Al Simmons

Aloysius Harry Simmons (May 22, 1902 – May 26, 1956), born Aloisius Szymanski, was an American baseball player. He played for two decades in the major leagues as an outfielder, and had his best years as a member of Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics during the 1930s. Simmons was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

Career
A "bucketfoot" hitter (his nickname was "Bucketfoot Al") who strode toward third base when hitting, Simmons starred as an outfielder for the Philadelphia Athletics during their heyday in the early 1930s, then went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Boston Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Red Sox.

Simmons hit 307 career home runs, also compiling more hits than any right-handed batter in American League history until surpassed by Al Kaline. A deadly clutch hitter and a favorite of manager Connie Mack, Simmons won batting titles in 1930 and 1931 to help the A's to consecutive pennants. He recorded a .300 batting average and 100 or more runs batted in (RBI) in his first eleven major league seasons. Simmons accumulated 2,000 hits in 1,390 games, which remains the shortest number of games needed to attain that mark in major league history. He hit .340 or better in 8 different seasons (7 consecutive) with 4 seasons of better than .380. He also compiled 200 hits or better in a season 6 times with 5 of those being consecutive (1929-33), and 199 and 192 hits in 1926 and 1934 while only playing 147 and 138 games in those years. He also hit for power, finishing in the top 6 in AL in home runs for 7 consecutive seasons (1925-32), finishing 4th in 1925, 2nd in 1926, 5th in 1927 and 1928, 3rd in 1929, 5th in 1930, 6th in 1931 and 3rd in 1932.

He also hit .329 with 6 home runs, 17 RBI's, 15 runs scored and .658 slugging in 19 World Series games.

In his second season (1925) Simmons led the AL with 253 hits while batting .387, with 24 home runs, 129 runs batted, 122 runs scored and 43 doubles, .599 slugging %, finishing 2nd in the AL MVP voting to the Washington Senators' Roger Peckinpaugh. In the following 3 seasons (1926-28) he hit .341, .392 and .351 and drove in 109, 108 and 107 runs in those respective years, while finishing 5th in 1926 MVP voting and 4th in 1927.

Simmons led the A's to the AL pennant in 1929 as Philadelphia went 104-46, finishing 18 games ahead of the New York Yankees, and the A's went on to defeat the Chicago Cubs in 5 games to win the World Series. That season he hit .365 with 34 home runs and led the AL with 157 RBI's. He also scored 114 runs, had 212 hits with 41 doubles and a .642 slugging %. In his first World Series Simmons batted .300 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI's and scored 6 runs.

Al Simmons' best year as a player was in 1930, when he won his 1st of successive batting titles, hitting .381 with 36 home runs, 211 hits, 41 doubles, 16 triples, had a slugging % of .708 and drove in 165 runs and scored 152 in 138 games. The A's won the AL pennant again, going 102-52, and defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to win the back to back World Series titles. In the fall classic Simmons batted .364 with 2 home runs, 4 RBI's with a .727 slugging %.

The American league did not give any MVP awards for 1928-30 seasons, but it is very plausible that Simmons would have had a great shot at the 1929 or 1930 MVP's if not both.

In 1931 the A's won their third straight AL pennant by 13.5 games over the Yankees, going 107-45. Simmons had another great season, winning his 2nd batting title hitting .390 with 22 home runs, 128 RBI's, 100 runs scored, 200 hits, 37 doubles, 13 triples and slugged .641 while playing in only 128 games, finishing 3rd in AL MVP voting behind the MVP, his teammate pitcher Lefty Grove and the Yankees' Lou Gehrig. The A's were upset in their quest for a 3-peat, losing the World Series in 7 games to the Cardinals. Still Simmons hit .333 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI's in the series.

1932 was Simmons' final season in Philadelphia and it was another great season. He led the AL with 216 hits, batted .322, with 35 home runs, 151 RBI's and scored 144 runs. With Connie Mack suffering financially Simmons was traded to the Chicago White Sox for the 1933 season. In his Philadelphia Athletics career Simmons batted .356 with 209 home runs, 1,178 RBI and 969 runs scored in 1,290 games. He drove in 100+ runs in all 9 seasons and scored 100 or more runs in 5. In 3 World Series appearances for the A's he hit .333 with 6 home runs, 17 RBI's and 15 runs scored in 18 games.

During his first season in Chicago Simmons was stellar again, batting .331 with 14 home runs, 119 RBI's and 200 hits. In 1934 he batted .344 with 18 home runs, 104 RBI's, 102 runs scored and 192 hits in 138 games. After a disappointing final season with the White Sox which saw Simmons bat just. 267 with 16 home runs and 79 RBI's in 128 game (first time in his 11 year career he did not reach .300+ & 100 RBI's) he rebounded by hitting .327 with 13 home runs, 112 RBI and 96 runs scored in 1936 for the Detroit Tigers.

In 1937 he struggled again, this time with the Washington Senators, batting just .279 with 8 home runs and 84 RBI's in 103 games. Again he would rebound with another stellar season in 1938, batting .302 with 21 home runs and 95 RBI's in just 125 games for Washington in 1938. His 21 home runs that year gave Simmons the distinction of being the first player to hit 20 home runs in a year for the Senators.

He played for twenty years from 1924 through 1941, then appearing in 1943-44 and accumulating a lifetime batting average of .334. After his playing days ended, Simmons served as a coach for Mack's Athletics (1945–49) and the Cleveland Indians (1950).

He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1951.

In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Al Simmons was the right fielder on Stein's Polish team.

Death
Simmons died of a heart attack in Milwaukee at age 54. He was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee. In 1999, he ranked number 43 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.