Retired
Hall of Fame Baseball Star Fishes for Cystic Fibrosis
By: Lisette Hilton
Source: ESPN
Classic
Mike Schmidt's record stands out. Arguably the
best third baseman of all time, baseball Hall-of-Fame member Schmidt
retired after 18 years with the Philadelphia Phillies. He no longer
works for a paycheck. He lives among the wealthy in Jupiter, Fla. and
spends his days enjoying his family, traveling, fishing and golfing.
Born September 27, 1949, Schmidt is a gifted athlete. During his famed
baseball career, Schmidt won a record eight National League home run
titles, three most valuable player awards and ten Gold Gloves. He joined
the Phillies in 1972. The rest is baseball history. Schmidt was inducted
into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995, known for his unprecedented
power, defense, strength, coordination, speed and 548 home runs. While
his record was a positive, he never captured the media and came across
as more a loner--not a nice guy, not a giving person.
Long-time friend Gary Belcher can't figure out how Schmidt
got the bad rap. Schmidt hired Belcher, a licensed boat captain, 14
years ago after Schmidt bought a boat. Belcher taught Schmidt how
to operate it. "He's as common as anyone you want to know. Has
a generous big heart and is a gracious, giving guy," Belcher
said. "Mike was instrumental in giving me a positive drive in
bettering myself and becoming a better person."
Perhaps, it was Schmidt's unwillingness to
rub shoulders with those who wrote about him. The Hall of Famer doesn't
mince words and it appears he is always evolving. He says that his
success as an athlete has afforded him a wonderful lifestyle but adds
it "has allowed me to slip into a very selfish existence."
The joy and satisfaction of keeping up with
the Joneses is fleeting, he admits. "Sure, I attend and contribute
to our church. I play in fundraising golf events. I sign autographs
and do things beyond the call of duty for my family. Even so, I experience
an empty feeling, especially as someone so fortunate, when it comes
to ‘doing for others' or ‘working for and believing in a
cause,'" Schmidt said.
Mission found
Schmidt laughs when he thinks about the challenges
he endured throughout his professional career compared to those faced
by his friends the Weinsteins.
Mike Schmidt, baseball hall of famer and founder of the
Mike Schmidt Winner’s Circle.
Brett Weinstein, a classmate of Schmidt's daughter
Jessica, had cystic fibrosis. The Weinsteins and Schmidts became close
friends -- close enough to give Mike and his wife Donna a glimpse
of true hardship. Throughout their friendship, Schmidt watched as
Brett's mother and father took turns administering therapy to Brett.
"She'd have to take Brett into the bedroom and pound on his back
and dislodge the mucus in his lungs. They had to watch him all the
time. His immune system was very weak. It was a constant, constant
struggle for this boy," Schmidt recalls. "Brett's life expectancy
was not normal. He lived to be in his early 20s. We watched the family
go through waiting for a set of lungs -- which they never got. The
family lived in a hospital room with Brett the last year up in North
Carolina. Finally, they lost him."
It became clear to Schmidt that he had a mission.
"I've never fought any battles at all compared to that battle.
That's a battle for your life and your health. I've been unbelievably
fortunate with my family," he said.
While most would say that watching Brett through
his ordeal puts life into a new perspective, Schmidt says that he's
always putting things in a different perspective. "If you drive
down the street and you see a homeless person, that puts things in
perspective. If you see someone in a wheelchair, that puts things
in perspective. That happens constantly in my life and should in everyone's
life. There's always someone in our lives who has a burden that's
bigger than the one we think we have. I can't imagine a burden any
stronger than the Weinsteins' had in watching their son die right
in front of them, holding his hand when he died and watching him pass
away. I truly cannot imagine having the courage to withstand that."
Today, Schmidt has gone beyond "keeping
up with the Joneses," and is doing what he can to raise funds
to help in the fight against the life-long and progressive cystic
fibrosis.
Inspiration through whathe knows and loves
For Schmidt, baseball is nothing but a memory.
He doesn't miss it because he's having so much fun fishing and golfing.
Fishing, he says, will help him to raise money for the disease that
took the life of his family's friend.
