Mike Schmidt was the personification of talent at the hot corner, possessing a combination of Eddie Mathews' power and the Gold Glove ability of Brooks Robinson. He had enough finesse to win ten Gold Gloves, and his brute strength enabled him to rack up more than 500 career home runs. He won three Most Valuable Player Awards, including back-to-back honors at his peak, and led the league in homers eight times. | Full bio ⇓
Quotes From Mike Schmidt
"I love to play baseball. I never think of money once I put that uniform on and I never played a game in my life that I didn't give it 100%." — Mike Schmidt
Teams Mike Schmidt Played For
Philadelphia Phillies (1972-1989)
Mike Schmidt in Minor League Baseball
In his first pro assignment in the Phillies organization, at Reading, Schmidt struggled. He spent most of that first year with Eugene (Oregon) of the Pacific Coast League, where he hit 20 homers.
Where does Mike Schmidt rank among baseball greats?
Mike Schmidt ranks #1 among the Top 50 all-time at 3B. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1981 Schmidt was having his best season in 1981, when the strike split the schedule. So for numbers sake, we'll pick '80, which was pretty damn good too. Schmidt won the MVP that year, belting 48 homers and driving in 121 runs - both leading the NL. He batted .286 and posted a .624 slugging percentage, also tops. He scored 104 runs and even stole 12 bases, while winning the Gold Glove. In the World Series he batted .381 with two homers and seven RBI in six games. He was at the top of his game.
Full Bio Schmidt helped lead the Phillies to the post-season six times between 1976 and 1983, with two World Series appearances. In 1980 his monster season led the Phillies into the Fall Classic, where they vanquished George Brett (his rival for third base supremacy) and the Royals. It was the Phillies first and only World Series title.
In 1980, he broke Eddie Mathews' record for most homers by a third baseman in a season when he belted 48. That season he also captured his first RBI crown with 121 runs driven in which complemented his .624 slugging percentage and 17-game winning RBI. Then, in 1981, in the strike-shortened season, he led the league in total bases (228), walks (73), intentional walks (18), home runs (31), runs (78), RBI (91) and slugging percentage (.644) - all while hitting .316. Not bad for a single season of work.
Schmidt later won the 1986 MVP award, based on his .290-37-119 triple crown stats. That season marked the fourth time he had won two legs of the triple crown.
A muscular right-handed slugger, Schmidt was graceful in the field. He was expert at fielding bunts bare-handed. He had a very strong arm and was durable - playing in 150 or more games ten times. His strong baserunning was also overlooked, he twice stole 20 bases, and finished with 174 thefts.
Early in his career, Schmidt was a free-swinger, once whiffing 180 times (1975). But he worked hard to make himself a complete player. In the 1970s he batted .255 and averaged 143 K's per 162 games. In the 1980s he batted .277 and averaged 114 strikeouts.
Most Walk-Off Home Runs, Career Jimmie Foxx........12
Mickey Mantle......12
Stan Musial........12
Frank Robinson.....12
Babe Ruth..........12
Tony Perez.........11
Dick Allen.........10
Harold Baines......10
Reggie Jackson.....10
Mike Schmidt.......10
A Fall from a Tree When Mike Schmidt was seven years old he climbed a tree and found himself 30 feet in the air. He stumbled and fell toward the ground. On his way to the earth he reached out and grabbed a wire which carried 4,000 volts. He was thrown to the ground and landed on his back. Luckily, since he was wearing rubber sneakers, the voltage did not harm him too much. It exited him at his shins and was laid up for five months.
Born Michael Jack Schmidt was born on September 27, 1949, in Dayton, OH.
Related Players Eddie Mathews, George Brett, Matt Williams, Scott Rolen
Hall of Fame Voting
Year
Election
Votes
Pct
1995
BBWAA
444
96.5%
Post-Season Appearances
1976 National League Championship Series
1977 National League Championship Series
1978 National League Championship Series
1980 National League Championship Series
1980 World Series
1981 National League Division Playoffs
1983 National League Championship Series
1983 World Series
Feats Schmidt belted four homers on April 17, 1976, against the Cubs in Wrigley Field. He collected five hits in the game and drove in eight runs.
Milestones
April 20, 1976: 100th HR...
May 13, 1979: 200th HR...
August 14, 1981: 300th HR...
May 15, 1984: 400th HR...
April 18, 1987: 500th HR... Came against Don Robinson.
Batting Feats
April 17, 1976: 4 HR... Phillies won the game 18-16, overcoming an 11-run deficit... Cubs Dave Kingman blasted three homers in the loss... Runs were scored all over the league that day as the Mets won 17-1 and the Reds, 11-0... Hit his first two homers off Rick Reuschel, and the fourth off Rick's brother, Paul.
Notes At Fairview High School in Dayton, Ohio, Mike Schmidt was the starting quarterback, linebacker, and punt returner. On the baseball team he played shortstop and batted fourth. He was the school star on the hardwood, as well.
Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time In his rookie season, 1973, Schmidt threw out his arm and missed the first three weeks of the regular season...
Hitting Streaks
17 games (1979)
Transactions Selected by Philadelphia Phillies in the 2nd round of the free-agent draft (June 8, 1971); Granted free agency (November 4, 1988); Signed by Philadelphia Phillies (December 7, 1988).
Replaced Don Money was traded to the Brewers during the 1972 off-season, to make room for Schmidt at third base. It was a bad trade for the Phillies, as Money went on to a solid career for Milwaukee, while none of the players Philadelphia received really panned out. Of course, Schmidt was more than adequate at third base, to say the least.
Replaced By Schmidt was still the Phillies starting third baseman when he retired in the middle of the 1989 season. Charlie Hayes took his spot, but never hit more than a dozen homers in a season and was run out of town after a few years.
Best Strength as a Player So many strengths: power, agility at third, his throwing arm. But we'll take his power above all.
Largest Weakness as a Player I guess you could say he struck out a lot, but it didn't seem to hurt his team.
