Election of Schmidt to Hall Expected Today : Baseball: Former Phillie third baseman leads list of 15 new nominees on ballot. Sutton among 24 carry-overs.

Mike Schmidt, one of baseball’s greatest third basemen, today is expected to receive the game’s highest individual honor with election to the Hall of Fame.

Schmidt led a list of 15 new nominees on this year’s ballot. Tommy John and Jim Rice also appeared for the first time.

Phil Niekro and Don Sutton, both 300-game winners, were among 24 carry-over candidates. So was Thurman Munson, in his 15th and final year of eligibility.

A player needs 75% of the vote by members of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America to be elected. Steve Carlton, Schmidt’s longtime teammate on the Philadelphia Phillies, was the only player elected last year.

Schmidt, who never boasted about his many accomplishments, hit 548 home runs, seventh on the all-time list, was the National League’s most valuable player three times and won 10 Gold Gloves. He also had 174 stolen bases.

Though he wants to be regarded as a complete player, it was the long ball that made him famous. It has been that way ever since his first athletic memory at age 3.

“My grandmother, she was baby-sitting for me, and she threw me a tennis ball and I whacked it with a stick and I felt I could play this game a little,” he said.

Schmidt, a 12-time All-Star and MVP of the 1980 World Series, holds major league records for most home runs and runs batted in (1,595) by a third baseman.

He holds the National League record for leading the league in home runs eight times. Schmidt, who lives in Jupiter, Fla., batted .267 overall and was a .961 fielder.

Rice, who batted .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs, made eight All-Star teams with the Boston Red Sox. He was the American League’s MVP in 1978.

John, 288-231 with a 3.34 earned-run average, set a major league record by pitching for 26 years. He was a three-time 20-game winner.

Sutton (324-256) and Niekro (318-274) have not made it into the Hall of Fame despite 300 victories, which used to be considered an automatic credential for Cooperstown.

Tony Perez (379 home runs, 1,652 RBIs) and Munson (.292, 701 RBIs) also have been left out.