Al Simmons

Lore & Background

Simmons was born in Milwaukee and grew up as a fan of the Philadelphia Athletics. In the fourth grade, he received a spanking from his father for insisting that he wanted to play professional baseball. When he persisted in asserting his desire to be a baseball player, his father replied that he had better become a good player. Simmons was known by his birth surname (Szymanski), until he was playing for a local minor league team and he was tired of hearing people mispronounce it. He saw an advertisement for a company named Simmons Hardware and decided to take on the last name of Simmons.

In Their Own Story

The July sun hung low and heavy over League Park, turning the outfield grass to a shade of gold that made the red pinstripes look almost ceremonial. The stands were a sea of white flannel and straw hats, the river breeze carrying the smell of hot dogs and cut grass. In the on-deck circle, a young lefty in a number he would wear for eleven years took a practice swing. The bat traced a long, lazy arc, and for a half-second the whole ballpark seemed to hold its breath. Then the pitcher delivered, and the ball left the bat with a sound like a silk ribbon snapping. The crowd didn't roar; they exhaled, as if the hit had been the most natural thing in the world. Because to them, it was. The King had done nothing extraordinary. He had simply been himself, and in Cleveland, that was enough to make a Tuesday afternoon feel like a coronation.

Reader's Guide

Simmons played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1924 to 1932, then for the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Red Sox. He never played for the Cleveland Indians as a player, but served as a coach for the Indians in 1950. He was a right-handed batter and outfielder. His best season was 1930, when he won the batting title with a .381 average, 36 home runs, and 165 RBIs. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

Did You Know?

• Simmons led the AL with 253 hits and a .387 batting average in 1925.
• He holds the single-season MLB record for most multi-hit games (85).
• Simmons was the first player to hit 20 home runs in a season for the Washington Senators (1938).
• He recorded 5,000 career putouts as an outfielder.