...
in , and was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft
1971 Major League Baseball Draft
-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1971 Major League Baseball draft.* Did not sign- Background :The June 1971 draft was a productive one, even though none of its top ten choices yielded players who would have memorable major league careers...
with the 30th overall pick.
On June 11, , he was signed by scout
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
Tony Lucadello
Tony Lucadello
Tony Lucadello was a professional baseball scout for the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies . During his career, he signed a total of 52 players who made it to the Major Leagues, most notably Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins and Mike Schmidt...
, who had followed him since Little League Baseball. Six days later, Schmidt made his professional debut in an exhibition game between the Phillies and the Reading Phillies
Reading Phillies
The Reading Phillies are a minor league baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Eastern Division of the Eastern League. Since the 1967 season, they have been the AA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies....
in Reading
FirstEnergy Stadium
FirstEnergy Stadium is a 9,000-seat baseball-only stadium in Reading, Pennsylvania that hosted its first regular season baseball game in 1951. The park is home to the Reading Phillies of the Eastern League. It was voted the second best place to see a baseball game by Minor League News in 2006...
. Schmidt played the whole game at shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
for the Phillies and hit a game-winning home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
against Reading. Along with shortstop and third base, Schmidt also played some second base
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
in the minors.
Schmidt spent two seasons in the Phillies' farm system, where he batted .263 with 34 home runs and 122 runs batted in. He received a September call-up to the Phillies in , and made his major league debut against the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
on September 12. Four days later, Schmidt ended Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Balor Moore
Balor Moore
Balor Lilbon Moore is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first player drafted by the expansion Montreal Expos in the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft .-Expos phenom:...
's streak of 25 scoreless innings pitched with his first career home run.
Philadelphia Phillies
Following the 1972 season, the Phillies dealt third baseman Don MoneyDon Money
Donald Wayne Money is a retired major league baseball player. He currently serves as the special instructor of player development for the Milwaukee Brewers....
to the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
to open a spot for Schmidt on their infield
Infield
Infield is a widely used term in sports terminology, its meaning depends on the sport in which it is used.- In baseball :In baseball the baseball diamond plus a region beyond it , has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-covered outfield...
. Schmidt batted only .196 with 136 strikeouts his first full season, however, he did demonstrate his power potential with 18 home runs.
Schmidt's batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
climbed as high as .356 in to received the first of his twelve All-Star
All-star
All-star is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry...
nods. On June 10, Schmidt hit a ball into a public address speaker suspended 117 feet above and 329 feet away from home plate in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. The ball then fell to the field, and by the Astrodome's ground rules, it remained in play. Schmidt was held to a single
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...
, and the runners on first and second each advanced just one base. It is believed that had it not hit the speaker, the ball would have carried beyond 500 feet. For the season, Schmidt finished sixth in National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Most Valuable Player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
balloting as he batted .282 with 106 RBIs and a league leading 36 home runs to help the Phillies avoid a last place finish in the National League East
National League East
The National League East Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies are tied for the most National League East Division titles . All of Atlanta's NL East titles came during a record stretch of 14 consecutive division titles...
for the first time since . His 404 assists
Baseball statistics
Statistics play an important role in summarizing baseball performance and evaluating players in the sport.Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itself to easy record-keeping and statistics...
in 1974 remain a record for third basemen. He also filled in at shortstop and first base.
Schmidt's batting average hovered below .200 through the month of May . Solid months of July and August saw his average rise to .249 by the end of the season as he led the league in home runs for the second year in a row with 38. Schmidt started the season off by hitting twelve home runs in Philadelphia's first fifteen games, including four in one game on April 17, a feat accomplished only 15 times in the history of baseball. For the season, Schmidt drove in 107 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
, and led the league in home runs for the third year in a row (38), and won his first of ten Gold Gloves to lead the Phillies to their first division crown since division play started in .
The Phillies captured the NL east crown three years in a row, however, the were swept by Cincinnati's
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
"Big Red Machine" in 1976, and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
in and . On December 5, 1978, the Phillies signed Pete Rose as a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
, temporarily making Rose the highest-paid athlete in team sports when they signed him to a four-year, $3.2-million contract. With Rose on board, the Phillies were early favorites to repeat as division winners in . Instead, the Phillies finished the season at 84-78, and in fourth place in NL East. For his part, Schmidt broke the club record for home runs in a season with 45, eclipsing Chuck Klein
Chuck Klein
Charles Herbert "Chuck" Klein was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the Philadelphia Phillies , Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates ....
