Today in Philly Sports History: Whitey and Schmidt Go to Cooperstown, 1995

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Mike Schmidt, with his 548 home runs, three MVP awards (as well as a World Series MVP), nine gold gloves and 12 all-star appearances, was basically a no-brainer inductee for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and was voted in his first year of eligibility with a stunning 96.25%, the fourth-highest percentage in voting history up to that point. Richie Ashburn was a little bit less of a slam dunk, despite his over 2500 hits, two batting titles and four all-star appearances, due to his lack of power numbers (a mere 29 longballs for his career, barely a quarter of his career triples number) and relatively short career (just 15 seasons, not that all many for a Hall-of-Famer). But in 1995, the Veterans' Committee saw fit to give Whitey his due, and so he was honored on July 29th, 1995--the same ceremonies where Schmidt, whose games Ashburn so often broadcasted, was inducted.

25,000 strong attended the ceremonies to see Ashburn and Schmidt get inducted, the highest turnout for a Cooperstown class thusfar--unsurprisingly, most of them being red-adorned Phillies fans. Ashburn was thrilled to go in alongside Schmidt. "It will be extra special for me," said Whitey, "Because I saw every game Michael Jack Schmidt played in his big league career." Schmidt, never particularly harmonious in his relationship with the city of Philadelphia, just hoped he wouldn't get booed: "I was concerned about it," said Schmidt. "Probably more than anything, I worried about catcalls or some nasty thing called out during some quiet time."

But Schmidt was received warmly, and he took the opportunity to give a brother-in-arms a shoutout as well, in his pursuit of the Hall. Hearing chants of "We Want Pete!" Schmidt recounted a story of his grandmother fitting his pants to match the style of his future teammate. "I join her and millions of baseball fans," said Schmidt, "in hoping someday soon, someday very soon, Pete Rose will be standing right here." Despite Schmidt's wishes, the battle on that one rages on to this day, a mere decade and a half later.

(A long-owed thanks to the excellent broadandpattison.com for helping me out on days like this)

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