You gotta love the writing in the NYT, Mr Luzinski: Philly fans preferred Greg Luzinski, a portly slugger who played left field like a brontosaurus flailing in a tar pit. Schmidt was aloof and sensitive, Luzinski flabby and fun.
The piece covered a lot of the famous names – but somehow missed mentioning one of extreme examples from the graph: Dick Allen. There was a brief mention of Wilt Chamberlain, but I don’t think he fell into the reviled category or was ever disparaged the way Schmidt was. So, was there anyone else (in Philadelphia) before Dick Allen who endured the rage of a fan base the way he did? It would be an interesting topic for analysis, coming as it did with the overdue integration of the Phillies, the counterculture ’60s, the war in Vietnam, a big name athlete (Muhammad Ali) standing up for his beliefs, and so on. And then, six years after he leaves, he was welcomed back with very little disapproval despite a much-diminished level of production. The times sure had changed.