's 43 hit in .
National League MVP
On October 3, , the Phillies went into MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
tied with the Expos for first place in the NL East. With a sacrifice fly
Sacrifice fly
In baseball, a sacrifice fly is a batted ball that satisfies four criteria:* There are fewer than two outs when the ball is hit.* The ball is hit to the outfield....
in the first, and a solo home run in the sixth, Schmidt led the Phillies to a 2-1 victory to capture first place. A day later, Schmidt hit his 48th home run of the season in the 11th inning to give the Phillies the 6-4 extra innings
Extra innings
Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie.Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine innings , each of which is divided into halves: the visiting team bats first, after which the home team takes its turn at bat...
victory over the Expos, and clinch the division. His 48 home runs broke his own team record, and led the National League by a margin of thirteen over his nearest competitor (His home run mark would stand for 26 years until first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
and National League MVP Ryan Howard
Ryan Howard
Ryan James Howard is a Major League Baseball first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Nicknamed "The Big Piece", Howard stands and weighs . He bats and throws left-handed....
hit 58 in 2006). Coupled with a league leading 121 RBIs, Schmidt was a unanimous choice for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award
MLB Most Valuable Player Award
The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award is an annual Major League Baseball award, given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers Association of America...
.
The Phillies defeated the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
in the 1980 National League Championship Series
1980 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 7, 1980 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaGame 1 was the most ordinary contest of the series. Starters Ken Forsch and Steve Carlton dueled for the first five innings, with only one run scored by Houston in the third on an RBI single by Gary Woods...
to reach the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
for the third time in franchise history. Though Schmidt had just a career .191 post-season batting average with no home runs and five RBIs, his bat came alive in the World Series, hitting two homers and driving in seven runs against the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...
to earn him the World Series MVP Award
World Series MVP Award
The World Series Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the World Series, which is the final round of the Major League Baseball postseason...
. Following the World Series, Schmidt and four of his Phillies teammates appeared on Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
for one week in 1980. He, Larry Bowa
Larry Bowa
Lawrence Robert Bowa is a former middle infielder, playing mainly as a shortstop, and manager in Major League Baseball.-Early life:...
, Garry Maddox, Dick Ruthven
Dick Ruthven
Richard David Ruthven is a former Major League Baseball pitcher with a 14-year career from 1973 to 1986. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs all of the National League. During his career, Ruthven had a record of 123-127, an ERA of 4.14, and 1145 career strikeouts...
and Del Unser
Del Unser
Delbert Bernard Unser is a retired Major League Baseball center fielder and utility player who had a 15-year career from 1968 to 1982. Unser played for the Washington Senators from 1968 to 1971 and the Cleveland Indians in 1972...
took on five members of the Kansas City Royals: Dennis Leonard
Dennis Leonard
Dennis Patrick Leonard was one of the Kansas City Royals' most dominating pitchers of the late '70s and early '80s, but a promising career cut short due to injuries. In 1975, his first full year he managed to bust out with a 15-7 record...
, Dan Quisenberry
Dan Quisenberry
Dan Raymond "Quiz" Quisenberry was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Kansas City Royals...
, Paul Splittorff
Paul Splittorff
Paul William Splittorff Jr. was a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who spent his entire career with the Kansas City Royals. Listed at 6' 3", Splittorff batted and threw left handed.-Early years:Splittorff was born in Evansville, Indiana...
, John Wathan
John Wathan
John David Wathan is a former Major League Baseball catcher and manager for the Kansas City Royals. He was considered one of the rare catchers with speed, having 105 stolen bases during his career...
and Willie Wilson.
Schmidt's best season may have been the strike shortened season. His 31 home runs were seven more than anyone else in the league. He also led the NL in runs scored, RBIs, total bases
Total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....
and walks, and sett personal highs in batting average, on-base average and slugging average. He won his second consecutive MVP award, this time with 96% of the vote.
The Phillies led the NL East by 3.5 games when the 1981 Major League Baseball strike hit. As a result, the Phillies were named NL East champions for the first half of the season, however, they lost to the second half champion Montreal Expos in the 1981 National League Division Series
1981 National League Division Series
-Philadelphia Phillies vs. Montreal Expos:-Game 1, October 6:Astrodome in Houston, TexasFernando Valenzuela faced Nolan Ryan, a matchup worthy of a pitcher's duel. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Tony Scott singled home Terry Puhl to score the game's first run, but Steve...
.
In , in celebration of the team's 100th anniversary, Schmidt was voted by fans the greatest player in the history of the franchise. That year, he led the league in home runs for the sixth time in his career to lead the Phillies back to the post season. Schmidt led his team with a .467 batting average and scored five runs as they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1983 National League Championship Series
1983 National League Championship Series
The National League Championship Series was a best-of-five matchup between the Western Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the Eastern Division champion Philadelphia Phillies...
. It was, however, a way different story against the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
in the 1983 World Series
1983 World Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 11, 1983 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, MarylandJohn Denver, whose Thank God I'm a Country Boy was played at the seventh-inning stretch of each Orioles home game, sang the National Anthem prior to this game....
. The Phillies were held to a .195 team batting average; Schmidt went just 1-for-20 with a single.
Following the 1983 season, the Phillies dealt Pete Rose to the Montreal Expos. Tim Corcoran
Tim Corcoran
Timothy Hugh Corcoran is a Major League Baseball pitcher. Corcoran's brother, Roy Corcoran, also plays professional baseball-New York Mets:...
and Len Matuszek
Len Matuszek
Leonard James Matuszek was a Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman. He is an alumnus of the University of Toledo where he played both varsity baseball and basketball...
platooned at first in , however, neither provided to the offensive spark Rose did. In , Schmidt was moved to first base
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
from late May through the end of the season with Rick Schu
Rick Schu
Richard Spenser Schu is a former Major League Baseball player and hitting coach.Schu grew up in Fair Oaks, California and was signed as an amateur free agent out of Del Campo High School by the Philadelphia Phillies.Schu debuted with the Philadelphia Phillies in September 1984 and was recalled to...
assuming third base duties. The Phillies finished with a below .500 record for the first time since 1974.
In , the Phillies moved outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
Von Hayes
Von Hayes
Von Francis Hayes , was a Major League Baseball player from 1981 to 1992 for the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and California Angels...
to first base and shifted Schmidt back to his natural position. He responded by winning his third MVP award, a record for third basemen, with a league leading 37 home runs and 119 RBIs.
Retirement
Trailing the Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
6-5 at Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium
Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's Major League Baseball franchise and National Football League franchise respectively.Built as a replacement to...
on April 18, , Schmidt hit his career 500th home run, a three run shot off of Don Robinson to win the game, 8-6.
Injuries to Schmidt's rotator cuff caused him to miss the last month and a half of the season. He returned healthy for the season, however, after a poor start, Schmidt suddenly chose to announce his retirement in San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, on May 29. He demonstrated little emotion on the field, and was known as "Captain Cool" by many in Philadelphia sports circles, however, Schmidt surprised many with an emotional, and occasionally tearful, retirement speech. His last game was May 28, 1989, against the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
.
Despite his poor start and subsequent retirement, fans again voted Schmidt to the NL All-Star team. He decided not to play, but he did participate in the game's opening ceremony.
Career stats
Over his career Schmidt set a vast array of hitting and fielding records. In addition to his MVP Awards, Schmidt won ten Gold Gloves, led the league in home runs eight times, in RBIs four times, OPSBaseball statistics
Statistics play an important role in summarizing baseball performance and evaluating players in the sport.Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itself to easy record-keeping and statistics...
five times, and walks four times. He was named to twelve All-Star teams. He is the Phillies all-time leader in games played, at-bats, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, home runs, RBI, walks, strikeouts, total bases, runs created, sacrifice flies, outs, Adj. Batting Runs, Adj. Batting Wins, Extra Base Hits, Times On Base, and Power-Speed number.
Schmidt's 548 home runs are the most ever hit by a player who spent his entire career with just one team.
