Story Angles Aplenty for Schmidt's Game-Winning Homer Against Vanderbilt
2/15/2020 9:30:00 AM | Baseball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Bill Schmidt had a message for his son, Matt, prior to facing Vanderbilt as Michigan's new starting first baseman: "After B.P., I told him, 'Don't be late to the dance.' And he wasn't. He hit it well."
The message from the father, the Colorado Rockies director of scouting since 1999, was to not miss the fastball when he got one --Â to not "be late" with his swing. And Matt's timing on his fluid, fully-extended swing was absolute perfection.
Schmidt launched a go-ahead, two-run moon shot with one out in the ninth inning that made the Wolverines 4-3 winners Friday night (Feb. 14) over the defending national champions in the 2020 season opener for both 2019 College World Series finalists.
"I got the fastball." said Schmidt. "I didn't know if it was gone. It's a big park here (345 feet in the corners, 390 in the gaps and 410 in center) and I knew I got it good. But I was hoping no one caught it. I'd just touched first when I knew it was out, and I was fired up. We fought all game, and it's not over until it's over -- that's the mentality we have. And to do it in the ninth inning was just special."
Schmidt
The ball landed well beyond the left-field wall on a sloped grass berm at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick as the Wolverines celebrated.
It was a homer with so many story angles.
There was the long-time-coming angle:
Schmidt's last homer came May 13, 2017, for Cypress (California) College against Grossmont. He'd gone there after one year at the University of Texas, where he did not play as a freshman. Schmidt joined the Wolverines in 2018, and over two seasons had six hits (two doubles) in 38 at-bats with five RBI. He had eight previous starts, and only one last season.
While Schmidt, wearing headphones, awaited an interview with the MLB Network, which carried the MLB4 Collegiate Baseball Tournament game, Wolverine spark-plug shortstop Jack Blomgren shouted, "Schmidty don't know what to do! Schmidty don't know what to do!"
Schmidt said his career highlight prior to this was a game against Bowling Green last year when he had two RBI and two steals. The hero's role was something totally new for him.
"In this program," said Schmidt, "it's all about knowing your role. Anyone in my position would've done the same thing. So, it was the next guy up, finally my time, and my teammates had my back. So, credit to them. Sitting behind them made it easy."
Wolverine coach Erik Bakich said: "He's been patient in our program and he's been around baseball his whole life. He knows the game and has a high baseball IQ. He's been waiting for an opportunity, and there's just not a better teammate out there. It's great to see the game reward a guy like that, and it's great to see him continue to work hard and put himself in these situations where he can be a hero for a night."
There was the coming-home angle:
"They built this stadium when I was in high school (Regis Jesuit in Aurora, Colorado), and I would hang around here all the time. It's special. I mean, I grew up coming here. And to do it with my team, against a very good Vanderbilt team, makes it even more special."
There was the slaying Goliath angle:
Schmidt not only took down the No. 1 team in the nation, according to Baseball America, but took the college game's premier closer deep. Right-hander Tyler Brown pitched 7.2 scoreless innings in last June's CWS, and had three of his school-record 17 saves in Omaha, earning Perfect Game All-American first team honors.
There was the team-favorite angle:
Bakich told me recently: "His teammates like him a lot because he's invested in them as well."
They mobbed him as they would mob any teammate at home plate after he arrived from his trot around the bases, but the Wolverines truly loved that a teammate who was always there for them and never gave up had triumphed.
"It's awesome, man," said Blomgren. "He's one of the most popular guys ever. He works his butt off every single day, and it's just great that that happened to such a great guy. He's about sticking with it every single day, facing the adversity of never playing much, and he's got that great baseball mind. We all knew he had it in him. So, he'll just keep going."
Reliever Benjamin Keizer added, "It's unbelievable. That guy deserves it. He's been very patient in our program, and to do it here, in the Rockies' facility, in front of his mom and dad, where he spent a lot of time as a kid, for him to deliver in that setting is special. It's a testimony to who he is. He's a great teammate, always with a smile on his face, and I couldn't be happier for him."
Blomgren
There was the doing-it-for-your-roomie angle:
Jimmy Kerr, the star first baseman last season with team-highs of 15 homers and 64 RBI, attended the game. Kerr will soon report to minor league spring training with the Detroit Tigers, but grew up here and is working out nearby.
"Jimmy was a real inspiration," said Schmidt. "He's someone I always looked up to with a good attitude -- especially seeing what he did last year and at the end of the year. I'm a big supporter of him. He was my roommate the whole time, and we got really close.
"He talked to me today, and so maybe his juju rubbed off on me. Him and Tommy Henry (a 2019 Michigan pitching star now in the minors with the Arizona Diamondbacks)."
There was the pulling-the-rope angle:
The Wolverines, a few years back, adopted the pull-the-rope motion for players delivering big hits, and it came from former outfielder Cody Bruder, who brought it with him from Orange Coast College, where he played for its originator, Coach John Altobelli, who died in a helicopter crash that also claimed Kobe Bryant recently.
Bakich placed a cut piece of rope around Schmidt's neck in the team's postgame dugout huddle, saying, "You pulled the rope!"
His teammates roared and clapped for Schmidt.
"Coach Altobelli had a rich tradition at OCC and I played against him for Cypress," said Schmidt. "To get the first rope for him is an honor, very special. We talked about him in pregame (at the team hotel) and we had a moment of silence for him, we tried to keep him in our spirit."
Bakich, a longtime friend of Altobelli's, shouted to his team upon concluding the postgame talk: "That's a hell of a win to start for Team 154!"
It came because Schmidt wasn't "late for the dance," crushing that fastball his father envisioned coming.
"I'm very proud of him," said Bill Schmidt. "It's been a long journey for him. So, to finally get an opportunity to play, and I thought he worked hard for the opportunity. So, to take advantage of the opportunity was great. There's a lot of pride.
"He's a good teammate, trying to work hard for a win. And that was a good win. That will go a long way for that club, defeating a No. 1 team, even if it's a neutral site, and big for confidence."
