Al Simmons facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Al Simmons
Simmons in 1937
Outfielder
Born: (1902-05-22)May 22, 1902 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died: May 26, 1956(1956-05-26) (aged 54) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
April 15, 1924, for the Philadelphia Athletics
Last appearance
July 1, 1944, for the Philadelphia Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average	.334
Hits	2,927
Home runs	307
Runs batted in	1,828
Teams
Philadelphia Athletics (1924–1932) Chicago White Sox (1933–1935) Detroit Tigers (1936) Washington Senators (1937–1938) Boston Braves (1939) Cincinnati Reds (1939) Philadelphia Athletics (1940–1941) Boston Red Sox (1943) Philadelphia Athletics (1944)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star (1933–1935) 2× World Series champion (1929, 1930) 2× AL batting champion (1930, 1931) AL RBI leader (1929) Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame Athletics Hall of Fame
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1953
Vote	75.4% (ninth ballot)

Al Simmons (born Alois Szymanski on May 22, 1902 – died May 26, 1956) was a famous American baseball player. He was also known as Aloysius Harry Simmons. People nicknamed him "Bucketfoot Al" because of his unique batting style.

Simmons played for 20 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder. He had his best years with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics team in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He helped them win two World Series championships. Simmons also played for other teams like the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. After he stopped playing, he became a coach. He was an amazing hitter, with a career batting average of .334. He was honored by being put into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

Early Life and Name Change

Simmons was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up loving the Philadelphia Athletics team. When he told his father he wanted to be a baseball player, his father told him he had to be a good one!

Simmons was first known by his birth name, Szymanski. But when he played for a minor league team, people often mispronounced it. He saw an advertisement for a company called Simmons Hardware. He decided to change his last name to Simmons to make it easier for everyone.

Playing Career Highlights

Becoming a Star with the Philadelphia Athletics (1924–1932)

In 1925, which was only his second year with the Philadelphia Athletics, Simmons showed how good he was. He led the American League (AL) with 253 hits. He also had a high batting average of .387. That year, he hit 24 home runs and brought in 129 runs for his team (RBI). He also scored 122 runs himself. Simmons had 85 games where he got more than one hit, which is still an MLB record for a single season! He almost won the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, coming in second place.

Over the next three years, Simmons continued to be a top player. He hit .341, then .392, and then .351. He also drove in over 100 runs each of those years.

Winning the World Series

Simmons helped the Athletics win the AL championship in 1929. The team had an amazing season, winning 104 games. They finished 18 games ahead of the New York Yankees. The Athletics then beat the Chicago Cubs in five games to win the World Series. In that championship season, Simmons hit .365 with 34 home runs. He also led the AL with 157 RBI. He played great in his first World Series, hitting .300 with two home runs.

Simmons had one of his best years in 1930. He won his first batting title, hitting .381. He also hit 36 home runs and had 165 RBI. The Athletics won the AL championship again. They then beat the St. Louis Cardinals to win their second straight World Series title. Simmons played very well in that World Series too, hitting .364 with two home runs.

In 1931, the Athletics won their third straight AL championship. Simmons won his second batting title, hitting an incredible .390. He also had 22 home runs and 128 RBI. Even though Simmons and his team played great, the Athletics lost the World Series to the Cardinals that year. Simmons still hit .333 with two home runs in the series.

In his last season with Philadelphia in 1932, Simmons led the AL with 216 hits. He batted .322, with 35 home runs and 151 RBI. During his time with the Philadelphia Athletics, Simmons had a .356 batting average. He hit 209 home runs and had 1,179 RBI. He drove in over 100 runs in all nine of his seasons with the team. In his three World Series appearances for the Athletics, Simmons hit .333 with six home runs.

Playing for Other Teams (1933–1944)

1933 baseball card of Simmons

In 1932, the Athletics sold Simmons to the Chicago White Sox. This was a big deal at the time. Many people thought the Athletics were breaking up their championship team.

In his first year with Chicago, Simmons hit .331 with 14 home runs and 119 RBI. He continued to play well in 1934, hitting .344. After a tough year in 1935, he bounced back in 1936 with the Detroit Tigers, hitting .327 with 112 RBI.

He then played for the Washington Senators. In 1938, he had a great season, hitting .302 with 21 home runs. He was the first player to hit 20 home runs in a year for the Senators.

Simmons later played for the Boston Bees and the Cincinnati Reds. In 1939, he played in his final World Series with the Reds. He played in one game and got a double. Simmons played in the major leagues until 1944, finishing his career with his original team, the Philadelphia Athletics.

Al Simmons: A Hitting Machine

Al Simmons was one of the best hitters in baseball history. His career batting average was .334. He hit .340 or better in eight different seasons! In four of those seasons, he hit better than .380. He also hit over .300 and had 100 or more RBI in his first 11 seasons.

Simmons reached 1,500 hits in just 1,040 games. He got 2,000 hits in only 1,393 games. These are still the fewest games needed to reach those milestones in MLB history! He had 200 or more hits in a season six times. Five of those times were in a row (1929–1933).

Simmons hit 307 home runs in his career. He was also a good outfielder, with a fielding percentage of .982. He was called "Bucketfoot Al" because when he swung the bat, his front foot would step towards third base.

Later Life and Legacy

After he stopped playing baseball, Simmons became a coach. He coached for the Athletics from 1945 to 1949. He also coached for the Cleveland Indians in 1950. In 1951, he had to step down from coaching due to an illness.

Simmons passed away on May 26, 1956, from a heart attack. He was buried in Milwaukee.

Simmons received many honors for his amazing career. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1951. In 1953, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1975, he joined the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Simmons as the 43rd greatest baseball player of all time. He was also considered for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In a 2001 book, baseball expert Bill James ranked Simmons as the 71st greatest baseball player ever.

See Also

In Spanish: Al Simmons para niños