Post playing career
Schmidt opted, at first, to pursue a more private lifestyle after his career, rather than to become a managerManager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
or coach. He has written a number of articles on baseball for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and regularly participates in charity golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournaments. He spent one season as a member of the Phillies broadcast team on the now-defunct PRISM network. He was known as a very candid and honest broadcaster despite his limited experience in the area.
In 1991, he and Nolan Ryan were inducted into the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum's Hall of Excellence (established in 1988), thereby becoming only the second and third MLB players inducted into the Hall.
In 1995, Schmidt was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
with what was then the fourth highest percentage ever, 96.52%. (Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
and George Brett
George Brett (baseball)
George Howard Brett , nicknamed "Mullet", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman, designated hitter, and first baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are the most by any third baseman in major league history, and 15th...
surpassed his percentage in ).
In 1999, he ranked number 28 on The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
s list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking third baseman, and the highest-ranking player whose career began after 1967. Later that year, he was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
In 1999, the Major League Baseball All-Century Team was chosen by popular vote of fans. To select the team, a panel of experts first compiled a list of the 100 greatest Major League Baseball players from the past century...
. His uniform number 20 has been retired by the Phillies, and he has been honored with a statue outside the third-base gate at the team's home, Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...
.
Schmidt has publicly expressed his thoughts on various baseball controversies. He has been a vocal advocate for the reinstatement of Pete Rose to baseball. In July 2005, he appeared on Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
' HBO show Costas Now
Costas Now
Costas Now was an American monthly sports television show hosted by Bob Costas on HBO.-History:In 2001, Costas was hired by HBO to host a 12-week talk and interview series called On the Record with Bob Costas. In 2005, the program was revamped to become Costas Now, with more of a focus on sports...
to discuss steroids, and said, "Let me go out on a limb and say that if I had played during that era I would have taken steroids... We all have these things we deal with in life, and I'm surely not going to sit here and say to you guys, 'I wouldn't have done that.'"
In his 2006 book, Clearing the Bases: Juiced Players, Shrinking Ballparks, Sham Records, and a Hall of Famer's Search for the Soul of Baseball, he somewhat recanted that statement, saying that he understood the desire to get a competitive advantage even though he could not condone breaking the rules to do so.
Coaching
In 2002, Schmidt was hired by the Phillies to work for several weeks as a hitting coach each Spring trainingSpring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
. In October 2003, Schmidt was named the manager of the Phillies' Single A Florida State League
Florida State League
The Florida State League is a Class A-Advanced minor league baseball league operating in the state of Florida. They are one of three leagues currently operating in Class A-Advanced, the third highest of six classifications of minor leagues...
affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers
Clearwater Threshers
The Clearwater Threshers are a minor league baseball team that currently plays in the Florida State League. Since 2004, the team competes in the West Division....
. He managed them for just the 2004 season, then resigned. In 2009, he served as third base coach for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation and created by Major League Baseball , the Major League Baseball Players Association , and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world...
.
Philanthropy
In , Schmidt began sponsoring an annual fishingFishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
tournament known as the Mike Schmidt Winner's Circle Invitational at Old Bahama Bay in West End, Grand Bahama Island. The first event raised $27,000, and has since raised over $1.5 million for cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
.
In 2008, Schmidt released a charity wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
called Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel
Zinfandel
Zinfandel is a variety of red grape planted in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA fingerprinting revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski, and also the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in Puglia , where it was introduced in the 18th century...
, a reference to his 548 career home runs, with proceeds also going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is a non-profit organization in the United States established to provide the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis . The Foundation provides information about cystic fibrosis and finances CF research that aims to improve the quality of life for people with the...
.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
- List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
- 500 home run club500 home run clubIn Major League Baseball , the 500 home run club is a term applied to the group of batters who have hit 500 or more regular-season home runs in their careers. On August 11, 1929, Babe Ruth became the first member of the club. Ruth ended his career with 714 home runs, a record which stood from 1935...
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
- List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
- Batters with four home runs in one game
- Major League Baseball titles leadersMajor League Baseball titles leadersAt the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading the league in a particular category is referred to as a title....
- DHL Hometown HeroesDHL Hometown HeroesOn September 27, 2006, Major League Baseball announced a list of players, one from each team, voted by MLB fans. Fans were asked to vote for the most outstanding player in the history of each MLB franchise, based on on-field performance, leadership quality and character value.The candidates for...