All three photos came out pretty well here. The one of Simmons swinging is pretty well-known; it was even a Sports Illustrated cover in 1996 (article about the '29 A's).
On-the-field trivia: Simmons's career peaked with the A's three pennant winning seasons of 1929 (.365, 34 HR, 157 RBI), 1930 (.381, 36, 165) and 1931 (.390, 22, 128). Those are some eye-popping numbers in any era. After nine phenomenal seasons in Philly, he was sold to the White Sox in one of the A's depression-era salary dumps; at the age of 32 it actually wasn't a bad move; Simmons was good but never great again in his last 11 seasons with the White Sox, Tigers, Senators, Braves, Reds, A's (again), Red Sox and A's (again again).
Off-the-field trivia: Al Szymanski changed his name in the minor leagues when he got tired of people mispronouncing it, supposedly after seeing a sign for Simmons Hardware. After his career he coached for the A's and Indians. He died of a presumed heart attack at 54 years old in 1956.
My collection: I do not have any playing-days cards of Simmons. Simmons's last solo card as a contemporary player was in the 1939 Goudey Premiums set.
I'd love to add a playing days card of Simmons to my A's collection one day, but the odds of me dishing out that kind of money for one card is slim. I'll probably need to settle for a memorabilia card instead.
ReplyDeleteHis is a name that I often hear, but know next to nothing about. I'm always amazed by the batting averages that a lot of these guys produced, especially during an era when the pitchers were pretty darn good too.
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