Mike Schmidt on Up Close

"It's so hard to compare what Henry Aaron did, I hate to say in a dead ball era, to what Mark McGwire is doing in this era, taking nothing away from Sosa and McGwire and the guys who are playing now."

Schmidt also talked about his friend and former teammate Pete Rose and whether or not he believes he should be in the Hall of Fame.

The following is an edited transcript of Schmidt's recent interview on Up Close.

Miller: Mike, you had 548 home runs and rank 7th all-time. That may not last long, the way (Mark) McGwire is moving on up the ranks. How much does it mean to you where you stand all-time in home runs?

Schmidt: It means a great deal. Obviously, when I started my major league career, I never thought I would reach any level near that, so having reached that says something about withstanding the test of time as a hitter. You mentioned earlier... I think I'm going to be waving to a few of these guys come maybe the middle of next year: Mark McGwire being one.

Miller: How do you think he compares? You made a comment during the All-Star break that it's got to hurt Henry Aaron to see McGwire, with just what he's done over the last couple of years, already being considered the greatest home run hitter.

Schmidt: Yeah, well that's true. It's so tough in sports, in any sport, in golf especially, to compare the great players of different eras because of technology. We all know in golf that Jack Nicklaus was never able to use the technology that Tiger Woods is able to use that allows the ball to go straighter and further, and never played for the most part on perfectly manicured golf courses his whole career. But on the other hand, he never played against the competition that Tiger Woods is playing against now. Same is true in baseball: in my opinion, the technology, the size of ballparks, the number of teams in the major leagues, the number of pitchers in the major leagues (who probably should be in the minor leagues) that are learning their craft in the big leagues now, has an affect on what Mark and Sammy (Sosa) and the other players in the game are able to do. It's so hard to compare what Henry Aaron did, I hate to say in a dead ball era, to what Mark McGwire is doing in this era, taking nothing away from Sosa and McGwire and the guys who are playing now. There are great athletes. They work year-round on their bodies and on their craft, much harder than any generation before them. But the technology, and playing in the size of their ballparks, has made hitting home runs nowadays, as we all know, a lot easier. And I feel sorry for Hank; his record might be eclipsed by a couple of the guys playing nowadays, and I just feel sorry for the older players who are compared to the modern day players.

Miller: Do you think that what's happening now, with the factors that you mentioned, that the record should be judged the same as they have been throughout baseball? Is it a different era now, and is it fair to compare the power marks of today with what's happened before?

Schmidt: Well, first of all, we can't fault the players that are playing today because they're just playing the game, as when I played, I just played the game. You know, I had a different kind of travel than the guys before me. I made a lot more money than the guys before me. I flew on charter flights everywhere I went. The guys in the Willie Mays' and Hank Aaron era didn't do that, and going further back, they used to ride in trains to the different cities. I think within the confines of the sport, the players themselves, I feel, all realize the difference in the environment they play in over the years. And we know that we know how great the players of the past were when I played; and I'm sure, Mark McGwire, who has mentioned me before, is appreciative of what guys like myself and the guys that came before him accomplished. And I truly believe the guys that play the game nowadays know that the environment they're playing in is much different than the environment, let's say, that Hank Aaron played in.

Miller: Well, Mark McGwire was on the show recently. He talked about the standards that are being set. Here's a guy who, if things went right could have his 400th, 500th, and 600th home-run in consecutive seasons. He probably won't get 600 next year, but he's not going to be far from it. Here's what he said Up Close...

McGwire: You know in the history of the game only 18 players have ever reached 50 home runs. That's unheard of. Myself, Sammy and Griffey have done it consistently. I still think 50 is the mark. If you are going to hit 50, you are a pretty good power hitter.

Miller: In 1980 you hit 48, which was an incredibly important home run. It clinched the division for you guys. How much did you want 50 that year?

Schmidt: Well, not really. I thought 48 was a pretty darn high number. If you used to hit 30, 35 home runs and drive in 110 runs, you were an MVP candidate. Nowadays you're the 7th or 8th hitter on most of the ball clubs. Again, I don't want to get into this thing of sounding like I've got a chip on my shoulder or sour grapes or taking anything away from the current player. I mean, these guys are great hitters. They'd be great hitters in any era, but just one last thing and maybe this will kind of put it all in perspective. I truly believe in a given year, let's say 1980, that I flew out as a hitter to the warning track with the outfielders back against the wall or 5 feet from the wall, probably 20-to-25 times that year. Right now, let's just take half of those, HALF of those are home runs right now, and more than likely, close to maybe 15 or 20 are home runs. So you just add that to my 48 and my standards are pretty much exactly the same as the standards of today. The smaller ballparks and the livelier ball are the difference.

Miller: Sammy Sosa looks like he is going to get back-to-back 60-homer seasons, which is incomprehensible until last year, when you think about what Maris did and how long that lasted. But he plays in a park (Wrigley Field), now that's a park that a lot of these parks that they're building now are based upon. They're smaller; the fans are closer. What do you think you'd hit if you had been a Cub?

Schmidt: It's not so much what I would have hit as a Cub, it's what I would have hit as a Cub on the road. You know, that's where most of it is happening. I want you to realize, I'm not preaching, but when ballparks are smaller and the hitters know they can reach any part of the outfield with a home run (right field line, left field line, straight away-center), everybody becomes a better hitter. Just like everybody was a better hitter in Wrigley Field. We had one ball park like that to play in, when we played, and I knew all I had to do was lay the bat on the ball. I didn't have to drive it. I didn't have to muscle it. All I had to do is throw the bat at the ball and if I hit a fly ball to right-center and if I hit a ball to left center there was a good chance, on most days, it was going to drop in the basket or be a home-run. I was well over a .300-hitter at Wrigley Field, just because I didn't feel like I had to muscle the ball. Now there are what, five, or six, or seven Wrigley Fields around the league right now, in each league. Everybody's a better hitter just because of the size of the ballpark and the lively baseball.

Miller: You're a close friend of Pete Rose. What's your feeling about the status of the Rose situation? It looks like it's nowhere closer to being resolved than it was ten years ago.

Schmidt: That's probably right, Gary, in a nutshell, I think Pete's going to have to do something that he admits to me that he'll never do, and that is to say that he bet on baseball. You know, I believe Pete, he is a friend of mine and I guess what I gather from the whole thing is that until Pete walks into that commissioner's office and does something that I don't think that Pete's ever going to do, and that's say "I am sorry, I'm guilty of betting on baseball, please forgive me, baseball, I'd like to get back into the game," I don't know how the commissioner's office could ever refuse somebody the second opportunity if they just admitted, repented if you will. But Pete is not going to do that. He has a very strong feeling about whether in fact he is guilty of what they say he is guilty of. On the surface, Pete Rose definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame based on his career, what he did on the playing field. Not everyone in the Hall of Fame is a saint by any means. There were a lot of sinners in the Hall of Fame, and I am one of them. I would love to see Pete in baseball's Hall of Fame. I know a lot of baseball fans around the world would like to see him in the Hall of Fame.