American baseball player (1929?2022)
Baseball player
Curt Simmons
|
---|
|
Pitcher
|
Born:
(
1929-05-19
)
May 19, 1929
Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania
, U.S.
|
Died:
December 13, 2022
(2022-12-13)
(aged 93)
Ambler, Pennsylvania
, U.S.
|
|
|
September 28, 1947, for the Philadelphia Phillies
|
|
October 1, 1967, for the California Angels
|
|
Win?loss record
| 193?183
|
---|
Earned run average
| 3.54
|
---|
Strikeouts
| 1,697
|
---|
|
---|
|
|
|
|
Curtis Thomas Simmons
(May 19, 1929 ? December 13, 2022) was an American professional
baseball
left-handed
pitcher
, who played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) from
1947
to
1950
and
1952
to
1967
. Along with right-hander
Robin Roberts
(a member of the
Baseball Hall of Fame
), Simmons was one of the twin anchors of the starting rotation of the "Whiz Kids", the
Philadelphia Phillies
' 1950
National League
(NL) championship team. A three-time
MLB All-Star
, he also played for the
St. Louis Cardinals
,
Chicago Cubs
, and
California Angels
.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Simmons was born in
Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania
, in the
Lehigh Valley
region of eastern
Pennsylvania
. He attended
Whitehall High School
, where he led Whitehall to three straight league titles and also led the
Coplay
American Legion
team to two Pennsylvania state crowns.
[1]
Major League Baseball
[
edit
]
Philadelphia Phillies
[
edit
]
In
1947
, then
Philadelphia Phillies
owner
Bob Carpenter
arranged for an exhibition match between his Phillies and a team of all-star high school players from the
Lehigh Valley
. The game was played on the opening day of Egypt Memorial Park, June 2, 1947, in front of a crowd of 4,500. Simmons started for the high school team and struck out eleven Phillies as the game ended in a 4?4 tie (a late-game error was the only thing that prevented the high school team from winning).
[2]
The 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 175 lb (79 kg) lefty was signed by the Phillies, and awarded a $65,000 signing bonus, one of the highest ever awarded at that time.
[1]
That spring, Simmons also pitched and played
outfield
in an
All-American
high school game between teams managed by
Babe Ruth
and
Ty Cobb
.
In
1949
, Simmons returned to the
Lehigh Valley
, pitching for the Phillies in an exhibition match against the
Allentown Redbirds
, in front of a record crowd of 4,590 at
Breadon Field
in
Whitehall Township
.
In the
1950 season
, Simmons won 17 of 25
decisions
, playing an instrumental role in bringing the Phillies their second
National League
championship of the 20th century.
With the outbreak of the
Korean War
, however, Simmons was called to active military service in September 1950. The Phillies managed to hold off the
Brooklyn Dodgers
in the 1950 season's final contest on
Dick Sisler
's 10th-inning
home run
to win the National League again Simmons was stationed at
Camp Atterbury
and requested and was granted leave on October 4, 1950, to attend the
Series
. The Phillies chose not to request that the
Commissioner of Baseball
Happy Chandler
rule Simmons eligible for the
World Series
, but Simmons attended it in support the team. Simmons' place on the World Series roster was taken by pitcher
Jocko Thompson
.
[3]
Without Simmons, the Phillies were swept in four games by
Joe DiMaggio
and the
New York Yankees
.
Simmons missed the entire
1951
season while stationed in Korea with the military, but he returned in the
1952 season
, winning 14 games, posting a 2.82
earned run average
(ERA), and leading
Major League Baseball
with six shutouts. But the Phillies would never again contend for a championship during his tenure in Philadelphia, although Simmons continued to pitch with the Phillies into the late 1950s.
St. Louis Cardinals
[
edit
]
In
1959
, he was struck with a sore arm. In
1960
, the
Philadelphia Phillies
, then in last place and in rebuilding mode, released Simmons on May 17, 1960, after four mound appearances. Simmons signed as a free agent with the
St. Louis Cardinals
three days later, and began a comeback that culminated in 15- and 18-game-winning seasons in
1963
and
1964
, respectively, while in a pitching rotation that included
Bob Gibson
and
Ray Sadecki
. In 1964, he appeared in the
World Series
against the
New York Yankees
, starting
World Series
games for the world champion Cardinals, losing his only decision but compiling a 2.51 ERA.
Simmons’ last winning record was in 1964; he lost 15 games for the Cardinals in
1965
.
Chicago Cubs and California Angels
[
edit
]
Simmons finished his
Major League Baseball
career with the
Chicago Cubs
in
1966
and the
California Angels
in
1967
.
Along with
Smoky Burgess
, Simmons was the last player to formally retire who had played in Major League Baseball in the 1940s not counting
Minnie Minoso
, who would later twice un-retire. MLB Hall of Fame hitters
Hank Aaron
[4]
and
Stan Musial
[5]
each separately named Simmons as the toughest pitcher they had to face in their careers.
Over his two decade career in Major League Baseball, Simmons' final
record
was 193?182 (.515). In 569
games pitched
and 3,348
1
⁄
3
innings
, Simmons allowed 3,313
hits
and 1,063
bases on balls
. He recorded 1,697
strikeouts
, 163
complete games
, 36
shutouts
, and five
saves
.
Death
[
edit
]
Simmons died on December 13, 2022, in
Ambler, Pennsylvania
, at the age of 93.
[6]
At the time of his death, Simmons was the last Philadelphia Phillies player from the 1940s, and the last living member of the
1950 Phillies National League pennant winning team
, nicknamed the
Whiz Kids
because of the team's youth.
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Bostrom, Don (April 10, 2008).
"Phils hadn't played here in six decades"
.
Morning Call
. Allentown, Pennsylvania.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Curt Simmons Fans 11 Phils; Egypt Tied".
Philadelphia Inquirer
. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. June 3, 1947. p. 24.
- ^
"Curt Simmons Given Leave For Series"
.
Toledo Blade
. Toledo, Ohio. October 4, 1950. p. 33.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
John, Andrew L. (February 14, 2016).
"Hank Aaron, Bud Selig speak at Indian Wells fundraiser"
.
The Desert Sun
. Retrieved
22 May
2017
.
- ^
Kunda, John (May 21, 1991).
"The Hall's Yearbook Has It All"
.
The Morning Call
. Retrieved
22 May
2017
.
- ^
"Curt Simmons, member of 1950 'Whiz Kids,' dies at 93"
. MLB. 13 December 2022
. Retrieved
13 December
2022
.
- ^
"The Oldest Living Major League Baseball Players"
. Retrieved
13 December
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]