Mike Schmidt Unknowingly Played With A Steel Cable In His Knee For 20 Years
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The most well known knees in Philadelphia currently belong to Philles second baseman Chase Utley. The most famous knees of all time in Philadelphia, probably belong to the greatest third baseman of all time, Mike Schmidt.
Schmidt spoke about Utley's injury situation and compared it to his own. "I had my knee problems in high school, unfortunately. I had some aches and pains over the years, but I don't think my knees put me on any DL the whole time I played. I'm very lucky in that regard. Chase seems to have something chronic," Schmidt said when he joined 94WIP's Anthony Gargano and Glen Macnow on Thursday.
Though the team has stated that Freddy Galvis will start the season at second base, Schmidt isn't so sure. "I'm not ready to write [Utley] off as the opening day starter, you never know," he said.
Though we heard about Schmidt's knees for years, he said that it didn't concern him during his Phillies days. "The knee thing scared me but it was before college. I couldn't compete in college very well with the knees. I had my left knee totally rebuilt in 1965," he said. Schmidt's rookie season with the Phillies was in 1972. "I just found out when I had it scoped in November recently, the guy left a steel cable laying in there. I played 20 years of baseball with a cable in my knee."
