Mike Schmidt – Phillies/3B (1972-1989) Michael Jack Schmidt was the greatest third baseman of all time. He played his entire stellar career with the Phillies and is the team’s all-time leader in well over a dozen statistical categories. No other player in MLB history who played their entire career with one team hit as many home runs as Schmidt (548). He was named to the MLB All-Century Team and the MLB All-Time Team.
Schmidt was a 12-time All Star, 10-time Gold Glover, 6-time Silver Slugger, 3-time league MVP, 8-time HR leader, 4-time RBI leader and was the World Series MVP in 1980.
Schmidt once hit the public address speaker in Houston’s Astrodome. The speaker was 329 feet from Home plate and 117 feet above the playing surface. What could have been a 500+ foot Homer, only earned Schmidt a single.
After the 1980 World Series, Schmidt along with Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox, Dick Ruthven, and Del Unser faced off against the Kansas City Royals’ Dennis Leonard, Dan Quisenberry, Paul Splittorff, John Wathan, and Willie Wilson on the TV show Family Feud.
And who could ever forget the day Schmitty took the field in a long black wig and sunglasses! The Phillies retired Schmidt’s #20 and added him to their wall of fame in 1990. He entered Cooperstown in 1995.
