He's a Schu-in

Some former-Phillie fodder for my fellow Phightins' fans:

Congrats are in order for the 2-time Phillie and perennial "best last name in footwear" Rick Spencer Schu who recently landed a job as the Arizona Diamondbacks hitting coach, replacing another former player, Kevin Seitzer. The D-backs are near the bottom of the National League in hitting in most categories, except for triples where they rank 2nd, probably due in large part to the massive field they play on at home. Otherwise, maybe a shake up will help light a fire on their collective rear-ends. And if anyone can do it, it's Rick Schu. (Huh?)

Perhaps you remember the journeyman Schu who landed with the Phils twice in his career. He filled in as Mike Schmidt's backup from 1984 through 1987, and was then shipped off to Baltimore, in one of the more famous no-name trades in Phillies' history: Rick Schu, Keith Hughes, and Jeff Stone cruised on down to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Mike Young and a player to be named later (that player's name turned out to be Frank Bellino, FYI). Not quite a blockbuster deal there. Schu then came back in 1992 as a free agent and was released after the season. Apparently he disappeared from baseball for a while until 1995 when he signed with the Texas Rangers and things basically fizzled out from there, as he ended his career in 1996 with the Montreal Expos.

In nine seasons as a player, the D-backs' newly-minted batting coach hit a tepid .246, with his best season coming in 1986 where he hit .274 with a career high 8 homers in 92 games. Interestingly (well, to me, anyway) is that he hit 13 triples from 1984 to 1988, and then never hit another one again after that.

As a comparison, Kevin Seitzer, the man whom Schu kicked out as batting coach, hit a very respectable .295 over 12 seasons. His first three seasons were quite stellar with the Kansas City Royals, where he hit over .300 every year, and even managed to swat over 200 hits in 1987. The middle of his career was rather mild, but he heated up as a role player with the Milwaukee Brewers, as he hit over .300 for his last two seasons before hanging it up in 1996.

So once again, congrats to Coach Schu and we wish you many kicks in your new job. Show that Seitzer dude how it's done!