Schmidt: Don’t Blame Steroids for Homers

Mike Schmidt refused to blame steroids for the increase in home runs in the major leagues -- or for his diminishing stature on the career homer list.

“Leave steroids out of it,” Schmidt said Sunday at Fort Myers, Fla. “There’s a simple explanation why the home run totals are what they are, and the guys that are hitting would agree with me.... It’s park size, hard baseballs and hard bats.”

Since the Hall of Fame third baseman retired in 1989 with the seventh-most home runs (548), he has been passed by four players -- Barry Bonds (703), Mark McGwire (583), Sammy Sosa (574) and Rafael Palmeiro (551).

“Guys are passing me like I was a car on the freeway,” said Schmidt, a spring training instructor for his old team, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Schmidt estimates that the smaller ballparks and the equipment help elite power hitters hit 10 to 12 more home runs per season than those of his generation -- or about 150 more career homers. But he is quick to note that he isn’t bitter over the evolution of the home run.

“That’s an honest answer. That’s not a chip on the shoulder [or] an old-timer whining about things,” Schmidt said. “We’re not blaming the kids that are playing the game now.

“They are great hitters. They are further along fundamentally as hitters at this point in their careers than we were in the old days. Everything is better about the game now. They are bigger, stronger and they work out harder.”

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Making his first start since June 9, 2001, John Smoltz pitched two scoreless innings in Atlanta’s 8-7 victory over a New York Met split squad at Kissimmee, Fla. He threw 19 of his 28 pitches for strikes, and his fastball consistently hit 93 and 94 mph, according to the scoreboard radar gun. Smoltz, an All-Star closer, is returning to the Braves’ starting rotation.

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Cleveland left-hander C.C. Sabathia was scratched from his spring training start against the Detroit Tigers at Winter Haven, Fla. Sabathia, scheduled to be Cleveland’s opening-day starter in Chicago on April 4, strained a muscle in his right side while warming up.