by Mike Cunningham

The greatest Phillie ever (before Utley and Howard finish their careers) and the greatest 3rd Basemen ever, took some time to address Pat Burrell and Adam Dunn's strikeouts. It's great advice... but will Burrell take it?? That's the real question.

"Now I know that if I had choked up on the bat with two strikes and hadn't been so aggressive and gave in to the pitcher, I wouldn't have struck out so much. And that's what guys like Dunn and Burrell have to realize," Schmidt added.

And what happens if you stop striking out?

"I look at Dunn and Burrell and I go, 'My God, if these guys cut their strikeouts down to 75 or 80, they put the ball in play 85 or 90 more times a year.' That's at least 15 more home runs a year and at least 35 more RBIs a year."

For Burrell that would mean hitting 40-45 home runs and 120 to 140 RBIs. Those are MVP type numbers. And can you imagine what those kind of numbers with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley batting in front or behind would do for the team. One world. World Championships.

Now those who want to criticize Schmidt who struck out over 1800 times in his storied career. It wasn't until late in his career did he get under 100K. What would he have done if he struck out less? Geesh. Schmidt averaged 1K for every 5.43 Plate Appearances. Burrell right now is averaging 1 strikeout every 4.08 Plate Appearances!

Schmidt didn't mention reigning MVP Ryan Howard, but his strikeout total is alot worse... 1K every 3.72 plate appearances. But I think Howard will learn to bring this down much better. Even Schmidt struck out much worse when he was younger. If Howard, Burrel and Utley (131K last year, 1K per 5.96PA career) can decrease their strikeouts 15 percent. The Phillies will score a TON of runs. A Ton.

And just to get you excited... The Phillies sent their Big Rig down to Florida. Spring Training is around the corner!