Starting slow

In Philadelphia, we're told, they boo Santa Claus.

They used to boo one of the city's top sports icons, and it always bothered him. But early in his career, those nasty fans in Philly might have been justified. They were seeing one of the all-time greats. They just didn't know it yet.

After the 1972 season, the Phillies traded away slick-fielding third baseman Don Money, a fan favorite on a crummy team. As part of the deal with the Brewers, the Phils received a couple of pitchers named Ken (Sanders and Reynolds), then promptly traded both those guys to the Twins for Money's replacement: Cesar Tovar, who in various years had led the American League in hits, doubles, triples and sacrifice flies.

Tovar, though, was pretty much washed up by the time he arrive in Philadelphia. So early in 1973 the Phillies called up a third baseman who’d had a cup of coffee with the team at the end of '72.

The new guy struck out eight times in his first four games. After 40 games, he'd hit just two home runs. He heated up a bit after that in the power department, but he couldn't get his batting average out of the low .200s. An 0-for-25 stretch to end the season bottomed out his average at .196.

That's the kind of performance fans tend to boo.

Nevertheless, that same third baseman in the starting lineup on Opening Day 1974, and he cracked a home run off future teammate Tug McGraw to propel Philadelphia to a 5-4 win over the Mets. He went on to lead the National League in home runs that year and establish himself as a star in the making.

Of all the position players the Baseball Hall of Fame, Mike Schmidt is the only one to hit below .200 in his first full season.


Trivia question 17: How many times did Mike Schmidt lead the National League in home runs?