December Pick ups

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by CW

Always liked that set, and Simmons was one of the greats! You also never see DeLongs centered like that. Congrats!

BTW, was just checking out some of Simmons' stats... he wasn't a big power hitter, but his .334 lifetime BA over 20 years is quite impressive. He led the AL in '30 and '31 with averages of .381 and .390. In 1927, Al batted an amazing .392, but finished only 2nd in the AL behind Detroit's Harry Heilmann who batted .398!

Simmons was greatness. At age 30, he was giving Ty Cobb a run for his money as the all-time batting leader; Cobb ended at .366, and Simmons had a .363 AVG through his first eight seasons. And while he wasn't Jimmie Foxx, he did hit over 300 home runs in his career.

It's hard to believe he never won an MVP. Some of the seasons he had were just ridiculous. His second season, he hit .387, scoring 122 runs, with 253 hits, 43 doubles, 12 triples, 24 home runs, 129 RBI, and he was MVP runner up. That was his age 23 season! And what really sucked for him? His best two seasons were in 1929 and 1930. But because of the economy, there were no MVP Awards handed out those seasons.

Think he might have won one at least?

In 1929, Al Simmons hit .365, scored 114 runs, had 212 hits, 41 doubles, 9 triples, 34 home runs, 157 RBI, and a 1.040 OPS.

In 1930, Simmons hit .381, scored an incredible 152 runs, had 211 hits, 41 doubles, 16 triples, 36 home runs, 165 RBI, and an 1.130 OPS.

The guy had four seasons hitting over .380. Just a sensational offensive force. The best ever born in my hometown of Milwaukee, WI.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Bill- Stan Musial gave Simmons a great deal of credit for teaching him how to hit. The two spent a lot of time together in the Spring here in Hot Springs. Two years ago we erected plaques for each of them side by side on our Historic Baseball Trail. The two plaques went up in front of St. Mary's Catholic Church where they started each day with early mass.

[VintageBucs]

[jchcollins]

Back when I was about 15, this guy was at the peak of his fame - in his 40's, still throwing in the 90's, and of course still spinning no-hitters with the Texas Rangers. I think it's fair to say that besides Mickey Mantle, Nolan Ryan had become about the most popular figure in the hobby as well by the early 1990's. Back then this card went for around $200, even in mid-grade shape. I remember seeing it for the first time on the old ESPN show with Johnny Bench, "The Great American Baseball Quiz"...and instantly wanting it. Was thrilled to pickup this copy for less than 20 bucks. My how times have changed! Bonus - What I thought was a small nick in the lower lefthand corner was actually just a fleck off of the black insert in the SGC case (easily removed by cracking the card out of the SGC case...) and not a problem at all. Very nice card for the money, and especially in comparison to what I have paid for one in the past. A solid VG-EX, just honest mild corner wear, a couple of surface dents that are not noticeable, and some light / faded printing on the back. When looking for this card again online, I was surprised at how damn many of them (virtually 90% that I looked at) are diamond cut, even if slightly. This one is not. Also merits being said that this is one of the very few cards with an airbrushed hat that I actually think is cool. Topps got it close to right for once, though you can clearly still see Nolan's pinstriped Mets home jersey that doesn't match the cap. Interesting to me also, that by the time Nolan got out to Anaheim in 1972, the Angels had done away with the "small a halo" logo, and replaced it with the more recognizable "large A halo" logo. Although if you search hard enough, I do believe that pictures exist of Nolan wearing the old cap in what must have been spring training in 1972.

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Simmons was greatness...

Bill, you are like the unofficial baseball historian and stat guy of N54. I feel like I just read a really nice Nellie Fox piece from you as well. And how could I ever forget that one you did on how overrated Chuck Klein was, just after I posted my pickup of his 1940 Playball. (And yes, I'm teasing you on that last one!)

One thing I'd love your take on is Dave Concepcion being the perennial NL AS at shortstop for pretty much my entire childhood. Do you think he was in fact the best, or merely benefitting from being part of the Big Red Machine? And who would be your top 3 NL shortstops post-Banks and pre-Ozzie?

Thanks!