Schmidty Managing in the Bush Leagues

[KurtBevacqua]

I saw this and thought it was pretty cool. I was never a Phillies fan, but I always liked Mike Schmidt a whole lot. Now he wants to start managing baseball by beginning from the ground up. I really, really respect this. The guy easily could have lobbied himself into a position to take over the big league team if and when Bowa gets the axe, but decided it's better to learn the craft through hard work and effort in the minors. Good for him. And I hope if and when the time is right he becomes a great big league manager. I suspect he'll be much better at it for taking this route.



http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ers/index.html

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Do my eyes deceive me, or is this Mike Schmidt looking natty in a Clearwater Threshers uniform? I pull up a seat in his office and before long Schmidt, the Hall of Fame third baseman, has me believing all is right with the game. For a moment, it isn't just about greed and performance-enhancement.

Schmidt, now 54, is gushy about what he describes as a welcome hiatus from golf dates and fishing excursions to manage in the bush leagues. You might think he caught a stray golf ball flush on the noggin. Guys of his stature usually slide into a comfy front office gig or fly first-class on the big-league coaching staff -- rather than enlist to manage the Philadelphia Phillies Class A affiliate in the Florida State League.

But here he was on a recent night hunkered down in the bowels of the new $28 million Bright House Networks Field, a sweet facility that doubles as spring home of the major league club, awaiting his managerial debut. Fellow Hall of Famer George Brett and ex-Phillies teammate Pete Rose have called wishing him well. And he'll need it.

The bus jaunts and hot, muggy Florida summer nights that lie ahead are neither pretty nor glamorous. Apprenticing in front of a couple hundred faithful most games isn't the big time, either. And there are the tedious, nightly game reports that can eat up more than an hour filing on a laptop computer.

That's alright.

Ever since he retired in 1989, Schmidt has lived the good life and, believe it or not, grew tired of it. He never had a job to go to. No responsibilities or anyone to answer to, unless you count popping up at celeb functions or part-time consulting the last couple years for Phillies manager and ex-teammate Larry Bowa.

"This is a big lifestyle change for me," admits Schmidt, his hair graying but otherwise looking every bit as fit as in his playing days. "It is a different kind of responsibility that I not been used to since I retired, but it is a responsibility that has substance attached to it. I am hopefully affecting 25 young lives in positive way out here, not only by what I teach them about hitting or playing the game, but how I teach them about going about their daily lives. Talking to them about the history of the game. Exchanging stories. Having fun with them, traveling with them. It is a mentoring thing.

More from Schmidt
Mike Schmidt has championed the cause of suspended ex-Phillies teammate Pete Rose. As part of his behind-the-scene efforts, the Hall of Famer brokered a meeting last year between Rose and Bud Selig -- though Schmidt told SI.com that he's come to accept the fact that Rose won't be reinstated anytime soon.

On Rose's status: "It heated up just a bit before spring training started, but as far as I know nothing is happening. I would know if something was happening. It's kind of dead right now."

On his predictions that Rose would be reinstated: "I've been wrong about six times as far as that goes. Now I am hoping they do something, but I sure am not optimistic. I am less optimistic as every month goes by."

On the Montreal Expos possibly relocationg to Las Vegas: "Yeah, I'm sure that would be an arguing point from some people. I've never been to Las Vegas. My wife won't let me go there, so I can't manage that team."

"And believe me, there was none of that [before]. Sure, I play in some charity golf tournaments and I have a charity function and I raise money and I am a celebrity and all that, but there are not any one-on-one exchanges with young men who I can monitor in an area where I am truly an expert. I can work with a guy's golf swing till I am blue in face, but I am not an expert. I can take a guy out fishing on my boat and I am not an expert. But I am damn sure an expert when it comes to the batting stroke, baserunning, and fielding grounding balls. Now, I am surely not an expert at managing a baseball team, but it really feels good to make a difference, to have some substance in your life."

After talking it over with his wife, Schmidt told Phillies president Dave Montgomery late last season of his hankering for a job in player development. Three weeks later, he was called to interview for the Clearwater position, joking that he was "better dressed'' than the two other candidates that followed him.

Three National League MVP awards are obviously impressive on the resume, but Montgomery, GM Ed Wade and the minor league folks needed convincing that Schmidt understood what he was signing up for. The job calls for getting your hands dirty. And that's probably why Schmidt is the first former player hired as a minor league manager after being elected to the Hall.

Heck, Schmidt thought he was done with the game after retiring in 1989. He smiles now recalling that his only previous managerial gig came almost a decade ago helping out the private school in Jupiter, Fla., where his son, John, played. The team fielded just 10 players and Schmidt remembers them struggling just to catch the ball. As for his own shortcoming, Schmidt cracks about having to learn to be ugly with umpires, mindful that he was ejected only once as a player.

So where might this gig lead? If he can stomach the tough stuff -- losing, releasing players, time away from home and his own embarrassing managerial gaffes -- then Schmidt sounds like he might be shopping for a big league job before long.

"If that all remains strong, I think the experience I get here will give me a comfort level to say, 'Hey, I'd like to interview for this job,'" he says. "If a major league job comes up that looks attractive to me, I'll feel like I can jump in there and do it.

"But I can also say it was great experience, and I think I'll go back to my home in Jupiter, the boat behind my house and my golf clubs."

If you're a true fan, you can only hope Schmidt doesn't rush back to the good life anytime soon.


Mike Fish is a senior writer for SI.com.