# Mike Schmidt AP column on the :unwritten rules of baseball" **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 25, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104 "2016-03-25T05:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/21 "2016-03-29T22:13:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Obviously the 28-year-old Goldschmidt, one of the best hitters in the major leagues, is just a “grumpy old man” when it comes to celebratory self-promotion. :dubious: Are you being facetious? I can’t tell. Because at no point has anyone suggested that players that don’t flip their bat after series-swinging home runs are “grumpy old men”. They’re saying that people who bitch and moan about bat-flippers are. The article you link makes Goldschmidt out to be a perfect gentleman - certainly not someone who’d get their panties all bunched up about a few fist pumps. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/22 "2016-03-29T22:36:50Z")
I see recently that Carlos Gomez, now with the Astros, hit a HR in ST and did some kind of “Dub thing” (whatever the \*\*\*\* that is) But he did it against The Braves. I don’t really have a point other than to say he’s probably going to get buzzed in the season. “A little dub will do ya” ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/23 "2016-03-30T00:15:40Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I see recently that Carlos Gomez, now with the Astros, hit a HR in ST and did some kind of “Dub thing” (whatever the \*\*\*\* that is) “Dab”. It’s a Cam Newton thing. And it’s a passingly minor thing to do. [Here’s a video](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/rob-dibble-goes-after-carlos-gomez-for-home-run-celebration--loses-164536855.html). The fainting couch is to the right if it’s just too much for you. > [@](#): > > But he did it against The Braves. I don’t really have a point other than to say he’s probably going to get buzzed in the season. I’ll bet you $100 he won’t (by the Braves). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/24 "2016-03-30T00:36:00Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > “Dab”. It’s a Cam Newton thing. And it’s a passingly minor thing to do. [Here’s a video](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/rob-dibble-goes-after-carlos-gomez-for-home-run-celebration--loses-164536855.html). The fainting couch is to the right if it’s just too much for you. That bit when he looked like he sneezed? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/25 "2016-03-30T02:01:30Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > “Dab”. It’s a Cam Newton thing. And it’s a passingly minor thing to do. [Here’s a video](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/rob-dibble-goes-after-carlos-gomez-for-home-run-celebration--loses-164536855.html). The fainting couch is to the right if it’s just too much for you. > I’ll bet you $100 he won’t (by the Braves). Ha! So the Braves have no interleague games with Houston? I’m going to need big odds if I have the Braves and Astros in the WS ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/26 "2016-03-30T02:07:25Z")
Also thanks for the link about Rob Dibble…good for Carlos Gomez for taking the high road and I disagree with the author about Dibble backing down. It seemed to be more like “Oh. Carlos didn’t bite on me being an asshole. Well…God bless you too. I guess we’re done.” ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/27 "2016-03-30T05:09:46Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Obviously the 28-year-old Goldschmidt, one of the best hitters in the major leagues, is just a “grumpy old man” when it comes to celebratory self-promotion. :dubious: Only if he insists his way is the only “right” way. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/28 "2016-03-30T12:15:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > That bit when he looked like he sneezed? Heh, yup. It’s as innocuous as it is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/29 "2016-04-07T11:20:30Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > The one thing he avoided is that of all the sports, with the possible exception of NASCAR, no other enforcement of the “unwritten rule” of not showing up a rival is more dangerous to the human life than a 90 mph fastball aimed at your head. Probably because he [Schmidt’] recognises that for the tosh & nonsense it is;. There is at least one other sport where if you breach an unwritten rule, or otherwise diss the pitcher/bowler or they simply don’t like your haircut, then you may well get a pitch/delivery of that sort of velocity aimed at your body. And if he hits you on the gloves or the body or the helmet in cricket, then you don’t get given first base out of sympathy, evacuated to safety from the heat of the batting box and improving your batting average to boot. You face the next one. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/30 "2016-04-07T13:51:54Z")
On the other hand, any sane person would rather get a 90 mph fastball to the head than be forced to watch cricket. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/31 "2016-04-07T16:01:16Z")
