Phillies GOAT - Third Base

Only 15 other players in baseball history hit more home runs. He's in the Top 40 all time for RBI and the Top 75 for runs scored. He's a 3-time National League MVP and a 12-time all-star with 10 Gold Gloves and 6 Silver Sluggers. Mike Schmidt is the greatest third baseman in Phillies history and one of the best ever to play the position.

More? He's 52nd all time with a slugging percentage of .527; 56th all time in OPS; and 23rd all time in offensive WAR. He played in 2,404 games with 10, 062 plate appearances. He holds the Phillies team record for games, runs, home runs, RBI, and walks, and is second in doubles and hits.

Schmidt was a frequent target of Philadelphia's notoriously tough fans. In 1985, he said something disparaging about the fans to a reporter while the team was in Montreal. How he didn't think word would get back to Philadelphia is beyond me. Fans were ready to destroy Schmidt in his return to Philadelphia. So what did he do? He trotted out for warmups wearing a wig and glasses and Veterans Stadium burst into laughter. This was the turning point in his relationship with the fans.

Schmidt's defense was astounding. When we were kids, we'd throw ground balls to each other and try to duplicate Schmidt's barehanded grab and throw. We called it the Mike Schmidt School of Barehanding.