Having an unusual batting stance,Schmidt turned his back somewhat toward the pitcher and rocked his rear end back and forth while waiting for a pitch. By standing far back in the batter's box,he made it almost impossible to jam him by pitching inside.
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."[4]
Early life
Schmidt's parents were Joseph Jack Schmidt (1926–2011) and Lois Jane Philipps (1926–2019). They managed the Philipps Aquatic Club founded by Lois's great-grandfather Charles A. Philipps in 1865.[5] Schmidt was a lifeguard at the club.[6]
At age 5,Schmidt climbed a tree and was electrocuted when he touched a wire;his heart stopped and he fell,causing his heart to restart. He survived with minimal burn marks.[5]
On June 11,1971,Schmidt was signed by Phillies scoutTony Lucadello,who had followed him since high school.[5][7] Six days later,Schmidt made his professional debut in an exhibition game between the Phillies and their Double-A affiliate the Reading Phillies in Reading,Pennsylvania. Schmidt played the whole game at shortstop for the Phillies,hitting a game-winning home run against his future Reading teammates.[8] Schmidt stayed in Reading,spending the rest of the 1971 season at the Double-A level. In 1972,he was promoted to the Triple-AEugene Emeralds of the Pacific Coast League. Along with shortstop and third base,Schmidt also played at second base during his time in the minor leagues.[9]
Schmidt spent two seasons in the Phillies' farm system,where he batted .263 with 34 home runs and 122 runs batted in. After playing most of the 1972 season for Triple-A Eugene,he was called up to the Phillies in September and made his major league debut against the New York Mets on September 12.[10] Four days later,in Philadelphia on September 16,Schmidt ended Montreal ExpospitcherBalor Moore's streak of 25 scoreless innings pitched with his first career home run.[11]
Following the 1972 season,the Phillies dealt third baseman Don Money to the Milwaukee Brewers to open a spot for Schmidt in their infield. While he batted only .196 with 136 strikeouts during his first full season in 1973,Schmidt demonstrated his power potential by hitting 18 home runs.[12]
Schmidt had a breakout season in 1974,increasing his batting average to .282 and playing in the first of his twelve Major League Baseball All-Star Games.[13] On June 10,in the Astrodome in Houston,Texas,Schmidt hit a ball off Houston Astros' pitcher Claude Osteen that looked like a sure home run. The ball hit a public address speaker suspended 117 feet above and 329 feet away from home plate,falling into center field. By the ground rules,it remained in play and Schmidt was held to just a single,with the runners on first and second each advancing just one base. It is believed that had the ball not hit the speaker,it would have traveled beyond 500 feet.[14] For the season,Schmidt finished sixth in National LeagueMost Valuable Player balloting as he batted .282 with 116 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 1970. His 404 assists in 1974 remains a record for NL third basemen.[15]
Schmidt's batting average hovered below .200 through May 1975. After solid performance in July and August,his average rose 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 1976 season by hitting 12 home runs in Philadelphia's first 15 games,including four in one game on April 17,placing him on the list of Major League Baseball single-game home run leaders[16] and becoming the 10th player in major league history to accomplish that feat. For the season,Schmidt drove in 107 runs,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 1969.
In 1977,Schmidt signed a contract with the Phillies that paid him $561,500 per year (equivalent to $2,910,000in 2024),making him the highest-paid player in baseball history to that point and the first to surpass $500,000 annually.[17]
The Phillies captured the NL East crown three years in a row;however,they were swept by Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" in 1976,and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. On December 5,1978,the Phillies signed Pete Rose as a free agent,temporarily making Rose the highest-paid athlete in team sports with a four-year,$3.2 million contract. With Rose on board,the Phillies were early favorites to repeat as division winners in 1979.[18][19] Instead,the Phillies finished the season at 84–78,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 homers in 1929.
1980–1986
On October 3,1980,the Phillies played against Montreal,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.[20] 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.[21] His career high 48 home runs broke his own team record,and led the National League by a margin of 13 over his nearest competitor. Coupled with a league-leading 121 RBIs (also his career best),his home runs made Schmidt a unanimous choice for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award.[22]
Schmidt's best season may have been the strike-shortened 1981 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 set personal highs in batting average,on-base percentage and slugging percentage. 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 1983,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 postseason. 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 much 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,Schmidt was awarded the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. That off-season,Pete Rose left the Phillies as a free agent and signed with the Montreal Expos. With a hole at first base,the Phillies played Tim Corcoran and Len Matuszek in a platoon system during the 1984 season. Neither player provided the offensive spark Rose did,and so a change was in order. Early in the 1985 season,Schmidt agreed to move to first base (starting from late May) through the end of the season with Rick Schu assuming third base duties. The Phillies finished with a record below .500 for the first time since 1974.
