Michael Jack Schmidt

We have a guest author today. He is a friend of mine who grew up right outside of Philly and who thinks that Mike Schmidt just may be God, so I thought he would say it a lot better than I why Schmidt deserved this poll. Let's just call him the Phanatic. As far as the Philly fans go, all I can say is there are no more loyal fans on earth. I heard Mo Vaughn on the radio yesterday and he said the only thing he regretted about joining the Angels was that he no longer played often in front of east coast fans. And he is right. The Vet, Yankee Stadium, and Mo's old haunt Fenway are rocking even if their team sucks that year. They just come to curse the players mothers in that case.

Quick, off the top of your heads….name a Hall of Famer who once wore a wig in pre-game as a mock disguise after making critical remarks about his hometown fans…..Of course the mock disguise symbolized the love-hate relationship the greatest thirdbaseman, Michael Jack Schmidt, held with the always critical Philadelphia fans. Neither side truly appreciated what they had until the dusk had fallen on #20’s career.

Often the debate of the greatest thirdbaseman intertwines Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt. Anyone who has ever watched Classic Sports or This Week in Baseball has seen Robinson’s famed glove grabs over at the hot corner. No one is saying that Robinson did not wield the most leather ever at the position. However, when one looks at Schmidt’s career numbers and mitigating circumstances the conclusion is easily reached.

On paper Schmitty’s career shows 548 dingers, 11 gold gloves, 3 MVPs and one World Series title. Those numbers in their own right punched his ticket to Cooperstown. But imagine playing night in and night out before crowds that boo every swing that does not produce a Homer, and maintaining fielding excellence on a concrete carpet that makes lightning bolt one-hoppers life-or-death predicaments. This was the life of this HOFer.

The truest sign of a great player is their reaction in clutch situations. Turn back to the 1980 championship run and Schmitty proved his greatness. With the Expos and Phillies locked in a tight battle for the NL East, he delivered the decisive blow to the Expos with a bomb off of Stan Bahnsen on the next to last day of the season. All he did from there on was win the World Series MVP with a .381 BA. You want drama? How about poking career HR #500 off of the Pirates Don Robinson in 1987 for a game winner? The main often seized the moment and made it his own.

When discussing thirdbasemen, the number one spot is reserved for #20 in the Candy Stripes. The man toiled under tremendous hometown scrutiny that often knuckles lesser men under. If Brooks Robinson played for the Phils instead of the friendly Baltimore folks, we would have booed his ass off the field.

Poll Topic: Greatest 20th Century Third Baseman
Mike Schmidt	40.3% - (129 Votes)
Brooks Robinson	31.8% - (102 Votes)
George Brett	15.9% - (51 Votes)
Ron Santo	3.1% - (10 Votes)
Wade Boggs	2.8% - (9 Votes)
Paul Molitor	2.1% - (7 Votes)
Pie Traynor	2.1% - (7 Votes)
Eddie Mathews	0.9% - (3 Votes)
Jimmy Collins	0.6% - (2 Votes)
Total Votes: 320