1983: Portrait of Philadelphia Phillies infielder Mike Schmidt posing in the batting cage with a bat over his shoulder. He wears his uniform. (Photo by Photo File/Getty Images)

Happy Birthday to Mike Schmidt, one of if not the greatest Third Baseman to have ever played. In his 18-year career, he only played for the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1972-1989):

.267 BA 2,234 HITS 548 HR 1,595 RBI 1,506 RUNS .380 OBP

  • 12x All-Star
  • 10x Gold Glove
  •   6x Silver Slugger
  •   3x MVP (1980, 1981 & 1986)
  •  1980 World Series Champion & MVP

Ask any Phillie fan who is the greatest player in franchise history, and if they don’t say, Schmidt, they should have their head examined. At the plate, he was a pure power hitter. Eight times, he led the league in Home Runs; four times, he led the league in RBIs and Walks; three times consecutively, he led in OBP. While he did Strikeout 1,883 times, Schmidt drew 1,507 career Walks. In all three years, he won the MVP; he did it by leading the league in both HR and RBI. 

Defensively, Schmidt took home 10 Gold Glove Awards, nine consecutively. In just about every year in which he played 100 or more games at Third Base, his Fielding Percentage was always multiple points above the league average for other Third Baseman. Only Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mike Schmidt have 500 HR/10 Gold Gloves.

As well as being a great Hitter and Fielder, Schmidt has that one defining moment in his career. In 1980, not only did the Phillies win the World Series, but he was also named the series MVP, in which he batted .381 while homering twice and driving in seven runs.

Schmidt had himself a Hall of Fame-worthy career, just on offense alone, but defensively, he was excellent, and for my dollar, there isn’t any debate on who the greatest Third Baseman of all time is. In his career, Schmidt hit over 500 Home Runs and 1,500 Runs Batted In, which are two critical milestones that cement you as a Hall of Fame hitter. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, receiving induction in 1995; however, 16 writers didn’t vote for him, which is ridiculous. The year after he retired, the Phillies retired his #20 jersey. In 1999, the Sporting News ranked him #28 on their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, with him being the highest-ranked Third Baseman.

References:

  1. Mike Schmidt via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Schmidt#
  2. Mike Schmidt Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/schmimi01.shtml