Schmidt Still Going Strong and Long at 37

It’s difficult to understand why Mike Schmidt is thinking seriously of retiring when this baseball season is over.

When Schmidt, 37, hit career home run No. 522 in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 8-1 victory over the Padres at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Friday night, he broke a tie with Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for ninth place on the all-time list.

It also broke a tie with Eddie Mathews for the most homers ever hit by a National League third baseman. Schmidt now has 483 as a third baseman and 39 as a first baseman. Schmidt’s performance has not slipped this season--he has 27 home runs, a .300 average and 90 runs batted in, so there’s no statistical reason he should quit. The one clue is that his contract will run out at season’s end, and the Phillie management is not eager to keep him at his current salary of $2.13 million a year.

Asked after the game about his possible retirement, Schmidt said, “Yes, I’m thinking about retiring. I’m also thinking about playing.”

Schmidt’s next target on the home run list is Jimmie Foxx, who has 534 home runs. After that, it is Mickey Mantle, who has 536.

Asked if he had those goals, or any others, in mind, Schmidt said: “No, not at all. That won’t enter into my decision.”

Schmidt’s latest home run was the 46th of his career against the Padres and was the 30th allowed this season by Ed Whitson. It topped off a four-run fifth inning that snapped a 5-1 tie and made it easy for left-handed starter Don Carman to get a complete game and improve his record to 8-9.

Whitson (10-9) moved within two home run balls of the league lead. The No. 1 pitcher on that list, Bill Gullickson, formerly of the Reds, is now in the American League. Still, this was the first one that Schmidt had hit off Whitson this year.

“He gets me and I get him,” Whitson said. “He hit a palm ball, and I’m sure he knew it was coming. He’s a hell of a hitter, and if those people in Philadelphia had any brains, they’d sign him at any price. He’s the core of that team.”

Schmidt has been voted the league’s most valuable player three times and has won five Gold Gloves, but he denied having extra-sensory perception.

“I didn’t know what was coming,” he said. “It just wasn’t a very good pitch.”

Carman now has pitched two complete games, both against the Padres. He has a 3-0 record against them this year and 4-0 against them lifetime.

“I don’t understand why,” he said. “They’ve got a good hitting lineup, including two of the league’s best hitters in Tony Gwynn and John Kruk. It seems like you can beat them if you hold Gwynn to 2 for 4, and that’s what he got tonight.”

Again it had no effect on the outcome, but for the second night in a row, the same ground rule cost the Padres a run.

When Benito Santiago doubled down the left-field line in the first inning, both Gwynn and Kruk crossed the plate. However, the ball lodged behind the canvas that covers the movable seats near the bullpen, so Kruk was sent back to third. Chris Brown then flied out, leaving both Kruk and Santiago stranded in scoring position.

Actually, the Padres would have had at least two more runs, regardless of the ground rule, if Shane Mack hadn’t hesitated between third and home on the play just ahead of Santiago’s double.

Mack and Gwynn both singled, and with one out, Kruk hit a bounder to second baseman Juan Samuel. Gwynn should have been forced at second, but shortstop Steve Jeltz missed Samuel’s throw, so all runners were safe until Mack had his moment of indecision. He slowed down, then went full speed again, but arrived at home plate too late. Had he stayed at third, he would have scored ahead of Gwynn on Santiago’s double and Kruk would have scored on Brown’s fly ball.

As it turned out, even three runs wouldn’t have been enough for Whitson. He gave up the tying run in the second on a walk and Lance Parrish’s double, and then he was bombed for four runs in the fifth. A single by Jeltz, a triple by Samuel and a double by Milt Thompson preceded the home run with which Schmidt moved up another notch in the home run list.

The Phillies added an unearned run off Greg Booker in the sixth and two runs off Keith Comstock in the ninth. The Padres, meanwhile, had only one mild threat thereafter, and Gwynn stymied that by trying unsuccessfully to stretch a single into a double in the eighth. Mack had singled ahead of Gwynn, who paused just long enough after rounding first to be thrown out at second.

Manager Larry Bowa was more than a little displeased by the Padres’ third straight defeat, which was played in front of a crowd of 12,711.

Asked if it was tough for players on a last-place club to get motivated this late in the season, Bowa said: “It shouldn’t be. If they can’t motivate themselves, they shouldn’t be out there.”

Padre Notes

Coach Sandy Alomar is excited about the prospect of having his two sons, Sandy Jr. and Roberto, with him on the San Diego club in the near future. Sandy Jr. is a catcher, and Roberto, like his father, is a shortstop. Both are hitting over .300 for the Padres’ Double-A Wichita farm team. Sandy Jr. is likely to be among those called up Tuesday when the player limit is raised from 24 to 40. Roberto is sure to be added to the roster for spring training. The senior Alomar said before Friday night’s game, “It’s something to look forward to. I know they have the ability to play here. It’s just a matter of getting the experience. They’ve already matured quite a bit. When they played together in ‘85, they argued a lot. Not anymore. They’ve grown up.” . . . Managers Larry Bowa of the Padres and Lee Elia of the Phillies had a long talk on the field before the game. Each praised the other for a job well done, and they enjoyed a few laughs about their days together with the Phillies and Chicago Cubs. Elia was a coach for the Phillies and manager of the Cubs when Bowa was playing. Asked if he considered himself a better manager in his new job with the Phillies than when he was fired by the Cubs in 1983, Elia said, “No, I don’t. I guess the biggest thing I learned was to recognize the job the media has to do. I didn’t my first time around the block. Between the lines, I think I got as much out of the Cubs as anybody could.”

Kevin Gross, the Phillie pitcher who was caught with sandpaper in his glove during a game against the Cubs in Philadelphia Aug. 10, will start against the Padres in the series finale Sunday. He has been suspended for 10 days, but has appealed to the National League office. A decision was due Friday, but was postponed until Monday or Tuesday, so Gross was penciled into Sunday’s lineup in place of Mike Maddux. . . . The Padres’ Randy Ready is a close friend of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Paul Molitor, whose hitting streak was stopped at 39 games Wednesday night. Ready, who was with the Brewers off and on from 1983 to 1986, said, “I didn’t want to call Paulie because I was afraid I’d jinx him. Now I’ll give him a call and congratulate him.”