Phillies Hall-of-Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt was back in town May 2 talking Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and various other Phillies topics.
However, the true purpose was to introduce his Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, where 100 percent of the player proceeds ($1.25 per bottle) will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a nonprofit donor-supported organization that works for the cure and control of the disease as well as improvement of the quality of life for those afflicted. The foundation is one Schmidt said he has been active in for the past decade after the loss of a friend’s son to the disease at age 21.
"I am serious about cystic fibrosis because of its effect on a very close family friend to us," Schmidt said. "I’ve learned a lot about it. Over the last 10 years, they’ve made a lot of strides in gene therapy and things like that."
In Florida, where Schmidt resides, he heads up the Mike Schmidt Winner’s Circle, which hosts events to raise money for the charity, including the yearly fishing tournament slated for later this month.
Charity Wines has worked with more than 30 professional athletes to raise money for organizations of the players’ choosing. Founders Andrew Graff and John Cocoran were impacted by friends and family with cancer and heart disease. The year-old company has, to date, donated $450,000 to charity and expects to hit the $1 million mark this year.
Schmidt is one of three members of Major League Baseball’s prestigious 500 home run club — Ernie Banks and Eddie Murray are the others — to come out with a wine label to benefit a favorite charity. Schmidt was involved in picking his wine, a 2006 Paso Robles Zinfandel, that is produced by the Eos Estate Winery in California. The "548" is a tribute to the slugger’s career home run total.
"I am quite proud of it," Schmidt said of the wine. "I can’t wait until I have a couple cases of it around the house."
Each $19 bottle is available at www.charitywines.com and will soon be found at 30 state liquor stores in the Philadelphia area, as well as retailers in Southern New Jersey.
The Phillies all-time home run king is hoping his new endeavour takes off like one of his long drives to deep center field.
"I am hoping we can get into the six-figure range at the end of the year," Schmidt said of his goals for funds raised.
As far as his drink of choice during his playing days, he left that to Hall-of-Fame teammate Steve Carlton.
"Carlton taught me how to drink," Schmidt said with a laugh. "Whatever he wanted to drink, we drank back in the day."
