Feb. 26 -- DAY 12: MICHAEL JACK

So, Mike Schmidt (left) dropped by the Complex today and brought to mind a scene from the 1988 movie "A Fish Called Wanda." Never seen it? Make it your next rental.

Anyway, in the scene, Kevin Kline, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, grabs John Cleese by the feet and hangs him out the window of a tall building in London until he desperately apologizes. You could easily imagine Schmidt being dangled out a window (by Pat Burrell?) as he wrote this mea culpa about his recent comments at a banquet in Dayton, Ohio, regarding Burrell and strikeout-prone Reds slugger Adam Dunn. He even read from the prepared statement to avoid any misunderstandings and said he was planning to pass it along to Burrell. Here's the statement. ...

"As a former Phillies player, I'm honored to be a guest at this camp. As a guest I want to do my best to steer clear and put to bed any issues that may lead to controversy. With regard to the past article where I commented on Pat Burrell and Adam Dunn, understand the article was about the propensity of power hitters to strike out. As you all know, I'm pretty well versed on that subject being in the top five of all-time, having K'd almost 1,900 times.

I believe a goal of any hitter should be to make contact, especially in crucial at-bats, by understanding how to hit defensively with two strikes, something that took me 14 years to learn. My use of the term "mediocre" was in poor taste and I'm sorry if it offended, but it was not intended to label Pat Burrell or Adam Dunn, or their accomplishments, but to point out that at some point, as a result of reducing strikeouts, their future accomplishments will make their past seem "mediocre." Since meeting Pat six years ago, I have re-lived my career through him, as we have so many similarities. I root for him every game, and feel that in 2007, given good health and 600 at-bats, Pat will assert himself as one of the top run producers in baseball."

Then, Schmidt admitted he and Burrell are "not that close" and said he tried to call Burrell a few times this winter, but "he didn't return my phone calls. Maybe I didn't use the right alias or something, trying to get a hold of him. I've reached out." But he also said he relates more to Burrell than any hitter on the Phillies because of their similar "approach to hitting, having to deal with strikeouts and wanting to do so bad in front of Philly fans."