Third Baseman, Philadelphia Phillies
Age: 31 (Sept. 27)
8th season
with Phillies
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’2” Weight: 195
Prior to 1980:
A native of
Dayton, Ohio, Schmidt starred in football as well as baseball at Fairview High
School. Knee injuries in high school narrowed his focus to baseball and he
became a two-time All-American at Ohio University, where he had gone to study
architecture. A shortstop who produced a .640 career slugging percentage in
college, he was chosen by the Phillies in the second round of the 1971 amateur
draft. Starting off at Reading of the Class AA Eastern League, Schmidt batted a
mere .211 with 8 home runs and 31 RBIs over the course of 74 games in ’71. Promoted
to the Eugene Emeralds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 1972, Schmidt
played primarily at second and third base and his average jumped to .291 with
26 home runs and 91 RBIs. He was chosen as second baseman on the PCL All-Star
team and received a late-season call-up to the Phillies where he hit his first
major league home run. The Phillies, rebuilding with youth, opened a spot in
the lineup for Schmidt in 1973 by trading third baseman Don Money. Schmidt
proved to be capable at third and showed off his power potential with 18 home
runs but batted an anemic .196 and struck out 136 times. He improved to .282
with a league-leading 36 home runs and .546 slugging percentage in 1974. He
also compiled 116 RBIs and was an All-Star for the first time. Schmidt followed
up in 1975 by again topping the NL in home runs with 38, to go along with 95
RBIs, a .249 average, .523 slugging percentage, and 29 stolen bases. He also
led the league in batter strikeouts (180) for the second straight year, but
also was second in assists by a third baseman with 368 and third in putouts
(132). The Phillies, who contended in ’75, won the AL East in 1976 and Schmidt
contributed another 38 home runs, including a record-tying four in a wild ten-inning,
18-16 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In addition to leading the NL in
homers for the third year in a row, he also led in total bases (306) while
hitting .262 with 107 RBIs and a .524 slugging percentage. “Schmitty” or
“Captain Cool” due to his calm and typically unemotional demeanor, also
received his first Gold Glove for his play at third base. Philadelphia went
quietly in the NLCS vs. Cincinnati, but Schmidt hit .308 and drove in two runs.
He remained productive in 1977 although his 38 home runs failed to lead the
league. But he batted .274 with 101 RBIs and a .574 slugging percentage. Hindered
by a hamstring injury during 1978, Schmidt had a lesser season at bat, hitting
.251 with only 21 home runs and 78 RBIs, although defensively he still received
another Gold Glove. He rebounded in 1979 by batting .253 with 45 home runs, 114
RBIs, a .564 slugging percentage, and drawing a league-high 120 walks. Through
his first seven years with the Phillies, Schmidt had been a four-time All-Star
who led the NL in home runs three times and received four Gold Gloves.
1980 Season Summary
Appeared in 150
games
3B – 149, PH –
1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 652 [16]
At Bats – 548
Runs – 104 [2]
Hits – 157
Doubles – 25
Triples – 8 [9,
tied with nine others]
Home Runs – 48
[1]
RBI – 121 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 89 [4]
Int. BB – 10
Strikeouts – 119
[2]
Stolen Bases – 12
Caught Stealing
– 5
Average - .286
[20]
OBP - .380 [4]
Slugging Pct. -
.624 [1]
Total Bases – 342
[1]
GDP – 6
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 13
[1]
League-leading home
runs were +13 ahead of runner-up Bob Horner
League-leading
RBIs were +12 ahead of runner-up George Hendrick
League-leading slugging
percentage was +.107 ahead of runner-up Jack Clark
League-leading
total bases were +35 ahead of runner-up Steve Garvey
Legue-leading
sac flies were +1 ahead of runner-up Dusty Baker
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 21, RBI – 57, AVG – .280., SLG – .608
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 6 AB) at Chi. Cubs 8/11 – 15 innings, (in 4 AB) at Montreal 4/18, (in 4
AB) vs. Atlanta 7/25 – 12 innings, (in 5 AB) at NY Mets 8/14
Longest hitting
streak – 9 games
HR at home – 25
HR on road – 23
Most home runs,
game – 2 on five occasions
Multi-HR games
– 5
Most RBIs, game
– 6 vs. NY Mets 4/22
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 1 (.000)