Just as Schmidt was thinking about ways in
which he could help families like the Weinsteins, the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation in Palm Beach approached Schmidt looking for a celebrity
to be associated with the foundation's Winner's Circle. The timing
was perfect for Schmidt who was hungry to help. The first year, he
gathered a small group of friends and held a $1,000-a-head dinner,
raising $27,000. "The idea was to develop something as the years
went on that was a bigger and better and a larger fundraiser,"
he said.
What better, he thought, than a fishing tournament?
Hence, the May 16 through 19, 2001 Mike Schmidt Winners Circle Offshore
Invitational was born. "Everybody does golf tournaments. I wanted
to do a fishing tournament -- a real exclusive invitation only fishing
tournament. I've gotten a tremendous amount of cooperation from everyone.
We're going to have 60 boats leaving Palm Beach for Walker's Cay in
the Bahamas for three days of offshore fishing. Hopefully, we'll raise
a large amount of money cystic fibrosis."
Comes from the heart
The cause is near to Schmidt's heart and
so is the sport of fishing.
Schmidt's real love is inshore backwater fishing.
He was taken by the sport about six years ago, when he took "a
little trip to the Bahamas with a friend. We got in an airboat and
went back in the flats out behind Grand Bahama Island."
The duo fished for bonefish and caught a couple. Schmidt became hooked.
"That really excited me. The whole idea of site casting -- being
able to see the fish in the clear water and make the proper cast…."
To Schmidt the whole package of finding the bone fish, seeing it,
making a good cast, then setting the hook and landing the prize on
the boat is as much fun as sitting in the chair fighting a marlin.
Mike with Scott Henley of Henley Enterprises and gold sponsor of the
tournament on a Venture '34 open fisherman.
"One of the big reasons, probably, is
because I'm not getting sick when I'm sitting on the backwater. It's
nice and calm. And I have a tendency to get a little seasick sometimes
when I'm out offshore fishing," he said.
Schmidt says that the environment, camaraderie,
the quietness of backwater fishing makes it stand out. He later took
another trip to the Bahamas, this time with his son Jonathan. Together,
they explored Peace and Plenty, a bonefish resort in the Exumas. Once
again, Schmidt waited in the shallows in the summertime and had a
lot of fun looking for and catching bonefish. Schmidt met Redbone
Celebrity Series Founder Gary Ellis at the Mercury S.L.A.M. Celebrity
Tournament in Key West about four years ago and got to know him pretty
well. "[We fished] the backwater in the Everglades," Schmidt
said.
Schmidt's favorite place to fish is the backwaters
in the Keys -- in Tavernier, near Islamorada. A close friend of Schmidt's
bought a house in the Keys and keeps his flats boat down in Tavernier.
The Schmidts have been there three or four times to visit. "To
me, it's the greatest getaway I've ever experienced to ride down to
the Keys and dump that flats boat in the water and ride across the
water over to Flamingo. We'd hire a guide and Gary's taken us a couple
of times," he said. "Fishing for those redfish, trout and
snook back in the backwater -- I could do that from sun up to sundown.
I've got my own flats boat now and a trailer and looking in the future
to become more involved in the backwater world down there, learning
more about it and making more trips down there."
Despite his distaste for the rocky waters of offshore fishing, Schmidt
is passionate about that aspect of fishing. He started with a 48'
Viking in 1979 and has owned six or seven fishing boats since. Right
now, the 51-year-old has settled for a cruising boat but says that
he has done his share of offshore fishing.
His most memorable fishing moment was in 1990,
when he got in the chair with his first big marlin. Schmidt was fishing
the Tournament of Champions up in the canyons off Cape Mae, New Jersey.
Schmidt, known throughout his baseball career for his strength, fought
a 470-pound blue marlin for about 45 minutes. The fish, which was
caught about 10 minutes before the day's end, won the tournament.
It had died by the time Schmidt had brought it on deck so he and the
others on the boat brought it in to shore.
