Liberty Ball

 Mike Schmidt’s Hall of Fame career didn’t get off to a good start.  in fact in Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, James listed Mike Schmidt as having the worst rookie season of any player who’s in the Hall of Fame.  The only thing Schmidt seemed to do well was strikeout.  In only 367 at bats, Schmidt struck out 136 times and it would be the only season until 1988 where Schmidt had an OPS+ of less then 111. 

On June 27, 1973, Mike Schmidt had his first two homerun game.  He drove in five of the seven runs the Phillies scored in that game.  On August 10, 1973, Mike Schmidt had his only three hit game of the season and he also homered twice in that one.  Generally though, Schmidt wasn’t driving in runs unless he hit homeruns.  For most of the season he actually hovered right above the Mendoza line but after August 10, 1973, his batting average never got above .220.  He went 0 for 25 in the final seven games of the season and that dropped him below the .200 mark at seasons’ end.

Of course this would be the end of the bad for Mike Schmidt.  By 1974, he was already contending for the MVP and as Mike Schmidt went, the Phillies went and the team continually improved throughout the rest of the decade.

Here’s a look at Mike Schmidt’s numbers in 1973:

Games 132
AB 367
Runs 43
Hits 72
Doubles 11
Triples 0
Homeruns 18
RBIs 52
Walks 62
Strikeouts 136
Stolen Bases 8
Caught Stealing 2
BA .196
OBA .324
SLG% .373
OPS .697
RC 47
RCAA -9
RCAP -12
RC/G 4.09
ISO .177

For those of you who don’t stop by A Citizen’s Blog (why aren’t you) regularly, he’s recently been doing some fantastic columns that focus on the Wiz Kids and the 1950 Phillies.  The two latest columns are on Curt Simmons and Robin Roberts.

The Phillies signed Jamie Moyer for two more years and they’ll play him $10.5 million over the life of the contract.  When this thing expires, Moyer will be just short of 46 years old (unless the Phillies are in the World Series, then he might be playing still).  I have mixed feelings about this deal.  That seems like a lot of money to pay someone pushing 44 but left handers don’t grow on trees.  And it’s not like Moyer is a power pitcher who could lose his stuff.  He did have a pretty good run with the Phillies in September so if he can duplicate, we might have a bargain on our hands. 

It looks like the Phillies might be looking to deal Pat Burrell.  I’ve always been a fan of Burrell’s but this Jeckyl and Hyde, one season he’s good, one season not too good, is making it tough on the team.  The primary concern was protecting Ryan Howard, and Burrell didn’t do a very good job of that in 2006.  Jeff Conine would be the logical choice to fill in at left field unless the Phillies picked someone up on the free agent market to fill that spot.

Here’s an update on how the Phillies are doing in the Arizona Fall League.  Gavin Floyd had a rough start and Gio Gonzalez was roughed up as well.

Well, the Tigers are in and it’s between the Mets and the Cardinals in the National League.  Unfortunately, the Phillies are sitting this one out this year, again.  I’m rooting for the Tigers in this one.

The Phillies have had two deaths in the family the past week.  First there was Cory Lidle and his tragic plane crash.  And then Johnny Callison passed at the age of 67.  Callison was a great player for the Phillies and won the NL MVP back in 1964.  The outfielder was a three time All Star.

Gavin Floyd is one of seven Phillies playing in Arizona Fall League.  It sure would be nice if Floyd could get back on track.  Gio Gonzalez, who had a disappointing season at Double A after we got him the Jim Thome trade, also needs to work out some kinks.  You can follow the AFL up to it’s conclusion on November 18, 2006 at the official AFL website.

For the second straight season, the Phillies were in it until the final day.  This year they needed to win and get some help but I feel better this year because the team was given up for dead at the trade deadline.  Then again, if they hadn’t traded Abreu for nothing………

I’ll be running down the season in the next couple of weeks but let’s take one last look at the Phillies final series of the season.

Pat Burrell homered twice in the Phillies blowout win on Friday.  He scored four runs and drove in three while Jamie Moyer coasted to an easy win.  He was 5-2 while with the Phillies.  Scott Victorino also had a nice game.  He went five for six with three RBIs and two runs in the 14-2 blowout win.

The Phillies also got it done on Saturday.  Ryan Howard singled home Scott Victorino in the third inning to give the Phillies a 4-3 win and that was the first lead of the game for the Phillies.  Oddly, it would hold.  Randy Wolf pitched only 1 2/3 and Ryan Madson picked up the win.

The winning came to an end yesterday but the Phillies gave baseball fans a couple of extra innings to watch before checking in for the season.  It was fitting that Ryan Howard drove in the tying run in the seventh to send the game into extra frames but the Phillies lost in the eleventh on Danny Sandoval’s error at shortstop.

I may or may not do playoff predictions.  None of the teams in there really excite me.   I do find the Padres intriuging and I could always root for Abreu and Lidle for the Yankees but I think I’m going to have to wait and see until the games actually start.