Clearing the Bases: Juiced Players, Monster Salaries, Sham Records, and a Hall of Famer's Search for the Soul of Baseball » (Reprint)

Mike Schmidt is the greatest-hitting third baseman in the history of baseball. Named Player of the Decade for the 1980s by the Sporting News, he was selected to the MLB All-Century Team in 1999. He lives in Florida with his family.

A passionate and provocative evaluation of the state of baseball by one of the game's most respected names.

Library Journal

All too frequently, sports autobiographies offer little more than light reading, providing nothing revelatory. Schmidt's book, with Waggoner (Divots, Shanks, Gimmes, Mulligans and Chili Dips: A Life in 18 Holes), is an exception-it is the peerless third baseman's honest examination of his own career in particular and of major league baseball in general. A markedly self-critical ballplayer who became a first ballot Hall of Famer, Schmidt discusses his own strengths and weaknesses as a hitter and a fielder and how a midcareer adjustment made him a more complete player as he continued to pile up personal honors and carry his Philadelphia Phillies to a pair of World Series appearances. Equally noteworthy are Schmidt's analyses of some of his competitors and teammates, including Barry Bonds and Pete Rose, two of the sport's most controversial figures. Along the way, the author explores the effect of free agency, the game's financial makeup, and the impact of steroids while offering an intriguing suggestion about revising the selection process by which players are chosen to enter baseball's hallowed sanctuary in Cooperstown. For general libraries.-R.C. Cottrell, California State Univ., Chico Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.