In 1986,the Phillies moved outfielderVon Hayes to first base and shifted Schmidt back to third base. He responded by winning his third MVP award,a record for third basemen,[24] with a league-leading 37 home runs and 119 RBIs. As of 2025,Schmidt is the most recent player to have led his league in RBIs four times.
Injuries to Schmidt's rotator cuff caused him to miss the last month and a half of the 1988 season. He returned healthy for the 1989 season. However,after a poor start,Schmidt suddenly chose to announce his retirement in San Diego,on May 29. Although he typically demonstrated little emotion on the field,and was known as "Captain Cool" by many in Philadelphia sports circles,Schmidt surprised many with an emotional,and occasionally tearful,retirement speech. He said in his retirement press conference,
"Some 18 years ago,I left Dayton,Ohio,with two very bad knees and a dream of becoming a major-league baseball player;I thank God this dream came true."[26]
Despite his own perceived subpar start and subsequent retirement on May 29,fans once again voted Schmidt to be the starting third baseman for the NL All-Star team. He decided not to play,but he did participate in the opening ceremony of the All-Star Game in uniform.[28]
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,OPS five times,and walks four times. He was named to 12 All-Star teams. He is the Phillies' all-time leader in games played,at-bats,plate appearances,runs scored,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.
Schmidt is one of only three players (along with Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr.) to win 10 Gold Gloves and hit at least 500 home runs,and is the only infielder ever to do so.
In 1990,Schmidt was named "The Player of the Decade" of the 1980s by The Sporting News.[29]
His uniform number 20 was retired by the Phillies before a game at Veterans Stadium on May 26,1990. That same season,Schmidt was inducted as a member of the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. He had previously been inducted as the third baseman for the Phillies' Centennial Team in 1983.
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 1999,he ranked number 28 on The Sporting News's list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players,[31] the highest-ranking third baseman,and the highest-ranking player whose career began after 1967.
In October 2014 the Ohio University Bobcats retired his number 10. Schmidt led the Bobcats to the College World Series in 1970.[32]
In 2015,Schmidt was named one of the Phillies "Franchise Four" as voted by the fans,along with Steve Carlton,Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts.[33]
Schmidt was a vocal advocate for the reinstatement of Pete Rose to baseball.[34]
In July 2005,on Bob Costas's HBO show Costas Now Schmidt said,"if I had played during that era,I would have taken steroids". In his 2006 book,Clearing the Bases:Juiced Players,Monster Salaries,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.
NBC used Schmidt as a guest analyst for Game 1 of the 1989 NLCS. Schmidt subsequently,did on-field reporting throughout the series. Schmidt also provided periodic commentary (albeit,taped prior to the playoffs) for ABC during the 1988 NLCS.
Schmidt spent the 1990 season as a color analyst with the Phillies broadcast team on the PRISM channel,where he was partnered with play-by-play announcer Jim Barniak. He was known to be very candid and honest with his commentary,but left the booth after just one season. Schmidt returned to broadcasting as a color analyst for The Baseball Network during its two seasons of existence in 1994 and 1995.[35] Starting in 2014,he provided commentary during Phillies Sunday home games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. In 2015,Schmidt also provided commentary during Saturday home games,creating a "Weekends with Schmidt" format that continued through 2018. Schmidt returned exclusively to home Sunday games in 2019,though he will occasionally provide commentary on a Saturday if the Phillies have a nationally televised Sunday home game.[citation needed]
Personal life
In February 1974,Schmidt married Donna Wightman;they had two children. In 1979,they bought a 12,000 square foot home in Upper Providence Township,Delaware County,Pennsylvania for $490,000.[36] In 1991,they bought an 8,500 square foot house in the Admiral’s Cove golf community in Jupiter,Florida for $425,000.[37]
In 2014,Schmidt disclosed that he had stage-3 melanoma in the summer of 2013,but that he was now cancer-free.[38] In conjunction with the Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation,the City of Philadelphia,and Independence Blue Cross,the Phillies placed 12 sunblock dispensers around Citizens Bank Park in May 2017.[39]
Kashatus, William C. (2000). Mike Schmidt: Philadelphia's Hall of Fame third baseman. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p.94. ISBN0-7864-0713-1.
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