There was a good article in the NY Times about this: [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/magazine/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-baseball.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/magazine/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-baseball.html) > [@](#): > > The Griffey showdown was one in a long line of coded racial arguments, minor battles between two types: the “standard” white player and his nonwhite foil. The archetype of the white baseball player has always been a study in negative space. He does not flip his bat after home runs. He does not insult the hard-working fans with talk about politics. He never takes more than one day at a time. As a result, he cannot exist without a foil to embody all those “flashy” or “hotheaded” or “provocative” things he is not. The foils, of course, have generally been black. But as the demographics of the sport have changed, so, too, has this dynamic. He mentions that the foils are now Latinos as in the Bautista bat flip brouhaha. > [@](#): > > Baseball still has the power to create the sorts of moments that turn rebellious kids into lifelong fans. This past October, José Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays emphatically flung his bat up the first base line after hitting a dramatic, late-inning home run in the playoffs, an outburst that shot into every corner of social media. Bautista almost seemed to be staking out new turf in what was considered acceptable — it was the most unapologetic bat flip I can recall seeing in the Major Leagues — and so, predictably, it generated controversy. Nearly five months later, Goose Gossage, the crotchety Hall of Fame closer, told an ESPN reporter that “Bautista is a [expletive] disgrace to the game. He’s embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him.” (Really Goose?) In addition, Bryce Harper let his feelings on the issue be known in a fantastic way (by wearing a “Make Baseball Fun Again” hat): > **[Deadspin | Check Out Bryce Harper's "Make Baseball Fun Again" Hat](https://deadspin.com/check-out-bryce-harpers-making-baseball-fun-again-hat-1769021008/)** > > Deadspin | Check Out Bryce Harper's "Make Baseball Fun Again" Hat ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/32 "2016-04-07T18:45:53Z")
Does anyone actually believe that the “look at me” behavior actually draws fans to the game? Baseball is, for all intents, boring. Bautista’s bat flip doesn’t change that. I don’t think kids are saying “oooh! Let’s go to a baseball game because someone might hit a homer and flip his bat!” You either like the pace of baseball or you don’t. The last game I went to, I looked around the stands and just about EVERYONE had a cell phone, and their heads were buried into it constantly. People have such short attention spans now, they find it impossible to sit through a 3-hour game without being “entertained.” If you want to get a different perspective, find an old baseball game from the 1970’s on MLB Network or ESPN classic. Take a look around the stadium. No ads. No visual noise. No real distractions. Maybe a team had a new “electronic scoreboard”, but that was it. Honestly, people could go to a 3 hour game without a cell phone and actually ENJOY themselves without the audio/visual bombardment! Now? Honestly, I don’t think people can function without some electronic gizmo in their hand, playing candy crush or talking to their BFF every 5 seconds. We have turned into a nation of mouth-breathing, brain-dead whiners who expect everything RIGHT NOW! No one savors a moment any more. Anything slow is not enjoyed, it is criticized. Baseball is a slow game. It has a pace. I also think that making it into a racial issue isn’t exactly accurate. Ask Jim Brown what he thinks of the celebratory gyrations in today’s NFL, and he sounds as grumpy as Mike Schmidt. It is a generational issue. Making it racial is just lazy, and makes for more mouse clicks… But it doesn’t address the real problem, which IMO is that players like Schmidt see a game they loved being disrespected by the new generation of players. Whether you agree or not has a lot more to do with your age than your color. Now get off my lawn. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/33 "2016-04-07T19:30:05Z")
I do think the clamping down on fairly natural expressions of joy when a player, say, hits a home run or strikes out a player does INDEED have an effect on how baseball is perceived. These type of unwritten rules tend to put into people’s minds that baseball is a stuffy game. A lot of getting into a sport isn’t necessarily ‘you like the pace or your don’t’ - there is so much in terms of sports entertainment options out there that in a lot of cases people have to actively give a sport a chance, as opposed to being told, there is only one sport you can watch right now, so if you want to watch sports here you go. I think that people aren’t interested in giving baseball a chance when things like unwritten rules occur and the unofficial powers that be look like jackasses. I find it interesting that Schmidt is so upset about a game they love being ‘disrespected’ when he played in the same era as someone who was as flamboyant as Rickey Henderson, but oh well. And yes, when the complaints about celebrations that are done mostly by folks who are African-American or Latino, who tend to play the game with a different enthusiasm than white Americans, then it is racially based. Very much so. And the draw of baseball has ALWAYS been that it is a ‘leisure game’. While you may not have been on your phone during a game, there was always the notion that you could engage in a good conversation with your friends while the game was on. Hell, that is most apparent today when you listen to the commentators in the box. Sometimes they are so wrapped up in their conversation that they miss a call. