Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt had many great moments in a Phillies uniform. Here are the top ten moments of Schmidt’s Career
There has been an unmistakably remarkable enthusiasm for Phillies baseball since the signing of Bryce Harper to the longest, most lucrative contract in MLB history. If Harper plays out his full 13 years, he will be the fourth-longest tenured Phillie in franchise history, behind only Mike Schmidt, Jimmy Rollins, and Steve Carlton. The Harper era is set to begin with likely plenty of astounding moments. We take a look back at the top moments for the franchise’s best player of all time, Michael Jack Schmidt.
10. Monster Shot off Speaker in Astrodome (June 10, 1974)
Schmidt struggled in the early part of his career, hovering around .200 batting average with 19 home runs and 151 strikeouts in 483 at-bats. He began showing his incredible power potential in 1974, blasting 14 home runs by June 9.
On the night of June 10, Schmidt hit a remarkable blast in the first inning off of Claude Osteen (who later became the pitching coach for the Phillies). With Larry Bowa at first and Dash Cash at second, Schmidt smashed a ball off a public-address speaker hanging from the roof of the Astrodome in center field. At nearly 300 feet from home plate and 117 feet in the air, the speaker got in the way of a sure mammoth home run. The ball fell into the field of play and the long shot turned out to be a single with runners advancing one base.
The Phillies won the game, 12-0 and Schmidt ended up leading league home runs with 36 and in slugging percentage at .546.