‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Mike Lieberthal on his Jimmy Rollins memories, his ‘Office’ bobblehead, and more
The former Phillies catcher returned to celebrate Rollins and Ed Wade as they were inducted into the Wall of Fame. But first he reminisced on his time with them on The Inquirer’s baseball show.
Mike Lieberthal’s three teenage boys aren’t old enough to remember his playing career. So, when they came to town for the Phillies’ Alumni Weekend, they had a few requests.
“They are diehard Phillie fans,” said Lieberthal, the former Phillies catcher, who lives in Southern California. “Every day, the Phillies game is either on TV or they know the score. They have their favorite players. When the Phillies come to play the Dodgers, we go to the Dodger game.
“But they don’t get to come to Philly that often, so they’re like, ‘Dad, can we meet Trea Turner? Can we meet J.T. [Realmuto]? Can we meet [Bryce] Harper?’”
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Lieberthal spent 13 seasons with the Phillies (1994-2007). He holds the franchise record for games caught (1,139) and was a 2012 inductee to the team’s Wall of Fame.
With manager Rob Thomson‘s permission, Lieberthal brought his family through the clubhouse before Sunday’s game. And no offense to Jimmy Rollins and Ed Wade — Lieberthal’s former teammate and general manager, who joined him in the ranks of Phillies’ Wall of Famers — it was the highlight of their weekend.
Before the festivities, Lieberthal joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball show, to share his memories of Rollins and Wade and more. Here’s an excerpt from the conversation, which has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Question: Can you describe the experience of coming back each year for the Phillies’ Alumni Weekend and the Wall of Fame ceremony?
Answer: It’s always great to see ex-teammates. Once you retire, everybody kind of goes different directions, so you don’t really get to see my friends like Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins, players that you played all these years with, you spent every day in the clubhouse with. And then you retire and everybody goes different directions, different golf courses.
I think that’s the only time I get to see Pat Burrell or Jimmy is if it’s in a golf tournament somewhere. So, I never get to see these guys. It’s great to come by for three days, four days and reminisce. And yeah, just see guys that you just don’t see once you retire.
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Q: When people say “Jimmy Rollins,” what do you think about from being around him for the first half-dozen or so years of his career?
A: When Jimmy came up, he was like Larry Bowa’s little protégé. It’s always tough to find a shortstop. It’s a tough position to produce offensively. They said, ‘We only need you for the glove. We don’t need you for your offense.’ And Jimmy did it all. Jimmy stole bases. He hit home runs. He hit for average. He was consistent in the field. He was Mr. Durability. Every year he was putting up over 600 at-bats. It seemed like the years I played with him, he never got hurt. You always counted on him at shortstop to make every play.
He didn’t make very many errors. He was very consistent, and it was kind of amazing when after four or five years, I think he popped 25 home runs one year [in 2006] and then 30 home runs the next year. And it was like, ‘Jimmy, I knew you had power, but I didn’t know you had 25-, 30-home run power.’
I think he loved playing at the park, Citizens Bank. He was just a special player. Like I said, he did it all. The doubles he hit, I think he hit over 40 doubles most of his career. [It was four times]. He was just a guy that can do it all and play defense. A player like that doesn’t come along very often, especially at shortstop.
Q: How much credit do you think Ed Wade deserves for establishing the foundation for what came in 2007, 2008, and 2009? And I wonder if you relate to Ed at all in that way, in the sense that you were both there for the buildup and then had to watch from afar as it all came to fruition.
A: Like [Pat] Gillick said, it was Ed Wade’s team. Most of the pieces from that 2008 team were because of the development, the signings through the Ed Wade era. And there were some guys that were upset. [Aaron] Rowand probably left just because of Phillies weren’t willing to spend to go to the next level and [it] was mainly pitching. I think we had the core defense that was out there. Curt Schilling was frustrated. He left. He just felt like the team wasn’t ready to win yet. They needed some more pieces. And finally the pieces did come after Ed Wade.
It was the same with myself after I retired. I was at the end of my career with injuries, but it would have been nice to have Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels in that rotation, going into the playoffs with that same core that I had in the field. But that’s the way baseball is. It’s the way things turn. It was great to see that 2008 team, guys that I played with for so many years, finally get that championship.
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Q: If you look up catchers who started more than 100 games in a season in their 30s, you come up on that list at age 33. How difficult was it? And what do you think about when you watch J.T. Realmuto and what he’s been able to do?
A: With J.T. being 34-35, it doesn’t seem like he’s lost a step [with] durability. He’s been questioned about it. He feels great. He wants to be back there every day. There’s no reason — even though with his age being 34, 35 — he cannot extend his career another four years.
His offensive numbers might go down. It seems like this year his power numbers are down, but he’s been hot the last couple months. He’s still hitting, what, [.267 going into Monday], and his throw-out ratio is still the same. His pop times are still the same. His arm still looks good. His legs still look healthy. So there’s no reason he cannot play the next three or four years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Philly signed him for the next two, three years.
Q: How often do you get asked about the Mike Lieberthal bobblehead in the background of The Office in certain episodes? I always wondered why they chose Mike Lieberthal.
A: My boys’ friends that come over all the time, they’ve never even seen The Office. My kid will let them know, ‘Yeah, my dad’s bobblehead is on Dwight’s desk in The Office,’ and they’re like, ‘The Office? What is that?’ So I got to kind of ask [kids of my boys’] age and they know what I’m talking about a little bit. And I have clips from tapes that I have on Dwight’s desk and they put it in the vending machine and they clean out his desk. And that was kind of a classic episode and they show the bobblehead.
But it was a Scranton [Red Barons] bobblehead. I didn’t even know that they were putting my bobblehead on the show. I didn’t know until somebody told me that my bobblehead was on the show. So being Michael Scott [played by Steve Carell] was the lead character in The Office, my middle name is Scott. So, Michael Scott Lieberthal was based out of Scranton.
So some writer there was probably like, ‘Hey, I got a Mike Lieberthal, Michael Scott Lieberthal bobblehead, Scranton bobblehead. This should be perfect for Dwight’s desk.’ But no residuals. Even if I had residuals, it would probably be like 10 cents a week I would probably collect.