This is part of our series on notable baseball redheads. Portions of this article are excerpted from the book Ballplayers: Baseball’s Greats Remembered, Ranked, and Revealed.
The greatest third baseman of all-time fell to the second round of the 1971 draft because of worries about his knees. “Has two bad knees, doesn’t have the body to play the infield, and doubt if he can hit major league pitching,” wrote one scout in his report.
The Phillies took Mike Schmidt with the 30th overall pick because Phillies’ general manager Paul Owens was enamored with his potential.
“I saw him play short,” Owens said, referring to a scouting trip to Ohio University where he witnessed Schmidt playing against Bowling Green. “I saw him hit the ball off the school building, which was way out beyond left field. And I saw the way he handled himself. My reaction was, if we’re lucky enough to get him, he’s our next third baseman.”
Pat Gillick, who ended up in the Hall of Fame for his front office brilliance, scouted Schmidt for the Astros.
“He was playing short at that time and I thought he was too big to play short,” Gillick said. “I thought, well, he’d either have to play third or first.”
Granny Hamner, who played the infield for the Phillies in the 1940s and 1950s, was scouting for the team. His report on Schmidt was optimistic: “Out of position, should be playing third base. If they leave this kid alone, he could be great.”
Schmidt won three Most Valuable Player awards, which didn’t seem possible in his first few seasons in the big leagues. He struggled to make contact, striking out so much that Philly fans boo Schmidt mercilessly. But now one could argue that Schmidt is the most important person in the history of the Phillies franchise.
Schmidt may also be the most famous and talented redhead to ever play professional baseball. But that debate can wait for another day, as we march through the notable redheads in the history of the sport.
