Michael Jack Schmidt, as Harry Kalas would call him, is regarded by many as the great third baseman to ever play the game.

Schmidt was drafted by the Phillies in the second round (30th overall) of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft, played 18 seasons, all with the Phillies. He was a 12-time All-Star and three-time N.L. MVP award winner.

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But no game in Schmidt’s career stands out more in than the one he had on April 17, 1976, in a game at Chicago's Wrigley Field.  In a wild back-and-forth game, Schmidt had four home runs and eight RBIs in the Phillies 18-16, 10-inning win over the Cubs.

In an article that listed the best hitting performance in each team’s history, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki selected Schmidt’s four-home run performance as the best the Phillies fans have seen.

Schmidt hit a franchise-record four home runs in a legendary 18-16 victory over the Cubs in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. There are plenty of crazy things about this game, but how about the fact that Schmidt led the big leagues in home runs in both 1974 and 1975 and somehow only hit sixth in the Phillies' lineup? This is back in the day when speedy, bat-control guys hit in the top two spots (i.e. Dave Cash and Larry Bowa). Jay Johnstone hit third. Schmidt flied out in his first plate appearance in the second inning and singled in the fourth when the Cubs held a 12-1 lead. But Schmidt hit homers in his next four plate appearances -- he hit a two-run homer in the fifth, a solo homer in the seventh, a three-run homer in the eighth and a two-run homer in the 10th.

That pick may not be a surprise, since that feat has only been accomplished 18 times in MLB history, but it's just another reason Schmidt, and his 548 career home runs, remains as one of the best to ever play the game.

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