Schmidt Is MVP for Third Time

Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday became the third player in history to be voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player for a third time by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.

The 37-year-old third baseman, who also won in 1980 and ‘81, was a runaway winner over first baseman Glenn Davis of the Houston Astros and catcher Gary Carter of the New York Mets.

Schmidt joins Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals and Roy Campanella of the Brooklyn Dodgers as the only three-time winners of the league’s MVP award since it was first given in 1931. Musial won in 1943, ’46 and ‘48, and Campanella was the winner in 1951, ’53 and ’55.

Four American Leaguers have won the award three times: Jimmy Foxx (1932-33-38), Joe DiMaggio (1939-41-47), Yogi Berra (1951-54-55) and Mickey Mantle (1956-57-62).

Schmidt hit .290--his best average in five years and second highest of his 15-year career--and led the league in home runs (37), runs batted in (119) and slugging percentage (.547).