Today’s word of the day, thanks to Words Coach (https://www.wordscoach.com/dictionary), is prodigious. Dictionary.com says it is pronounced / prəˈdɪdʒ əs / (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/prodigious), though I think I have heard it pronounced / pro / instead. The adjective means “extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.,” “wonderful or marvelous,” “abnormal; monstrous,” or “Obsolete. ominous” (ibid.). In his 1755 Dictionary, Samuel Johnson described it as “Amazing; astonishing; such as may seem a prodigy; portentous; enormous; monstrous; amazingly great” (https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=prodigious).

Merriam-Webster compares a variety of similar terms: “Prodigious, monstrous, tremendous, and stupendous all mean extremely impressive. Prodigious suggests marvelousness exceeding belief, usually in something that is felt as going far beyond a previous maximum of goodness, greatness, intensity, or size (‘acrobats performing prodigious aerial feats’). Monstrous implies a departure from the normal in size, form, or character (‘a monstrous billboard’); it can also suggest that someone or something is ugly, cruel, or vicious (‘a monstrous criminal’; ‘a monstrous crime’). Tremendous and stupendous both imply a power, the former to terrify or awe (‘the singer has tremendous talent’), the latter to stun or astound (‘the young cast gave a stupendous performance’). Prodigious and the related noun prodigy derive from the Latin prodigium, meaning ‘omen’ or ‘monster’; at one time, both words were used in English to refer to portents, or omens, but these senses are now considered obsolete” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prodigious).

Etymonline.com says that the word entered the language in the “1550s, ‘ominous, portentous’ (a sense now obsolete), from French prodigieux and directly from Latin prodigiosus ‘strange, wonderful, marvelous, unnatural,’ from prodigium ‘an omen, portent, monster’ (see prodigy). From 1560s as ‘causing wonder or amazement;’ 1570s as ‘unnatural, abnormal.’ The meaning ‘vast, enormous, wonderfully large’ is from c. 1600. As a pseudo-adverb, ‘exceedingly,’ by 1670s” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=prodigious). The related noun prodigy is from the “mid-15c., prodige, ‘a sign, portent, something extraordinary from which omens are drawn,’ from Old French prodige and directly from Latin prodigium ‘prophetic sign, omen, portent, prodigy,’ from pro ‘forth, before’ (see pro-) + -igium, a suffix or word of unknown origin, perhaps from the same source as aio ‘I say’ (see adage) or agree ‘to drive’ (de Vaan), from PIE root *ag- ‘to drive, draw out or forth, move’). Meaning ‘person or thing so extraordinary as to excite wonder or astonishment’ is from 1620s; the specific meaning ‘child with exceptional abilities’ is by 1650s” (ibid.).

On this date in 1988, “Mike Schmidt sets an NL record by appearing in 2,155 games at third base as the Phillies and NY Mets end the game at 2:13 am” (https://www.onthisday.com/events/july/26).

Michael Jack Schmidt (b. 1947) grew up in Ohio where he played three sports in high school (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Schmidt). He played gridiron football, basketball, and baseball, like the All-American kid that he was. But he gave up football and basketball because of knee trouble. He went to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he played shortstop on the baseball team and led the team to the 1970 College World Series where they lost in the semifinals. He was also named to the All-American team as the shortstop.

In the 1971 Major League draft, Schmidt was drafted in the second round, 30^th overall. He signed a contract with the Phillies and joined their AA farm club in Reading, PA. He spent most of the 1972 season with the Phillies’ AAA franchise in Oregon. Then, when the major league rosters expanded in September, as they always do, Schmitty joined the Phils and “made his major league debut against the New York Mets on September 12.[9] Four days later, in Philadelphia on September 16, Schmidt ended Montreal Expos pitcher Balor Moore’s streak of 25 scoreless innings pitched with his first career home run” (ibid.).

“Following the 1972 season, the Phillies dealt third baseman Don Money to the Milwaukee Brewers to open a spot for Schmidt in their infield. While he batted only .196 with 136 strikeouts during his first full season in 1973, Schmidt demonstrated his power potential by hitting 18 home runs” (ibid.).

I won’t go over all the details of Mike Schmidt’s 18-year career because it’s too much and you can look it up if you want to. But he was probably the best third baseman ever to play the game. He finished his career with a .267 batting average, 548 home runs, and 1,595 runs batter in, a World Series ring, three National League MVP awards, and 12 All-Star-Game appearances. He led the National League in home runs 8 times. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot (ibid.). .

But since his baseball career ended, he hasn’t stopped. “In 2001, Schmidt began sponsoring an annual fishing tournament in Grand Bahama Island. It has raised a total of over $2.5 million for charities including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, American Cancer Society, and Cleveland Clinic. In 2008, Schmidt released a wine called Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, a reference to his 548 career home runs, with proceeds also going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation” (ibid.).

“On June 10, [1974], in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Schmidt hit a ball off Houston Astros’ pitcher Claude Osteen that looked like a sure home run. The ball hit a public address speaker suspended 117 feet above and 329 feet away from home plate, falling into center field. By the ground rules, it remained in play and Schmidt was held to just a single, with the runners on first and second each advancing just one base. It is believed that had the ball not hit the speaker, it would have traveled beyond 500 feet” (ibid.). It was a prodigious shot, and it portended the career to come. But his influence in the Philadelphia and baseball communities has been even more prodigious.

Philadelphia fans can be pretty tough, and in 1985, with the Phillies in fifth place in the National League’s Eastern Division, and with Mike Schmidt hitting a lowly .237, Schmitty made some disparaging comments about the fan base. The club was on a trip, but a few days later, they returned to play the Cubs at home. Schmidt, who was considered to be cool, unemotional, maybe even detached by a lot of fans and commentators, realized that he was in a bit of trouble. So he completely broke character and wore a disguise—a long, curly wig and sunglasses—when he took the field before the game. It broke the ice and calmed everything down (https://www.vice.com/en/article/throwback-thursday-mike-schmidt-wigs-out-in-philadelphia/). And it became an iconic moment in Phillies history, which is why that is the image I am using today (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/340795896775832287/).