On July 30, 1995, two Philadelphia
Phillies Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt get inducted into Cooperstown Major
League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Don Richard "Richie"
Ashburn also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden
Flash", and "Whitey" due to his light-blond hair, was a center fielder, which played 15 seasons in the MLB between 1948 and 1962
for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.
Ashburn was of the famous "Whiz Kids" of the National League champion 1950 Phillies.
Ashburn finished his career with a
.308 batting average with 2,574 hits, which included 317 doubles, 109 triples
and 29 home runs. He also had 1,198 walks 1,322 runs scored, 586 RBIs and 234
steals while only striking out 571 times.
Ashburn was a six-time All-Star,
including twice in 1962, when the MLB held two All-Star Games during the
season. He was also a two-time National League Batting Title champion. Twice
during his career Ashburn was in the top 10 in Most Valuable Player (MVP)
voting.
The Philadelphia Phillies retired
his No. 1 jersey in 1979.
Ashburn was elected to the Baseball Hall of
Fame by the Hall's Veterans Committee in 1995 after a long fan campaign to induct him, which
included bumper stickers that read, "Richie Ashburn: Why The Hall
Not?"
Ashburn was inducted into The
Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 1997.
Ashburn was also inducted into the
inaugural class of the Philadelphia
Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Each year the Phillies present the
Richie Ashburn
Special Achievement Award to "a
member of the organization who has demonstrated loyalty, dedication and passion
for the game."
The center-field entertainment
area at the Phillies current stadium, Citizens Bank Park, is named Ashburn Alley in his honor in response to the demand of numerous fans
requesting that the Phillies name the stadium in Ashburn's honor (due to
Ashburn's 47 seasons of service to the Phillies organization, which was second
in length in Philadelphia baseball history only to Connie Mack, who was so honored with the renaming of Shibe Park in 1953).
At Citizens Bank Park the
Phillies' radio-broadcast booth is named "The Richie 'Whitey'
Ashburn Broadcast Booth". It is
directly next to the TV-broadcast booth, which was renamed "The Harry
Kalas Broadcast Booth" after Kalas's death in 2009.
As for Mike Schmidt, he is widely
considered as one of the greatest third baseman in the history of Major League
Baseball. He played his entire 18-year
career with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Schmidt finish his career with a
.267 batting average, 2,234 hits, which included 408 doubles, 59 triples and
548 home runs. He also compiled 1,595 RBIs, 1,506 runs scored, 1,507 walks and
174 steals while striking out 1,883 times.
Schmidt led the league in walks
four times, including three consecutive years from 1981-1983. He also led the
league in runs once, 1981 when he scored 78 runs.
Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star
including six consecutive selections from 1979-1984. He was a three-time
National League MVP, including back-to-back awards in 1980-1981. He was in the
top 10 in MVP voting in nine times, including five consecutive years from
1980-1984.
He was a 10-time Gold Glove winner
including nine-consecutive awards from 1976-1984. He was an eight-time National
League home run champion including three-consecutive years from 1974-1976. He
was a six-time Silver Slugger Award winner including five-consecutive awards
from 1980-1984. He was a four-time National League RBI Champion, including
back-to-back awards in 1980-1981.
Schmidt was a member of the 1980
Philadelphia Phillies who won the World Series, and was named the World Series
MVP.
In 1983 Schmidt was awarded the
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.
In 1990 the Philadelphia Phillies
retired his No. 20 jersey.
In 1995 he was inducted into the
Cooperstown MLB Hall of Fame with 96.5 percent of the vote on the first ballot
in which he was on.
In 1997 he was named to the MLB
All-Time Team and in 1999 he named to the MLB All-Century Team.
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