Schmidt was used to screaming fans in baseball
stadiums but found it thrilling to bring the winning marlin back to
the dock, where what he describes as a "big crowd," waited
for Schmidt to hoist it up. "The fight was grueling," he
recalled. "Anyone who has ever sat in the chair for an hour knows
-- it's hard on your back, hard on your arms. When you're done, you
can almost lay down the boat -- it tires you out."
Still has some dreams
Schmidt knows what it takes to be a true contender
in a sport. While he broke the barrier in baseball, he's still struggling
to make a mark in golf and gain fishing experience. Schmidt, a professional
golfer, aspires to play on the senior tour but has come up short in
the last few years in senior tour qualifying school. He'll continue
to try and in the meantime plays celebrity golf. "We don't have
handicaps. We play scratch golf and we play for money. I've never
really won a professional tournament but I've had some decent success.
For a career baseball player, my golf is pretty darn good."
He admits to still having a way to go when
it comes to fishing experiences, too. He imagines that his dream fishing
experience might be to catch a tarpon -- not just any tarpon. "If
I had the right equipment in my hands where I didn't have too heavy
a rod and I had the right bait in the right spot…. If I could
hook, fight and land a large tarpon that probably would be one of
my dreams. I've caught tarpon in the Palm Beach area. They're smaller
tarpon and they do battle you a little bit and they'll jump a little.
But I'm talking about down in the Keys or Boca Grande, where you can
catch a really large tarpon that would take a long time to bring in."
Schmidt knows he has it good. He's healthy
and living an enviable life. Jonathan, his son, is attending Emory
University in Atlanta and Jessica is working in Boston. Schmidt spent
his career earning baseball records. Now, his achievements are more
personal, thanks to Brett. As Schmidt said, "As is often the
case, it took someone else's suffering to trigger an answer to my
prayers."
Schmidt's commitment to the cause is more than
talk, said Gary Ellis, founder of the Redbone Celebrity Series. "Mike
has done more than put his name to the Mike Schmidt's Winners Circle
Offshore Invitational," Ellis said. "He has taken a leadership
role that has gone way beyond celebrity. Mike works as hard as any
volunteer would work."
To find out how you can get involved in the
Mike Schmidt's Winners Circle, call the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
Florida Chapter -- Palm Beach office at (561) 683-9965.
Walton never forgot the message. He won two
high school championships (1969 and 1970), two NCAA crowns at UCLA
(1972 and 1973) and two NBA titles (with the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers
and 1986 Boston Celtics).
The once shy Walton became a ferocious, outspoken
and controversial player and person. He immersed himself in basketball
and the times. A fan of the Grateful Dead, Walton was known for joining
fringe causes. He was arrested while he was a junior at UCLA during
an anti-Vietnam War rally. Walton was just as intense about the physical
and mental games of basketball.
UCLA coach John Wooden described Walton as
"intelligent" and "inquisitive." In the forward
of Walton's book, "Nothing But Net," Wooden wrote, "As
a player, Bill was one of the greatest who ever performed at his position
at every level of competition -- high school, college and professional.
There are many true students of the sport who consider him to be the
very finest when all aspects of the games are taken into consideration."
Walton was born on Nov. 5, 1952 in La Mesa.
He grew up in a middle-class home where his parents didn't own a television
until the mid-sixties. His father Ted was more interested in music
and literature than in sports. Still, his dad never discouraged him
from playing basketball.
In his senior year at Helix High School, Walton
averaged 29 points and 25 rebounds in leading the team to a 33-0 season
and its second straight championship. Almost every major college was
offering him a scholarship.
Walton greatly respected Wooden and chose UCLA.
Under the wizard's guidance,
Walton became the consummate center - rebounding, passing, blocking
shots and scoring. Not only was he a three-time first-team All-American,
he also was the Division I Player of the Year each season (1972-74).
UCLA went 30-0 in both of Walton's first two
seasons. He scored 24 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as the Bruins
defeated Florida State 81-76 in the 1972 NCAA championship game.
A year later, Walton put on perhaps the greatest
display in an NCAA tournament game as he made 21-of-22 field-goal
attempts in scoring a finals record 44 points in an 87-66 rout of
Memphis State.
