At age five in Dayton, Ohio, Mike Schmidt grabbed a live electrical wire while climbing a tree, stopping his heart, only for the fall to the ground to jolt it back to life. This deep dive explores how that lucky kid with damaged knees became arguably the greatest third baseman in baseball history.

Known as Captain Cool for his quiet intensity, Schmidt reinvented his own swing to survive and spent his entire career with a single franchise.

• Abandoned football and basketball after knee surgeries, funneling all his athletic focus into baseball at Ohio University.
• Batted just .196 with 136 strikeouts as a 1973 rookie before inventing an unorthodox stance at the back of the box to buy reaction time.
• Hit four home runs in a single game against the Cubs in 1976 and won 10 gold gloves at third base.
• Led the Phillies to their first World Series title in 1980, winning a unanimous MVP and World Series MVP, and captured three MVP awards overall.
• Retired abruptly in a tearful 1989 press conference with 548 home runs, later disclosing a battle with stage 3 melanoma and installing sunscreen dispensers at the ballpark.