Legend:
Ted Simmons was drafted 10th overall in the 1967 Amateur Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he played for until 1980, when he was traded to the Brewers in result of disputing with the Red Birds‘ manager. Although Simmons only appeared in 7 games between 1968-1969, it was a rather fast minor-league development for Ted. The man they sometimes called “Simba” had a career total of 2472 hits, 483 doubles, and 248 homers, all while batting .285. His solid batting numbers helped him become a 8-time all-star and collect a silver slugger award in 1980. He may not had been so quick on his feet behind the plate but he sure did have a good arm, that produced a career caught-steeling percentage of 34% and collecting 32 pickoffs. Roughly from 1971-1985, he was at least one of the top-five catchers in the Major Leagues, as he racked up some solid career numbers that makes Ted Simmons’ case for the Veteran Committee of the Hall of Fame pretty worthy (his first year on the ballot he collected 3.7% of the vote, knocking him out).
