Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 18-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1972 to 1989. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a three-time winner of the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player award (MVP), and he was known for his combination of power hitting and strong defense. As a hitter, he compiled 548 home runs and 1,595 runs batted in (RBIs), and led the NL in home runs eight times and in RBIs four times. As a fielder, Schmidt won the National League Gold Glove Award for third basemen ten times. Schmidt was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 in his first year of eligibility, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest third basemen in baseball history.
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."
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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. Schmidt was a lifeguard at the club.
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.
Schmidt was a standout athlete in both Little League Baseball and in three sports at Fairview High School in Dayton, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1967. However, knee surgeries ended his participation in basketball and football. He then attended Ohio University in Athens, where he joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Baseball career
Amateur career
At Ohio University, Schmidt led the Ohio Bobcats baseball team to the College World Series in 1970 and was selected as the shortstop for the 1970 College Baseball All-America Team. Schmidt was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft, 30th overall.
Minor Leagues
On June 11, 1971, Schmidt was signed by Phillies scout Tony Lucadello, who had followed him since high school. 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. Schmidt stayed in Reading, spending the rest of the 1971 season at the Double-A level. In 1972, he was promoted to the Triple-A Eugene 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.
Major Leagues
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. Four days later, in Philadelphia on September 16, Schmidt ended Montreal Expos pitcher Balor Moore's streak of 25 scoreless innings pitched with his first career home run.
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.
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. 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. For the season, Schmidt finished sixth in National League Most 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.
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 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.
Career statistics
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.
Post-playing career and accolades
In 1990, Schmidt was named "The Player of the Decade" of the 1980s by The Sporting News.
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 1995, on his first ballot, Schmidt was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with what was at the time the fourth highest voting percentage ever, 96.52%.
In 1997, Schmidt was elected as the starting third-baseman by the Baseball Writers' Association of America to the Major League Baseball All-Time Team. The event was celebrated at the 1997 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1999, he ranked number 28 on The Sporting News's list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking third baseman, and the highest-ranking player whose career began after 1967.
Also in 1999, he was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the starting third-baseman. The event was celebrated at the 1999 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Boston, Massachusetts.Schmidt was honored with a statue outside the third-base gate at Citizens Bank Park in 2004.
On September 27, 2006, Schmidt was announced as the Phillies representative for the DHL Hometown Heroes promotion, beating out Steve Carlton, Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts and Chuck Klein as most outstanding player in Phillies history.
Coaching
Starting in 2002, Schmidt worked with the Phillies as a hitting coach during each Spring training. In October 2003, Schmidt was named the manager of the Phillies' Single A Florida State League affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers. He managed them for just the 2004 season, then resigned. In 2009, he served as third base coach for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
Broadcasting
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. 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.
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. In 1991, they bought an 8,500 square foot house in the Admiral’s Cove golf community in Jupiter, Florida for $425,000.
In 2014, Schmidt disclosed that he had stage-3 melanoma in the summer of 2013, but that he was now cancer-free. 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.
Philanthropy
In 2001, Schmidt began sponsoring an annual fishing tournament in Grand Bahama Island. It has raised a total of over $2.5 million for charities including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, American Cancer Society, and Cleveland Clinic.
In 2008, Schmidt released a wine called Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, a reference to his 548 career home runs, with proceeds also going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
He also regularly participates in charity golf tournaments.