UCLA's winning streak reached 88 before it
was snapped at Notre Dame 71-70 on Jan. 19, 1974. Counting back to
high school, Walton's teams had won 129 consecutive games.
His collegiate career didn't end on a high,
however. Seeking to win its eighth consecutive NCAA championship,
UCLA lost to North Carolina State and David Thompson, 80-77, in double
overtime in the Final Four.
The Walton Gang went 86-4 in three years, with
the big redhead scoring 1,767 points (20.3 average), grabbing 1,370
rebounds (breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's school record with his 15.7
average) and also being the second most accurate shooter in UCLA history
with a .651 field-goal percentage.
After graduating with honors, Walton was made
the first pick in the 1974 draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. But
he never fulfilled the greatness he showed in college because of injuries.
While he was sidelined for only three of 90
UCLA games, he missed more contests (680) than he played (488) during
his NBA career. Only once in 14 years did he play more than 70 regular-season
games.
As a rookie in 1974-75, an injury-prone Walton
was limited to 35 games and averaged just 12.8 points. The next season,
Walton played 51 games; he averaged 16.1 points and 13.4 rebounds
though the Trail Blazers finished last in the Pacific Division.
He made his mark during Portland's 1976-77
championship season, when he played in 65 games and won the NBA's
MVP award.
Walton led Portland past Dr. J and the 76ers in the 1977 NBA Finals.
He averaged 18.6 points and led the NBA in rebounding (14.4) and blocked
shots (3.25). After the Trail Blazers, who finished second to the
Lakers in the Pacific Division in the regular season, swept Los Angeles
in the Western Conference finals, it rallied from a 2-0 deficit to
win the NBA Finals in six games over the Philadelphia 76ers. Walton
was voted the Finals MVP.
In 1978, Walton was named All-NBA First Team
for the only time after averaging career-highs in points (18.9) and
assists (5.0). He also averaged 13.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. But
injuries hit him again and he played in just 58 games. After a 50-10
start, the Trail Blazers finished 58-24 and didn't even reach the
Western Conference finals.
Walton missed the entire 1978-79 season because
of a foot injury. He wanted out of Portland. He was so dissatisfied
with the quality of medical care he received from the Trail Blazers'
medical staff that he filed a malpractice suit.
On May 13, 1979, Walton, a free agent, signed
a $7-million, seven-year contract with his hometown team, the San
Diego Clippers. After just playing 14 games in 1979-80, he missed
the next two seasons because of injuries to his feet.
Walton passed the time by attending Stanford
Law School. When he returned to the NBA in 1982, the Clippers gingerly
played the center, who appeared in only 33 games. By the end of the
1984-85 season, the Clippers' first in Los Angeles, Walton was embarrassed
by his stats: 10.1 points and nine rebounds, though he did play in
67 games.
On Sept. 6, 1985, Walton was traded to the
Celtics, where he would back up center Robert Parrish. He made it
through 80 regular-season games (averaging 7.6 points and 6.8 rebounds
in 19.3 minutes a game) and won the NBA's sixth man award. Playing
16 of 18 playoff games, he helped Boston win the championship.
But Walton suffered stress fractures in his
foot the following season, and played in only 10 games. After spending
the entire 1987-88 regular season recovering from major surgery on
his right foot, he tried to return to practice, but the pain was too
great. Walton called it quits.
For his career, Walton averaged 13.3 points
and 10.5 rebounds. His field-goal percentage was .521 and his foul-shooting
percentage was .660. In February 1990, almost three years after Walton
had played his last NBA game, he was contemplating a comeback - until
his most devastating injury took hold. He got up and couldn't walk.
His foot and ankle were so badly damaged that they were partially
dislocated and the disintegrating bones were grinding together.
All his accomplishments seemed like nothing
compared with the devastation of undergoing an ankle fusion.
Walton found that getting off the court didn't
mean getting out of basketball. Since the early nineties Walton, who
had gotten over his stuttering problem, has expressed his views as
a television basketball analyst.
"Among the nicest and most satisfying
rewards of my new career as a broadcaster," he said, "is
that I get to work and I don't get hurt physically."
