Philly March Madness: (1) Mike Schmidt vs. (16) Keith Byars

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Over the next few weeks at The700Level, we'll be posting pollmatchups as part of our Philly March Madness competition.Examine thecases of the two fine Philadelphia athletes below,andcastyourvote atthe bottom as to which you think shouldadvance tothe nextround. Andas always, feel free to explainyourselectionand/ordebate the choicesin the comments section.


(1) Mike Schmidt

548. That's a number that just about any Philly sports fan shouldinstantly recognize, as the number of round-trippers that Michael JackSchmidt hit for the Philadelphia Phillies, by a considerable distancethe most in team history. But Schmidt has a whole host of impressivenumbers to boast of over his career, including 12 (All-Star selections),10 (Gold Golves), 4 (homers hit in a single game in 1976), 3 (NL MVPs)and 1 (World Championships and World Series MVPs). Debuting at thirdbase for the Phillies in '72, by '74 he was leading the NL in homers, astat title he'd win in a staggering half of his 16 professional seasons.Possibly the best hitter in the majors in the late 70s and early 80s,he helped lead the Phillies to the post-season six times, including twoWorld Series appearances, and of course, the franchise's first WorldSeries championship in 1980, where he hit .381 with two homers and sevenRBIs. By the time he eventually retired in 1989, Schmidt would hold thefranchise record not only for homers but for hits, RBIs, walks, games,runs, and just about every other major statistical category. ThoughSchmidt's relationship with the City of Brotherly Love was often rockyduring his Philly tenure, and he was often booed for his poor attitudewith fans and emotionless demeanor (which would memorably break downduring his tearful retirement speech), it's easy in retrospectto see Schmidt now for what he is--the best position player in Phillieshistory, and possibly the best third baseman of all-time.


(16) Keith Byars

After an illustrious college career playing at Ohio State, KeithByars was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 10th pick in the1986 draft. For the Eagles, he would do absolutely everything onoffice--spending most of his time at tailback, but also filling in atfullback, tight end, and even QB on occasion. He rushes for 2672 yardsand 23 TDs during his seven years as an Eagle, but proved an even morepotent weapon in the team's passing attack, amassing 3532 yards and 13scores through the air as well. Perhaps due to his supreme positionalfluidity, Byars never made a Pro Bowl for the Birds, but he would put upsingle-season stat lines unlike anyone else in the league, includinghis 1990 season, where he rushed for 141 yards, gained 819 receivingyards, and threw four passes--all completions for touchdowns (!!)Byars will also be forever remembered by fans for the devastating hit he put on Giants linebacker PepperJohnson during a Birds/G-Men game in the early 90s, one of the greatblocks in modern Eagles history.

Who should advance to the next round?online survey

Results So Far:

East Bracket:

(1) Julius Erving (91.8%) over (16) Von Hayes (8.2%)
(8) SimonGagne (77.9%) over (9) Seth Joyner (22.1%)
(5) Eric Lindros (70.3%)over (12) Eric Allen (29.7%)
(4) Randall Cunningham (77.6%) over(13)Shane Victorino (23.4%)
(11) Cole Hamels (82.1%) over (6) MarkRecchi (17.9%)
(14) Tug McGraw (51.1%) over (3) Moses Malone(48.9%)
(7)Darren Daulton (74.0%) over (10) Andrew Toney (26.0%)
(2)ChaseUtley (93.5%) over (15) Andre Waters (6.5%)

Midwest Bracket:

(1) Mark Howe (60.2%) over (16) David Akers (39.8%)
(9) RodBrind'Amour (73.6%) over (8) Rick Tocchet (26.4%)
(5) Brian Westbrook(93.3%) over (12) Jayson Werth (6.7%)
(4) Mike Richards (85.1%)over(13) Trent Cole (14.9%)
(6) John LeClair (89.2%) over (11)ClydeSimmons (10.8%)
(3) Jimmy Rollins (75.8%) over (14) John Kruk(24.2%)

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