The Phillies are two games behind the Mets in the NL East, on a three game losing streak as of today. This made me think of Mike Schmidt. His book Clearing the Bases, which he wrote with Glen Waggoner (a cofounder of the Rotisserie League), came out a couple of months ago. It's been on my shelf and I pulled it down to skim over.

I always loved the guy. What a power hitter. I honestly found some of his comments in the book so refreshing to read.

Like this one, where he talks about juiced-up players, which takes up quite a bit of the 198-page book:

"If I had played in the 1990s, I would have used steroids. Why? Because I'm human."

I said those words on the HBO show Costas Now in July 2005. I said them in response to a direct question from Giants running back Tiki Barber. I said them in the heat of a panel discussion -- Bob Costas and NBC's Jimmy Roberts were the other participants -- on the state of sports in America today.

Much as I wish I'd thought more carefully before I spoke -- it was uncharacteristic of me not to, I assure you -- what was said wasn't far from the truth. Hey, when I played I was the typical power hitter looking for an edge to keep up with my competition. Why, in a different time and a different situation, wouldn't I have fallen victim to the use of steroids? Certainly I would have been tempted.

But only tempted, I am now certain. In my research for this book, I have thought long and hard about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. (You'd expect that, of course, given the thousands of headlines and millions of words devoted to the subject in the past few years.) I have come to understand how steroid use has spread to the high school and college level. I have reflected on the destructive impact steroids have had on baseball's precious history, its records, and the very integrity of the sport.

And I believe in my heart that I would have chosen not to use steroids.

But I also believe I understand what drove those who did.

The Steroid Era in baseball -- roughly, 1990-2005 -- was fueled by a motive as old as the game itself: the search for a competitive edge.

Schmidt goes on to pin the blame on free agency, baseball's economic structure, and more. He cites records, stats and his opinions on the sanctity of the game's record and history. It is worth getting the book to read about "baseball's soul" in the mind of a Hall-of-Famer. The book also goes into his time managing the Class A Clearwater Threshers in 2004, good baseball yarns there. But one of the sections I loved the most is his Acknowledgments. The guy goes on for three pages! Not just to thank his wife and agent, of course, but just about every guy he ever played with, coaches, managers, trainers. He's a classy guy.

The book's a quick read, maybe by the time I'm done with it, Philly will catch New York.

Posted by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick