CLEARWATER, Fla. -- As an aide to the thinking impaired, here is the complete Mike Schmidt segment that ends Pat Jordan's New York Times Magazine piece on the Phillies' Four Aces. The South Carolina author's eras-contrasting conclusions have incited a froth of pinstriped outrage, most of it focused on their Hall of Fame third baseman.
Jordan asked Schmidt what he thought about the Phillies' four pitchers, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels? This was his reply:
"Well," he said, "now when the Phillies come to town, the other team knows they're being challenged by four No. 1 pitchers. They have to amp up their mental game. I used to see my at-bats the night before a game when I laid my head down on the pillow. (Bob) Gibson, (Tom) Seaver, (Nolan) Ryan. I had to have a plan. When I went to Houston, they had three good pitchers. The fourth was Nolan Ryan. I could go to sleep with the other three, but Ryan kept me awake. Ryan! Ryan! Ryan! My plan was, don't miss his fastball if he threw it over the plate. If he got two strikes on me, I'd have to face his curveball."
