This blog is produced by Mark Tomasik, a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, and is dedicated to providing insights into Cardinals history.
My all-time favorite Cardinal is Stan Musial. At age 7, I attended my first big-league game at the Polo Grounds in New York and saw Musial against the Mets in his last appearance as a player in New York. From then on, I’ve been a devoted fan of the Cardinals and Musial.
The name of this blog, though, is in honor of Ted “Simba” Simmons, the longtime Cardinals catcher. Simmons was the Cardinal I most identified with in the 1970s when I was a teen. He was strong, consistent, intelligent and independent. He was a fun player to follow and I only wish he could have experienced a championship with the Cardinals.
Mark,
‘Retro Simba’ Holy Cow.
Hey, honestly, real clean, to-the-point effort here by you. Just the right touch of visuals that draws your eyes into it. No clutter, easy to read setup – must have by Diane’s design.
Call it BS all you want, will be go-to Cardinals site as others catch on and know you will keep it updated.
Thanks for sharing.
Mike
Hi Mark – -
I came across your site while at SABR, and seeing the “Simba” name and Cardinals link, I had to check it out. Ted Simmons was one of my favorite ball players in the 1970s and 1980s. I followed his career all the way up to the end with Atlanta. It was too bad he never got into a World Series with the Cardinals, having instead to play against them in the 1982 Series.
There was an article in Sports Illustrated in the mid-1970s that I still have, in which it told of Ted’s playing career with the Cardinals and his collecting of antique furniture, which led him to be named to the St. Louis Museum of Art Board of Directors.
A couple of remembrances of Ted are a baseball card that I got from Hostess that showed the world why he was nicknamed Simba (shoulder-length hair) and, in a game with the Cubs in 1978, he smacked a homer and when he got to home plate, the umpire tossed him out of the game. Whatever he said, he went out with a bang.
Thanks for your work at this site – I’ll be back often!
Robb
Robb:
Thanks for visiting my site and taking the time to write a comment.
Ted Simmons always has conducted himself with class. It’s good to know there others, like yourself, who appreciated him.
Mark
Hey, drop me a line if you want to be in next version of StL Baseball for iPhone and Android.
Hi, I came across your site and wasn’t able to get an email address to contact you. Would you please consider adding a link to my website on your page. We are happy to offer you a 10% discount to our Online Store if you do so. Please email me back and I would be happy to give you our link.
Thanks!
Frank
I grew up in Stl and am a huge Simba fan. This is an awesome site thanks for having it. Ted Simmons to the hall of fame is my mantra!!!
Hi, Maggie:
Always great to hear from another Ted Simmons fan. Thank you for your comments and for visiting the site. Tough day for all Cardinals fans today on the passing of Bob Forsch, who was one of Ted Simmons’ favorite pitchers.
Mark
Just stumbled on this site for the first time today as I was searching to see if there was a comment from Simmons on the passing of Bob Forsch. Ted Simmons is my favorite all-time Cardinal player, and I was also a big fan of Bob Forsch. Will check back to see what else get posted on this Cards site. Simba Rules!
Tammy:
Thank you for your comment and for visiting the blog. I will post an item soon about Bob Forsch, who was one of my most-liked Cardinals, too. I will keep a look-out for statements from Ted Simmons about Bob Forsch and post any I find.
Mark
In a recent article concerning Minnie Minoso, a writer, Oscar Kahan is quoted.
I’m not familiar with him as a famous sportswriter. Will you tell me a bit about him?
Oliver Black
Oliver:
Thank you for reading my blog.
Oscar Kahan was a sports reporter for the St. Louis Star-Times and then the Associated Press. He became assistant managing editor of The Sporting News and remained there for 32 years. He usually wrote about baseball, especially the Cardinals, in the 1950s and 1960s.
Mark
Thanks for the info… while an avid follower of baseball in those years in Philly, I just did not know of him. I assume he is no longer around…. part of a passing era of baseball and sports in general we probably will never see again. Quite unlike the overpaid egoists we see in many sorts these days.
Oliver