Mike Schmidt is right where he belongs on that list...
Schmidt is considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of major league baseball. Schmidt was voted National League MVP three times, an All-Star 12 times, and received more votes than any other
third baseman in 1999's
Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 1995, he was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 1980, Schmidt elevated his game, leading the league in home runs with 48 (by a margin of 13 over his nearest competitor), and winning the
National League's Most Valuable Player Award in a unanimous vote. He broke his own team home run record, which stood for 26 years until first baseman and 2006
National League MVP Ryan Howard hit 58 home runs in 2006. The Phillies won the
World Series for the first time in team history, defeating the
Kansas City Royals. Schmidt, who hit two homers and drove in seven runs, was selected as
World Series MVP.
In 1981, the Phillies again reached the
postseason and Schmidt won his second MVP Award, setting personal highs in batting average, on-base average, and slugging average during the strike-shortened season. In 1983, in celebration of the team's 100th anniversary, Schmidt was voted by fans the greatest player in the history of the franchise. That year, he led the Phillies back to the
World Series, but they were defeated by the
Baltimore Orioles.
Mike Schmidt is only one of two players who hit at least 300 home runs in the 1980s. The other is
Dale Murphy.
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
RBI four times,
OPS five times, and
walks four times. He was named to twelve
All-Star teams. Schmidt finished his career with 548 home runs and 1,595 RBI, two of the many Phillies career records he holds.
In 1995, Schmidt was voted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame with what was then the 4th-highest percentage ever, 96.52%.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference">
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Schmidt#cite_note-9</sup>(
Nolan Ryan and
George Brett surpassed his percentage in 1999).
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. Later that year, he was elected to the
Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
His uniform number 20 has been retired by the Phillies, and he has been honored with a statue outside the third-base gate at the team's home,
Citizens Bank Park.
He is the Phillies all-time leader in games played, at-bats, plate appearances, runs scored, hits, 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.
To say he is closer to the 190th than 19th best hitter of all time is ludicrous.
wil.
