Boy, how times have changed.
In 1985, Schmitty so enraged the paying customers by referring to them as a "mob scene" and "beyond help" that he wore a fright wig and sunglasses the next time he took the field at the Vet. Four years later, he theorized that "too many hoagies, too much cream cheese, too much W.C. Fields" might account for what he perceived as the negativity of the fan base.
"As a player, I had a tough time with it and fought it for many years but survived and went as far as to have a special relationship with them and their city," Schmidt said in a recent e-mail asking him to compare his experiences with Donovan McNabb's.
"As I was, Donovan McNabb is an intelligent athlete with a tremendous amount of responsibility, whose upside is taking the team to the Super Bowl and [whose] downside is 'not'. Donovan cannot change the personality of the city, all he can do is his best in his job, figure out a way to enjoy his work, and embrace the goal of winning a championship in a tough environment. ''
Schmidt played for the Phillies from 1972 through 1989, the only organization he ever knew. Along the way, he developed some theories about what makes Philadelphia unique.
"Philly fans are very passionate about their time at the ballpark," he wrote. "They want to be in a dominant winning environment. Their sports teams and those team's players are a large part of their daily existence. Kids watch and listen as their fathers live and die with their teams.
"They don the jersey of their favorite player. They hear cheering, and that ugly sound of booing that becomes a normal, accepted element of their sports lives. The sports teams in Philly offer an escape from the daily grind of Philly life. A high percentage of the population of Philly read the sports section, listen to talk radio, and react accordingly at the games.
