Matthew Weymar

"Ted Simmons used to drive me crazy when he was a young catcher. One day he called time and came out to ask if I was giving him a hard time. I said: ‘I’m trying to win the ballgame. I don’t have the luxury of giving you a hard time.’ Simmons was a bright guy and he learned. It took him a while, but he caught on. As a 19 year old rookie, all he thought about was hitting line drives, which he did very well. You can forgive a catcher for a lot of sins when he clears the bases with a double." Bob Gibson. "That was the greatest thrill of my life, catching a no-hitter. Man, Bob Gibson was throwing fire." Ted Simmons. On Aug. 14, 1971 at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium, Ted Simmons caught Bob Gibson's only career no-hitter, in an 11-0 rout of the Pirates, and became the only catcher in Cardinals history to collect four hits while catching a no-hitter. Ted Simmons was behind the plate in 1,769 games — 1,578 were complete games! He caught 122 shutouts, was an eight-time All-Star, batted above .300 seven times, hit twenty-or-more home runs six times, and drove in 90+ RBI nine times. Despite his incredible offensive numbers, only 5% of the "Baseball Writers' Association of America" voted for him on the 1994 Hall of Fame ballot, making him ineligible. In 2019, the Modern Baseball Era Committee elected Ted Simmons to the National Baseball Hall of Fame! "There are things about some professional athletes that I cannot stand, the pretense, the egos, the pomposity, the greed." Ted Simmons. Retired with more RBI than Johnny Bench, more runs scored than Gary Carter, more hits than Carlton Fisk, higher batting average than Yogi Berra. Drove in more RBI than all catchers except Yogi Berra. Ted Simmons rebelled against baseball’s reserve clause, refused to sign a $25,000 contract, feeling he deserved bigger raise. An anti-war activist, heavily criticized the Nixon administration, and wore his hair so long that he was nicknamed “Simba.” Legend!!!