1980 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #45 Ted Simmons

I was surprised to see Simmons selected for induction to the Hall of Fame recently.  The 1980 set now has 20 Hall of Famers (of 60 cards) and a few guys, including Pete Rose, who are talked about regarding induction. 

I was also surprised to see that he had MVP votes in six seasons.  He finished in the top ten only twice - sixth in 1975 and ninth in 1977.

He was an eight-time all-star selection.  Even though he played in the N.L. East during my childhood I still didn't realize he was that type of player.  He should have seemed like a star since I was watching Cub catchers in the 1970s after Randy Hundley.

The Cub who played the most games at catcher in the 1970s was Steve Swisher - 362 games.  Simmons actually played catcher in 1,304 games during the 1970s  Hundley was second even though he last played for the Cubs in 1973, not counting a few games in 1976-77.

Who else played for the Cubs during that time - George Mitterwald, Ken Rudolph, Barry Foote, Dave Rader and Tim Blackwell all managed to get into 100+ games during those years.

Back to Simmons.  He never led in any catching stats other than most passed balls and that's certainly not a good thing.  He never led in hitting stats except intentional walks (twice).

It is always noted that it is more difficult for a catcher to achieve stats since they take a beating in the field unlike another other player.  Since I grew up left-handed and never was a catcher I don't always think of that but I certainly understand it.  He had solid stats over a long career.

Why did he lead in intentional walks twice?  He batted in front of a few different guys in 1976 and usually in front of Keith Hernandez in 1977.

He had a career high in homers even though he only played in 123 games.  He missed four weeks with a hand injury.  His durability certainly helped his selection.  In a 15-year stretch he missed more than 30 games only in 1979 when he had the hand injury.

Simmons played more games for St. Louis in the 1970s than anyone else.  As for catchers, no one else played over 90 games at catcher for St. Louis in the 1970s.

Joe Torre (90) and Steve Swisher (75) were the only ones with more than 48 games.  Ken Rudolph and Dave Rader were among the list of only 16 catchers during those ten years.  By contrast, the Cubs used 22 which tied for the most with the California Angels.  Sorry, I can't keep track of their official name but they were the California Angels in the 1970s.