Mike Schmidt - 1978

1978 was not one of Mike's best seasons. In fact it's his worst since 1973 and will be his worst season until 1988 when he was hobbled all season by injuries. He only player 145 games and hit .251, down over 20 points from 1977. He also hit only 21 home runs, down from 38 the year before. He would go on to hit 45 in 1979.

My memory is not good enough to remember what was going on in 1978 but I'm guessing he spent some time on the disabled list. You'd think there'd be some reference on the web that would give me that information but I couldn't find anything.

He did win his 3rd Gold Glove in a row for his work at third base so it wasn't a totally off season.

As a team, the Phillies once again won the NL East, with a 90 and 71 record. Not quite as good as the 101 wins in 1977, but still good enough to get them into the playoffs.


Unfortunately, the Phillies ran into the Dodgers again in the playoffs and lost to them 3 games to 1, just like in 1977. Schmidt did not have a good series, going only 3 for 15 with 2 doubles. But then again, hardly anyone on the team hit well in the series.

I don't remember where I got this 1978 Topps card. It's in pretty good physical shape but it's centered very badly both on the front and back.