(Updated May 26, 2019)
In the time it takes to circle the bases, Ted Simmons experienced the high of hitting an improbable home run and the low of being ejected.
The incident symbolized the frustrations of the 1978 Cardinals.
On May 27, 1978, the Cardinals, who’d lost 13 of their last 14 games, faced the first-place Cubs in St. Louis. Frustrated by the strike zone of Paul Runge, Simmons jawed with the plate umpire.
“(Simmons) seemed to be uptight through most of the game,” Runge said to the Associated Press. “Before the seventh inning, I was joking with him and telling him to relax. There was something working on him.”
In the ninth, the Cubs called in closer Bruce Sutter to protect a 2-1 lead. Simmons, who doubled and tripled in the game, was first to bat.
Sutter got ahead on the count 0-and-2. On his next pitch, “I tried to bounce it up there,” Sutter said to the Chicago Tribune, but the pitch was up in the strike zone. Batting left-handed, Simmons crushed it for a 400-foot home run, tying the score.
As he stepped on the plate after rounding the bases, Simmons tipped his batting helmet in Runge’s direction and, according to the ump, said, “Take that.”
Runge ejected Simmons.
“He definitely showed me up, but he didn’t cuss me,” Runge said. “It was a perfect opportunity for him and he took the opportunity.”
Simmons told the Tribune, “I didn’t say a word.”
Cubs manager Herman Franks said he was surprised Simmons got tossed. “I always thought as long as you didn’t swear you couldn’t get thrown out of a ballgame,” Franks said. “It ain’t so anymore.”
The Cubs scored in the 11th and won, 3-2, sending the Cardinals to their 14th loss in 15 games. The Cardinals filed a protest with the National League, arguing Simmons shouldn’t have been ejected.
“I think this has been happening, or brewing, over a long period of time, but unless you call an umpire a name, he (Simmons) shouldn’t be kicked out,” Cardinals manager Ken Boyer said. “We think very strongly that umpires ought to be fined, suspended or reprimanded, just like players.
“The only job (Runge) had was to see if (Simmons) touched the plate. I don’t think that the average fan knew they were having words before. Teddy never once turned around.” Boxscore
Three decades later, in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said the ejection of Simmons remained memorable.
“Teddy was not in agreement with Paul Runge’s strike zone,” Hummel recalled. “They had a little debate about balls and strikes. Then Teddy hits a home run to tie the game and as Teddy steps on home plate he is ejected. That’s one of my favorites. Home run and gone.”
RetroSimba 
Thanks for the memories.
Thanks for reading.
I was in Rushford, MN, that day, and was watching that game that night. Since Ted Simmons was a favorite of mine, I saw him hit the home run, and then get thrown out. I couldn’t tell if he said anything to the umpire, but figured he must have used one of the magic words to get tossed. Another thought I had was that he and the umpire were arguing with each other throughout the game, and if something was said, it pushed the ump over the line. Thanks for the clarification of what happened what happened in this incident.
Thanks for sharing your remembrance.
I love the reason for the ejection. “Tipped cap at umpire after HR.” Based upon what I came across in the rules book, even if Ted Simmons had gesterd at Runge while still running the bases, the homerun still would have counted. According to the rules, the actual ejection of a player commences when the play comes to an end.
Thanks for the info.