GaryMrMets
02-26-2002, 05:03 PM
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news_story.jsp?article_id=mlb_20020225_schmidt _news&team_id=mlb
News
2/25/2002 6:30 pm ET
Welcome back, Michael Jack
Schmidt to spend 11 days as special hitting instructor
By Paul C. Smith
MLB.com
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- For the first time in nearly 13 years, Michael Jack Schmidt pulled on a No. 20 Philadelphia Phillies uniform and went to work at the batting cage.
There he found his old pals from the 1980s Phillies: Larry Bowa, Tug McGraw, Gregg Gross and John Vuckovich.
"It feels good," said Schmidt, on the first of his 11 spring days as a special hitting instructor. "I had a ball this morning with the (coaches) telling stories. We even had stories about some of the guys here who weren't on the Phillies, like (present coaches) Vern Ruhle and Ron Oester.
"Within a couple of hours though, Schmidt said he discovered that, for him, the game on the field was as different as the game off the field.
"Around the cage today, I didn't hear a word from the players, it was mute," Schmidt said. "When I played there was always some banter going back and forth, some chatter. We were always getting on each other. And we all knew what the other guys were working on in spring and we encouraged them. Just a 'nice hit' or 'way to stay with it.'"
Schmidt said he asked the Phillies hitters around the batting cage why they weren't mixing it up more and enjoying each other's company.
He said they didn't know.
"It's the makeup of the modern player," Schmidt said. "I don't blame anybody. That's just the way it is now. This is a tough time to play this game. It's hard to get close to the other players, to get the camaraderie. That's what happens when you don't know where your buddy is going to be playing next year.
"As a result, everybody is concentrating so much on what they are doing that they don't always know what's going on around them."
Those statements, of course, led Schmidt directly into a discussion of the Scott Rolen situation. Rolen has publicly stated his intent to become a free agent after this season because he doesn't believe Phillies ownership is prepared to do the things Rolen says need to be done to build a championship team.
Although Schmidt didn't say he agreed with Rolen's stance, the former Phillies third baseman said he and the current third baseman think a lot alike.
"He reminds me of me when I was playing," Schmidt said. "He needs to find a way to enjoy his existence as a Major League player more than he appears to. But I understand. He works hard. He does the right things and he likes things to be perfect around him.
"Neither one of us has the perfect personality to play in Philadelphia. You gotta kind of have a free-spirited attitude about life. I didn't and Scott doesn't."
But Schmidt said there was a good example of that attitude right there in Phillies camp.
"(Pitcher) Turk Wendell," Schmidt laughed. "It would be hard for him to come to the park and say he's going to be serious for the rest of his career. He's comfortable with who he is. It's hard to change your personality."
That having been said, Schmidt added that Rolen has to be true to his principles.
"I think he's taking a very noble stand," Schmidt said. "I don't think I would be able to turn down that kind of money. I would sign that (contract) as fast as I could in case I got hit by a car.
"But my situation was different. I had family in Philadelphia. I had kids. It was my home. I felt a kinship with the people. That was my life. You can't expect Scott to have that kind of sense of wanting to be part of the community. He doesn't have kids. He's not from there. He's only there when he's working."
Rolen, of course, appreciated what Schmidt said.
"I'm glad he said that," Rolen said. "I assume that means he respects my decision. I've always enjoyed talking to Mike Schmidt. There is a lot to learn from him.
"As far as our personalities being similar, we both like our privacy. He's told me that when we've talked before. That's nothing new. It's stuff I was already working on."
Schmidt said he told Rolen to try to learn from Schmidt's mistakes.
"I know he had some issues with the media and fans in Philadelphia at times," Rolen said. "It is not my intention to follow that course."
But Rolen already has gotten lots of feedback from his decision, not all of it positive, and some of his teammates do not understand why he is doing what he is.
"It saddens me that the game has come to this," Schmidt said. "But (Rolen's situation) is a perfect example of the trouble the game is in. Baseball is in a scary period right now, from my vantage point. It's so hard for teams to compete."
Schmidt then delivered his vision for the future of MLB.
"I think there will be eight (large market) teams in each league by 2020, that's my prediction," Schmidt said. "The other teams, those with a payroll under $50-60 million, will become minor league teams, sort of Quadruple-A. It's that way now, sort of, with eight teams that don't have a chance."
Fear not, MLB fans in small market areas. Schmidt's predictions have been off the mark before.
"I said last year that there was no way (the Phillies) could compete with the Mets and Braves," Schmidt said. "They proved me wrong."
Schmidt said because of the changes in the game that he was, "terribly thankful," that his career happened when it did. He said the salaries today are unbelievable.
"(Phillies outfielder Bobby) Abreu makes the same amount in one year that I made in my whole career, and I was the top player in the game for five or six years," Schmidt said. "But I was glad I played in the age of free agency. There were guys like (Hank) Aaron and (Willie) Mays who were never that fortunate."
Schmidt will spend most of his time in Phillies camp working with power hitters, such as Rolen, Abreu, Pat Burrell and Mike Lieberthal.
"Burrell and I are a lot alike in terms of our free-swinging styles," Schmidt said. "He's the kind of guy I can relate to from a mental standpoint. I kind of know what's going on inside his head. There is a six or seven day period now when he has a chance to try some things."
Burrell said he was a very willing pupil on the master's first day of teaching.
"We were just talking about some of the things he did," Burrell said. "We talked about the plane of the bat (through the hitting zone) and all the changes he made throughout his career. They really helped."
With so many young players eager to learn, why did it take so long for Schmidt to return to the only team he knew in his 18-year, 548-homer career?
"I've been invited before but I needed specifics about what I was going to do," Schmidt said. "This time, I was invited by Larry, Ed Wade and (owner) Dave Montgomery and was assigned to work with specific hitters about the evolution of hitting.
"I had a chance to talk to a lot of the players this morning, getting to know them a little, but what I really want is an hour alone with them to work on things. Some of it will be remembered. Some of it will not."
Schmidt, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, has not completely dropped out of sports.
"I've been off doing other things," Schmidt said. "I'm hot in pursuit of a career in golf, which I don't think is going to happen."
Schmidt made it to the finals in his first year of eligibility for the Senior PGA Tour (at age 50) but missed the cut by three strokes for the qualifying tournament this year.
"I'm seeing a golf psychologist next week to try to figure out the mental aspects of the game," Schmidt said. "When you tee it up for money, it's a totally different game."
Schmidt said he wouldn't rule out a return to baseball someday but that he had no motivation for getting back in right now.
"Not unless they'll let me manage from my living room with a cell phone," Schmidt said.
Paul C. Smith is a reporter for MLB.com based in Tampa. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/mlb/photo/2002_news/s/schmidt_mike/0225schmidt_mikeB288.jpg
Schmidt schools current third baseman Scott Rolen on the first of 11 days he will spend as a special hitting instructor.
News
2/25/2002 6:30 pm ET
Welcome back, Michael Jack
Schmidt to spend 11 days as special hitting instructor
By Paul C. Smith
MLB.com
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- For the first time in nearly 13 years, Michael Jack Schmidt pulled on a No. 20 Philadelphia Phillies uniform and went to work at the batting cage.
There he found his old pals from the 1980s Phillies: Larry Bowa, Tug McGraw, Gregg Gross and John Vuckovich.
"It feels good," said Schmidt, on the first of his 11 spring days as a special hitting instructor. "I had a ball this morning with the (coaches) telling stories. We even had stories about some of the guys here who weren't on the Phillies, like (present coaches) Vern Ruhle and Ron Oester.
"Within a couple of hours though, Schmidt said he discovered that, for him, the game on the field was as different as the game off the field.
"Around the cage today, I didn't hear a word from the players, it was mute," Schmidt said. "When I played there was always some banter going back and forth, some chatter. We were always getting on each other. And we all knew what the other guys were working on in spring and we encouraged them. Just a 'nice hit' or 'way to stay with it.'"
Schmidt said he asked the Phillies hitters around the batting cage why they weren't mixing it up more and enjoying each other's company.
He said they didn't know.
"It's the makeup of the modern player," Schmidt said. "I don't blame anybody. That's just the way it is now. This is a tough time to play this game. It's hard to get close to the other players, to get the camaraderie. That's what happens when you don't know where your buddy is going to be playing next year.
"As a result, everybody is concentrating so much on what they are doing that they don't always know what's going on around them."
Those statements, of course, led Schmidt directly into a discussion of the Scott Rolen situation. Rolen has publicly stated his intent to become a free agent after this season because he doesn't believe Phillies ownership is prepared to do the things Rolen says need to be done to build a championship team.
Although Schmidt didn't say he agreed with Rolen's stance, the former Phillies third baseman said he and the current third baseman think a lot alike.
"He reminds me of me when I was playing," Schmidt said. "He needs to find a way to enjoy his existence as a Major League player more than he appears to. But I understand. He works hard. He does the right things and he likes things to be perfect around him.
"Neither one of us has the perfect personality to play in Philadelphia. You gotta kind of have a free-spirited attitude about life. I didn't and Scott doesn't."
