Third Baseman, Philadelphia Phillies
Age: 32 (Sept. 27)
9th season
with Phillies
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’2” Weight: 195
Prior to 1981:
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. Following a down year in 1979, the Phillies returned to the top of
the NL East and went on to win the first World Series title in team history in
1980, and Schmidt was a big part of it, leading the NL in home runs (48), RBIs
(121), slugging (.624), and total bases (342) while also hitting .286 with 104
runs scored, earning league MVP recognition for the first time. He was also MVP
of the World Series victory over the Kansas City Royals, batting .381 with two
home runs and 7 RBIs in the six games.
1981 Season Summary
Appeared in 102
games
3B – 101, PH –
1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 434 [20]
At Bats – 354
Runs – 78 [1]
Hits – 112 [14,
tied with George Hendrick]
Doubles – 19 [19,
tied with seven others]
Triples – 2
Home Runs – 31
[1]
RBI – 91 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 73 [1]
Int. BB – 18
[1]
Strikeouts – 71
[8]
Stolen Bases – 12
Caught Stealing
– 4
Average - .316
[4]
OBP - .435 [1]
Slugging Pct. -
.644 [1]
Total Bases – 228
[1]
GDP – 9 [20,
tied with ten others]
Hit by Pitches
– 4 [5, tied with six others]
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 3
League-leading
runs scored were +5 ahead of runner-up Pete Rose
League-leading home
runs were +7 ahead of runner-up Andre Dawson
League-leading
RBIs were +1 ahead of runner-up George Foster
League-leading
bases on balls drawn were +7 ahead of runner-up Joe Morgan
League-leading
intentional bases on balls drawn were +4 ahead of runner-up Andre Dawson
League-leading
OBP was +.022 ahead of runner-up Bill Madlock
League-leading slugging
percentage was +.091 ahead of runner-up Andre Dawson
League-leading
total bases were +10 ahead of runner-up Andre Dawson
---
Midseason
snapshot: HR - 14, RBI - 41, AVG - .284, SLG - .582, OBP – .381
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) vs. San Diego 5/8
Longest hitting
streak – 13 games
HR at home – 17
HR on road – 14
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. San Francisco 5/3, (in 5 AB) vs. San Diego 5/8
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 5 vs. San Diego 5/8
Pinch-hitting –
1 for 1 (1.000) with 1 HR & 3 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 338
Put Outs – 74
Assists – 249
Errors – 15
DP – 20
Pct. - .956
Postseason
Batting: 5 G (NLDS vs. Montreal)
PA – 20, AB – 16,
R – 3, H – 4, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 2, BB – 4, IBB – 1, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS
– 0, AVG - .250, OBP - .400, SLG - .500, TB – 8, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF –
0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Gold Glove
Silver Slugger
All-Star
(Started at 3B for NL)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Mike Schmidt,
Phila.: 321 pts. - 21 of 24 first place votes, 96% share
Andre Dawson,
Mon.: 215 pts. – 2 first place votes, 64% share
George Foster,
Cin.: 146 pts. – 43% share
Dave
Concepcion, Cin.: 108 pts. – 32% share
Fernando
Valenzuela, LAD.: 90 pts. – 1 first place vote, 27% share
---
In a season in
which was interrupted by a players’ strike for nearly two months, the Phillies
went 34-21 in the first half, finishing first in the NL Eastern Division, 1.5
games ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. In the second half of the season
that followed the strike, they were 25-27 to finish third in the division by
4.5 games behind the Montreal Expos. Compiling an overall record of 59-48, they
led the league in runs scored (491), hits (1002), RBIs (453), batting (.273),
OBP (.341), slugging (.389), and total bases (1424). Paced by Schmidt’s hitting
and the pitching of LHP Steve Carlton, as during the previous season, the Phillies
were rolling along at the time of the strike and never regained their footing
when the season resumed. Lost NLDS to the Montreal Expos, 3 games to 2, as the
Expos won the first two games in Montreal, the Phillies won the next two in
Philadelphia, and Game 5 in Philadelphia went to the Expos behind the shutout
pitching of RHP Steve Rogers.
Aftermath of ‘81:
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.
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