Phillies great Mike Schmidt opens up about difficult fans and an anonymous WIP call

Even a man with a statue outside Citizens Bank Park struggled at times dealing with angry Philly fans and sports talkers on WIP.

Mike Schmidt might be a beloved figure in today’s Philly sports ecosystem, but the Hall of Famer sometimes felt hammered by the pressure fans placed on him during his 18 seasons with the Phillies.

Speaking on The Road to Cooperstown podcast, Schmidt said he had regrets about how he dealt with the negativity that came at times from Phillies fans during difficult stretches of his career.

“I wish I would’ve been much more outgoing, much more accessible. I’d have brought the fans more into my game, into the little world of me on the baseball field,” Schmidt told MLB Network host Jon Morosi. “I didn’t look up in the stands very much when I played. … I think I was more sensitive to what I might see or what I might hear. And I wish I had that to do over.”

Schmidt also admitted that despite the negativity, he would tune in to listen to what the sports talkers were saying on WIP, which launched as a full sports station in 1986 with personalities that included Howard Eskin, Tom Brookshier, and Steve Fredericks.

“I listened to talk radio all the time,” Schmidt said. “It kept me miserable all the time.”

He’s certainly not the only player to tune in. Current Phillies slugger Bryce Harper is a regular listener and admitted that the passion of frequent WIP caller Chuck from Mount Airy fueled his 299th home run in 2023.

“I just enjoy it — the good and the bad — to hear about what the Eagles are doing, or the Flyers or the Sixers, or what the fans are thinking," Harper said after calling into WIP at the time. “I like to consume myself with that so I can get the feel and the vibe of it.”

Unlike Harper, Schmidt never called into WIP during his playing days. But that didn’t stop him from recruiting a family member to defend him.

“Funny story, my mother-in-law lived with us at that time and I had her call WIP one time,” Schmidt said. “I told her, ‘I want you to call this number, call in, and I want you to say, ‘That’s not true!’”

Schmidt couldn’t recall exactly what the criticism was about. One night following a game — “I don’t know if I was in a hurry or a bad mood” — Schmidt told fans he wasn’t signing any autographs, but would the next day, which angered at least one fan.

“It only takes one person out of that crowd of 30 people there or whatever … to call WIP and tell him what an a-hole Schmidt is,” Schmidt said. “And rip the heck out of you. And everybody in Philly hears that.”

Schmidt isn’t alone in feeling the need to defend himself under a cloak of anonymity. Former Phillies general manager turned NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst Ruben Amaro Jr. admitted he used to call into WIP using an alias, but instead of defending himself he would rip his own performance as the team’s general manager.

“Oh yeah, I faked my voice,” Amaro said on WIP last year.

Still, Schmidt cited that negativity for driving him to work harder, grow as a player, and blossom as one of the most revered athletes in Philadelphia history.

“I spent all my time trying to be all the best I could be in front of the Philly fans,” Schmidt said. “If I’d play in San Diego or something like that, and there wasn’t a lot of negative reaction coming out of the stands when you failed … maybe it wouldn’t have driven me so much.”

While fans certainly can be hard on players, things might have changed in South Philly thanks to Trea Turner’s experience in 2023.

After he signed a monster contract with the Phillies, the shortstop’s slump began to draw a negative reaction from fans. But then-WIP producer Jack Fritz, who now hosts the station’s afternoon show, urged fans repeatedly to get behind Turner. It became a rallying cry, and instead of booing Turner, they showered him with cheers during an early-August game, which led to a dramatic turnaround.

Schmidt said he was at the stadium watching the game with Phillies executive David Buck and was shocked when fans cheered for Turner so loudly that he had to back out of the batter’s box and tip his cap to the stands.

“It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve seen, especially going through what I went through,” Schmidt said. “How are they ever going to boo anyone again when they’re in a slump?”