But Schmidt said there was a good example of that attitude right there in Phillies camp.
"(Pitcher) Turk Wendell," Schmidt laughed. "It would be hard for him to come to the park and say he's going to be serious for the rest of his career. He's comfortable with who he is. It's hard to change your personality."
That having been said, Schmidt added that Rolen has to be true to his principles.
"I think he's taking a very noble stand," Schmidt said. "I don't think I would be able to turn down that kind of money. I would sign that (contract) as fast as I could in case I got hit by a car.
"But my situation was different. I had family in Philadelphia. I had kids. It was my home. I felt a kinship with the people. That was my life. You can't expect Scott to have that kind of sense of wanting to be part of the community. He doesn't have kids. He's not from there. He's only there when he's working."
Rolen, of course, appreciated what Schmidt said.
"I'm glad he said that," Rolen said. "I assume that means he respects my decision. I've always enjoyed talking to Mike Schmidt. There is a lot to learn from him.
"As far as our personalities being similar, we both like our privacy. He's told me that when we've talked before. That's nothing new. It's stuff I was already working on."
Schmidt said he told Rolen to try to learn from Schmidt's mistakes.
"I know he had some issues with the media and fans in Philadelphia at times," Rolen said. "It is not my intention to follow that course."
But Rolen already has gotten lots of feedback from his decision, not all of it positive, and some of his teammates do not understand why he is doing what he is.
"It saddens me that the game has come to this," Schmidt said. "But (Rolen's situation) is a perfect example of the trouble the game is in. Baseball is in a scary period right now, from my vantage point. It's so hard for teams to compete."
Schmidt then delivered his vision for the future of MLB.
"I think there will be eight (large market) teams in each league by 2020, that's my prediction," Schmidt said. "The other teams, those with a payroll under $50-60 million, will become minor league teams, sort of Quadruple-A. It's that way now, sort of, with eight teams that don't have a chance."
Fear not, MLB fans in small market areas. Schmidt's predictions have been off the mark before.
"I said last year that there was no way (the Phillies) could compete with the Mets and Braves," Schmidt said. "They proved me wrong."
Schmidt said because of the changes in the game that he was, "terribly thankful," that his career happened when it did. He said the salaries today are unbelievable.
"(Phillies outfielder Bobby) Abreu makes the same amount in one year that I made in my whole career, and I was the top player in the game for five or six years," Schmidt said. "But I was glad I played in the age of free agency. There were guys like (Hank) Aaron and (Willie) Mays who were never that fortunate."
Schmidt will spend most of his time in Phillies camp working with power hitters, such as Rolen, Abreu, Pat Burrell and Mike Lieberthal.
"Burrell and I are a lot alike in terms of our free-swinging styles," Schmidt said. "He's the kind of guy I can relate to from a mental standpoint. I kind of know what's going on inside his head. There is a six or seven day period now when he has a chance to try some things."
Burrell said he was a very willing pupil on the master's first day of teaching.
"We were just talking about some of the things he did," Burrell said. "We talked about the plane of the bat (through the hitting zone) and all the changes he made throughout his career. They really helped."
With so many young players eager to learn, why did it take so long for Schmidt to return to the only team he knew in his 18-year, 548-homer career?
"I've been invited before but I needed specifics about what I was going to do," Schmidt said. "This time, I was invited by Larry, Ed Wade and (owner) Dave Montgomery and was assigned to work with specific hitters about the evolution of hitting.
"I had a chance to talk to a lot of the players this morning, getting to know them a little, but what I really want is an hour alone with them to work on things. Some of it will be remembered. Some of it will not."
Schmidt, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, has not completely dropped out of sports.
"I've been off doing other things," Schmidt said. "I'm hot in pursuit of a career in golf, which I don't think is going to happen."
Schmidt made it to the finals in his first year of eligibility for the Senior PGA Tour (at age 50) but missed the cut by three strokes for the qualifying tournament this year.
"I'm seeing a golf psychologist next week to try to figure out the mental aspects of the game," Schmidt said. "When you tee it up for money, it's a totally different game."
Schmidt said he wouldn't rule out a return to baseball someday but that he had no motivation for getting back in right now.
"Not unless they'll let me manage from my living room with a cell phone," Schmidt said.
Paul C. Smith is a reporter for MLB.com based in Tampa. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/mlb/photo/2002_news/s/schmidt_mike/0225schmidt_mikeB288.jpg
Schmidt schools current third baseman Scott Rolen on the first of 11 days he will spend as a special hitting instructor.