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Curtis Thomas Simmons
St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher
Born: May 19, 1929, Egypt, PA
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1947 season
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1947-1950, 1952-1960; St. Louis Cardinals 1960-1966; Chicago Cubs 1966-1967; California Angels 1967
Curt Simmons will forever be associated with the beloved Whiz Kids, the 1950 Phillies club that made it to the World Series for the first time since 1915. Simmons was a 17-game winner for the Phillies in 1950 and formed a solid one-two punch atop their starting pitching rotation with Robin Roberts (#15). He missed the 1950 World Series against the Yankees after being drafted to serve in the Korean War. Simmons was a three-time All-Star with the Phillies in 1952, 1953 and 1957. He won at least 12 games with the club in six different seasons. Released by the Phillies in May 1960, Simmons signed with the Cardinals where he enjoyed a career resurgence. His best seasons actually came during his time in St. Louis as he went 15-9 in 1963 with a 2.48 ERA and was 18-9 for the team in 1964 when they upset the Phillies in the final week of the season to advance to the World Series. Simmons pitched well in his Game 3 and Game 6 starts, and while he was the losing pitcher in Game 6, he compiled a 2.51 ERA over 14 1/3 innings. The Cardinals would win the series in seven games over the Yankees.
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| 2006 Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame Postcards |
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #399
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
Looking to kill some time while we were waiting for our number to be called for Doug's autograph from Jim Thome, I found a bargain bin of 1965 Topps cards at Uncle Dick's and I texted Doug that I'd be standing at the table where the dealers were wearing neon green shirts. This Simmons card was one of 15 from that first batch of purchases, totaling $40, and it was a little less than $3 after the dealer discount. After getting the Thome autograph, and grabbing a slice of pizza from the "food court" upstairs, I'd settle in at Uncle Dick's for my second and biggest haul of the show.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Simmons' veteran status and his lengthy major league career up to this point allowed no room for anything other than statistics.
1965 Season
Simmons, and the entire Cardinals team, came back down to Earth in 1965, with Simmons going 9-15 with a 4.08 ERA over 34 appearances, including 32 starts. Only Bob Gibson (#320) with 36 made more starts than Simmons with the lefty pitcher crossing the 200-inning threshold for eighth and final time in his career.
Phillies Career
The Phillies signed Simmons as a bonus baby in 1947 for $65,000, one of the highest amounts received to date by an amateur player. He made his debut on September 28th that season and he'd be a fixture in the Phillies' starting pitching rotation for the next decade. He was the National League's starting pitcher in the 1952 All-Star Game, hosted at Shibe Park, and he pitched three shutout innings while striking out three. With the Phillies entering a rebuilding phase, Simmons was released by the club on May 17, 1960. He'd return briefly to the franchise in 1970 as a member of the Phillies' minor league instructional staff.
Simmons, and the entire Cardinals team, came back down to Earth in 1965, with Simmons going 9-15 with a 4.08 ERA over 34 appearances, including 32 starts. Only Bob Gibson (#320) with 36 made more starts than Simmons with the lefty pitcher crossing the 200-inning threshold for eighth and final time in his career.
The Phillies signed Simmons as a bonus baby in 1947 for $65,000, one of the highest amounts received to date by an amateur player. He made his debut on September 28th that season and he'd be a fixture in the Phillies' starting pitching rotation for the next decade. He was the National League's starting pitcher in the 1952 All-Star Game, hosted at Shibe Park, and he pitched three shutout innings while striking out three. With the Phillies entering a rebuilding phase, Simmons was released by the club on May 17, 1960. He'd return briefly to the franchise in 1970 as a member of the Phillies' minor league instructional staff.
With the Phillies, he was 115-110 with a 3.66 ERA in 325 games. Simmons was inducted onto the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1993, and he was by far the best left-handed pitcher in franchise history until Steve Carlton (#477), Chris Short and Cole Hamels all came along. Simmons still ranks in the top ten among all Phillies pitchers in games started (263), shutouts (18), wins (115), innings pitched (1,939 2/3), and strikeouts (1,052).
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #14
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1952, 1956-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-CS
92 - Simmons non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/29/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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