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/34 "2016-04-07T23:23:32Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > If you want to get a different perspective, find an old baseball game from the 1970’s on MLB Network or ESPN classic. Take a look around the stadium. No ads. No visual noise. No real distractions. Maybe a team had a new “electronic scoreboard”, but that was it. There were also far fewer fans there. Those that were there were likelier to be drunk and disorderly. > [@](#): > > Anything slow is not enjoyed, it is criticized. Baseball is a slow game. It has a pace. Well, that would explain why baseball attendance has collapsed. Wait, baseball attendance HASN’T collapsed. If people are bored by baseball now why are they buying so many tickets? > [@](#): > > But it doesn’t address the real problem, which IMO is that players like Schmidt see a game they loved being disrespected by the new generation of players. That’s not a real problem. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/35 "2016-04-07T23:30:55Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > Does anyone actually believe that the “look at me” behavior actually draws fans to the game? What’s to believe, when that’s literally the very first time I’ve ever seen it mentioned as being a possible argument that exists? Please, enlighten me. Who has made that argument? ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/36 "2016-04-08T15:13:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There were also far fewer fans there. Those that were there were likelier to be drunk and disorderly. I would tend to agree about fewer fans, but I don’t know the actual numbers. I don’t think you can throw a blanket comment about drunk and disorderly fans, though. I’ve seen drunks at every game I have ever gone to. Not good in any era. > [@RickJay](#): > > Well, that would explain why baseball attendance has collapsed. Wait, baseball attendance HASN’T collapsed. If people are bored by baseball now why are they buying so many tickets? There are a number of reasons. Baseball is marketing itself better than ever, for one. Television and cable access have made games available 24/7 during the season. Also, the massive, dual purpose stadiums are no longer in use. When you reduce the seating capacity from 60,000 to say 35,000, a demand is created that wasn’t there before. Corporations are buying many of the seats now and giving them to their employees on occassion. There are other reasons. But I do not believe one of the reasons is because player “look at me” demonstrations. Of course, I could be wrong on this point. But thinking someone is going to a ballgame just to see a big bat-flip is as likely as going a ballgame to see a no-hitter. You just can’t predict something like that. And you also make my point. People are going to games in droves (except in Miami), so the game is not in need for some drastic overhaul. Everyone keeps trying to tweak something that is working just fine. And that includes baseball’s “unwritten” rules. > [@RickJay](#): > > That’s not a real problem. Not to you. I was referring to why Mike Schmitt was complaining. > [@Munch](#): > > What’s to believe, when that’s literally the very first time I’ve ever seen it mentioned as being a possible argument that exists? Please, enlighten me. Who has made that argument? In this thread, I don’t think anyone. I put that in because that is often one of the things associated with the Bautista bat flip and other types of “look at me” behavior. That kind of behavior is supposed to excite fans, make the game more appealing to the younger demographic, etc. I should have clarified my statement. I think whoever mentioned the Pete Rose “ball spike” was the same thing as the bat flip is correct. No argument here. The difference was, Pete could have been drilled the next time up at bat for his behavior, and I think the prevailing belief at the time would have been “you deserved it.” Now, plunking a guy in the ribs with a fastball is considered “verboten”. I liked that baseball could police itself that way. I personally don’t like the “look at me” mentality of today’s athlete, in ANY sport. Everyone seems to practice something that will get them on SportsCenter every night. I am weary of the “branding” aspect of today’s athlete. But I suppose that’s just the way it is (cue Bruce Hornsby). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/37 "2016-04-08T15:42:17Z")
> [@crypto](#): > > I would tend to agree about fewer fans, but I don’t know the actual numbers. I don’t think you can throw a blanket comment about drunk and disorderly fans, though. I’ve seen drunks at every game I have ever gone to. Not good in any era. As for the latter point, drunk fans were a really bad problem 40 years ago, I assure you. Far more so than now. As to the former, average MLB per game attendance is now twice as high as it was in 1976, to use a convenient 40-year-ago reference point, despite the market having been expanded by six teams since then… [QUOTE] But I do not believe one of the reasons is because player “look at me” demonstrations. Of course, I could be wrong on this point. But thinking someone is going to a ballgame just to see a big bat-flip is as likely as going a ballgame to see a no-hitter. You just can’t predict something like that.