Fielding
Chances – 497
Put Outs – 98
Assists – 372
Errors – 27
DP – 31
Pct. - .946
Postseason
Batting: 11 G (NLCS vs. Houston – 5 G; World Series vs. KC – 6 G)
PA – 51, AB – 45,
R – 7, H – 13, 2B – 2,3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 8, BB – 5, IBB – 0, SO – 9, SB – 1,
CS – 0, AVG - .289, OBP - .353, SLG - .467, TB – 21, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 1 World Series MVP
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Gold Glove
Silver Slugger
All-Star
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Mike Schmidt,
Phila.: 336 pts. - 24 of 24 first place votes, 100% share
Gary Carter,
Mon.: 193 pts. – 57% share
Jose Cruz, Hou.:
166 pts. – 49% share
Dusty Baker,
LAD: 138 pts. – 41% share
Steve Carlton,
Phila.: 134 pts. – 40% share
---
Phillies went 91-71
to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 1 game over the Montreal Expos,
while leading the league in slugging (.400, tied with the St. Louis Cardinals)
& total bases (2248). Boosted by Schmidt’s hitting and LHP Steve Carlton
and reliever Tug McGraw’s pitching, first baseman Pete Rose’s leadership, and
solid performances from several rookies, the Phillies overcame a 6-game August
10 deficit and went 36-19 the rest of the way, including 6 of their last 7
games. Clinching the NL East title came down to a Schmidt home run that beat
Montreal in the 11th -inning in the season’s final weekend. Won NLCS
over the Houston Astros, 3 games to 2, which came down to a 10-inning win in
the deciding game. Won World Series over the Kansas City Royals, 4 games to 2,
for the first World Series triumph in franchise history.
Aftermath of ‘80:
Schmidt
followed up with another MVP year during the strike-shortened 1981 season as he
batted .316 with a NL-high 31 home runs, 91 RBIs, 78 runs scored, 73 walks
drawn, a .435 OBP, a .644 slugging percentage, and 228 total bases. The
Phillies reached the postseason but fell to Montreal in the first round.
Hampered by various injuries in 1982, Schmidt hit .280 with 35 home runs and 87
RBIs, leading the NL in walks drawn (107), OBP (.403), and slugging percentage
(.547). Philadelphia returned to the top of the NL East in 1983 and Schmidt won
the NL home run crown with 40, while hitting .255 with 109 RBIs. His .399
on-base percentage also topped the league as did his 128 bases on balls and 148
batter strikeouts. The Phillies won the pennant but lost the World Series. The
star third baseman placed third in league MVP balloting. In 1984 he tied
Atlanta’s Dale Murphy for the league lead in home runs with 36 while topping
the circuit along with Montreal’s Gary Carter in RBIs with 106 while batting
.277. During the 1985 season Schmidt was shifted to first base in an effort to reduce
wear and extend his career. Following a slow start at the plate, he again hit
.277, with 33 home runs and 93 RBIs. He adapted well defensively at first base.
Schmidt returned to third base in 1986 and received his third NL MVP award
after batting .290 and leading the league with 37 home runs, 119 RBIs, and a
.547 slugging percentage. He had one last big season in 1987, hitting .293 with
35 home runs and 113 RBIs. Various ailments limited Schmidt to 108 games in
1988, in which he produced 12 home runs, 62 RBIs, and a .249 batting average. At
the end of May in 1989, while struggling to come back from surgery for a torn
rotator cuff, Schmidt retired. Fans still voted him to the All-Star Game which
he appeared at as a uniformed non-participant. For his career, spent entirely
with the Phillies, Schmidt batted .267 with 2234 hits that included 408
doubles, 59 triples, and 548 home runs. He scored 1506 runs and compiled 1595
RBIs, 174 stolen bases, and drew 1507 walks. He had a career on-base percentage
of .380 and a .527 slugging percentage. Schmidt hit over 30 home runs in 13
seasons, reached 40 three times, and led the NL on eight occasions. Appearing
in 36 postseason games he hit .236 with 4 home runs and 16 RBIs. A 12-time
All-Star, Schmidt received 10 Gold Gloves for his fielding prowess at third
base, six Silver Slugger awards, and finished in the top 10 in league MVP
voting nine times. The Phillies retired his #20 and he was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995. A statue has been erected in his honor outside
of Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
No comments:
Post a Comment