A Lasting Legacy
One of the best things that MLB Network does is documentaries, and it hit a home run with the recent profile of Mike Schmidt.
For any Phillies fan, it is certainly worth watching on a number of fronts. First off, it chronicles the career of Schmidt, arguably the best third baseman in MLB history and clearly the top player in Phillies franchise history.
The documentary also delves a lot into the treatment that Schmidt received by the fans. Despite his Hall of Fame career—all spent with the Phillies—Schmidt was often the subject of boos.
Among some of the interesting things that we learned:
- Schmidt was a walk-on at Ohio U, who said he really gained confidence after he became a starter his sophomore year.
- Schmidt, after hitting .196 his rookie year with the Phillies in 1973, he played winter ball in Puerto Rico, and he said that turned his career around. He found a swing that was comfortable and decided not to try to pull everything. That next year in 1974, Schmit earned his first All-Star appearance and batted .282 while leading the National League with 36 home runs and adding 116 RBI
- He admitted how much the booing bothered him. “The booking hurt a lot, and they don’t understand how hard you are trying,” he said. Later in the show when fellow Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett heard that the fans booed Schmidt during the 1983 World Series, he said, “They booed him in ’83. I’m glad I never played in Philadelphia.”
- Schmidt admitted in the documentary, he took things too personally and shouldn’t have allowed the booing to get to him. He also was wound up so tightly and so intense that he didn’t get the sheer enjoyment that he should have, something he readily admitted. “I took it too seriously,” he said. He added that he wished he had to do it all over again and intimated that he would have handled things differently.
- Schmidt didn’t have his first breakout playoff series until his fourth year in the postseason in 1980. It came in the World Series when Schmidt was named the MVP, batting .381 (8-for-21) with two home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored. The Phillies would beat the Kansas City Royals 4-games-to-2 to win their first World Series title. Schmidt talked about how relieved he was with that performance and admitted he felt pressure because of his previous playoff performances.
- Recalling his 500th home run in Pittsburgh, hearing the call by the late Harry Kalas brought chills.
Incredible numbers
The documentary didn’t point this out, but even in this era of advanced stats, Schmidt’s numbers would still greatly hold up. He finished with 106.9 B-WAR, which is tied for 24th. Schmidt hit 548 home runs, drove in 1,595 runs and scored 1,506 runs. He had a career .908 OPS and 148 OPS+. Schmidt won 10 Gold Gloves and was an 11-time All-Star.
We haven’t seen a Phillies player come close to this production ever and likely won’t see Schmidt’s career ever duplicated.
Photo: Mike Schmidt statute outside of Citizens Bank Park / Shutterstock
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Author: Marc Narducci
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