[/.QUOTE] As has been pointed out, you are arguing against a point no one has made. Not a soul has suggested bat flips are important to the sport’s popularity. What you did say was that > [@](#): > > Honestly, people could go to a 3 hour game without a cell phone and actually ENJOY themselves without the audio/visual bombardment! Now? Honestly, I don’t think people can function without some electronic gizmo in their hand, playing candy crush or talking to their BFF every 5 seconds. We have turned into a nation of mouth-breathing, brain-dead whiners who expect everything RIGHT NOW! No one savors a moment any more. Anything slow is not enjoyed, it is criticized. Baseball is a slow game. It has a pace. You’re complaining about the darned kids today, and yet the objective evidence is that people like baseball as much as they ever have and are happy to go sit through a ballgame. The “people have too short an attention span now, so baseball is passe” argument is… gosh, at least fifty years old. Maybe more. It was certainly a widespread claim before I was born, and I was born when Richard Nixon was President. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/38 "2016-04-08T15:42:53Z")
I’m not going to comment directly on the topic, I’ll just say Mike Schmidt was a real class act. Best baseball player of his time. He may have succumbed to emotion on occasion, but show me a player who didn’t. Or show me another player who hung up his cleats when he failed to meet such a high standard that Mike set for himself. If he’s wrong on this topic, so what? Any player would do well to emulate him. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/39 "2016-04-08T15:59:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You’re complaining about the darned kids today, and yet the objective evidence is that people like baseball as much as they ever have and are happy to go sit through a ballgame. Well, to be fair, there are some demographic concerns about baseball fans. The median age of a baseball fan in the US is 53 years old. It’s enough of a concern that Commissioner Manfred (yes, it’s still weird to type Commissioner and not “Selig” afterwards 😉 )is getting involved in trying to figure out solutions. A fairly balanced Washington Post article from last year captures the issue. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/baseballs-trouble-with-the-youth-curve--and-what-that-means-for-the-game/2015/04/05/2da36dca-d7e8-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d\_story.html](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/baseballs-trouble-with-the-youth-curve--and-what-that-means-for-the-game/2015/04/05/2da36dca-d7e8-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d_story.html) > [@](#): > > According to Nielsen ratings, 50 percent of baseball viewers are 55 or older, up from 41 percent 10 years ago. ESPN, which airs baseball, football and basketball games, says its data show the average age of baseball viewers rising well above that of other sports: 53 for baseball, 47 for the NFL (also rising fast) and 37 for the NBA, which has kept its audience age flat. > [@](#): > > For the first time, the ESPN Sports Poll’s annual survey of young Americans’ 30 favorite sports figures finds no baseball players on the list. Adults 55 and older are 11 percent more likely than the overall population to say they have a strong interest in baseball, whereas those in the 18 to 34 age group are 14 percent less likely to report such interest, according to a study by Nielsen Scarborough. Kids ages 6-17 made up 7 percent of the TV audience for postseason games a decade ago; in the past couple of years, that figure is down to 4 percent. > [@](#): > > For many years, Little League detailed youth participation in baseball and softball, but as those numbers declined, from nearly 3 million in the 1990s to 2.4 million two years ago, the organization stopped releasing tallies. So, there does need to be some concerted effort to find out how to deal with this issue. Baseball is currently healthy and making tons of money. Attendance is high, television contracts are very lucrative. But there are storm clouds on the horizon (FWIW, the NFL has some issues they need to deal with going forward as well). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104/40 "2016-04-08T16:51:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m not going to comment directly on the topic, I’ll just say Mike Schmidt was a real class act. Best baseball player of his time. He may have succumbed to emotion on occasion, but show me a player who didn’t. Or show me another player who hung up his cleats when he failed to meet such a high standard that Mike set for himself. If he’s wrong on this topic, so what? Any player would do well to emulate him. I don’t have a personal problem with Mike Schmidt by any means, he is one of my all time favorite players. My favorite baseball trivia stumper; who holds the all time record for the most home runs by a player who played for only one team his entire career? Yup, it’s Mike Schmidt, with 548, every one of them as a Phillie. (He edges out Mickey Mantle, who hit 536, all for the Yankees.) Not one player above Schmidt on the home run list played for one team his whole career. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-schmidt-ap-column-on-the-unwritten-rules-of-baseball/750104.md?page=3)