When Tony and I made plans to attend SICW FanFest in St. Louis, we decided to arrive early to do some sight-seeing. The statues at Busch Stadium were a must on my list and Ted Simmons was my most wanted.
Unveiled in July 2021, the Ted Simmons statue stands among other legendary St. Louis Cardinals. Made of bronze, Simba is shown batting. The subject of the 12th statue at Busch Stadium, Simmons also had his number 23 retired by the club. He was also elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When Simmons retired in 1988, he had more hits than any other catcher in MLB history. From 1971-80, he averaged 17 HRs, 90 RBIs and a .301 batting average. I would happily take that even now in the offensive era. He also led the nL in runners caught attempting steals.
Simmons was always one of my favorites. Several years back, I trekked about 100 miles on an early Saturday morning to meet him in a small baseball card shop in Wisconsin. In St. Louis for the weekend, there was no way I was missing meeting this Simmons.
No comments:
Post a Comment