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
Thought you might like to see this if you haven’t already. I stumbled upon it while just searching Ted, which I do sometimes just to keep up.
Maggie: Thank you very much for sharing this clip. I hadn’t seen it. Glad you sent it.
Hey, drop me a line if you want to be in next version of StL Baseball for iPhone and Android.
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
I noticed that Baseball Reference had nicknames for many players, but not Ted, so I suggested that as Simba was widely used in reference to Simmons, they should add that to his bio, and recently they did. Feel like I did my small part.
Well done! Thanks for taking action and for taking the time to inform me.
,
Mark, wonder if you have ever come across a reference to the Gashouse Gang giving Dizzy Dean a presentation bat enscribed: To Jerome “Dizzy” Dean “The Gang” Bob M. springfvr9@aol.com
Thanks for your comment. I checked 2 biographies _ “Diz” by Robert Gregory and “Ol’ Diz” by Vince Slaten _ and couldn’t find a reference to the bat. Dean did prefer to be called “Jerome.”
Today, I found your Retro Simba blog. Like you, I’m a long time Cards fan, dating back from the 60’s. I had originally jumped on the bandwagon during their 1964 pennant race and World Series. So, I was reading some of the articles. (Sounds like you’re a couple of years younger than me.)
Thanks for your comment and for reading the blog, Diane. I always appreciate Cardinals fans who appreciate Cardinals history.
Hi Mark — Dave Kane in Springfield, Illinois. I’d always had the image of “scrappy overachiever” when I thought of Mike Tyson, but you obviously cleared that up for me. Your stuff is outstanding; brings back many memories for me, who also had my formative years as a Cardinal fan in the crappy 1970s!
Dave: Great to hear from you. I think all the “scrappy overachievers” were on The Evansville Press sports staff. I’ll never forget how we got to attend the 1982 World Series together. Special times.
This site is outstanding. Thank you, THANK YOU! Been a fan of the Cards since 1964. Great job, the ‘six degrees of’ game can be played here endlessly.
Thank you very much. It’s always great to make a connection with a longtime Cardinals fan.
I always enjoy the stories. Check the blog site daily and share some of your memories. Can’t Thank You enough for the great reads of Cardinals history.
Thank you, Tim. I appreciate your feedback and your readership.
If I recall correctly, Joe Torre once said – “I’ve never seen anyone hit a ball harder more consistently than Ted SImmons”. Anyone who saw him play knows he was a fearsome hitter, from both sides of the plate. Didn’t strike out, always drove in 80-100 runs and was a line drive machine. Thanks for the memories Ted SImmons!
Thanks for the insights, Pete. You summarized well many of the attributes that made Ted Simmons a special Cardinals player.
i’m in upstate ny but i’ve been a cardinal fan since the 40’s. never been to st. louis but i saw a lot of games in st. petersburg at the old al lang field. quite a thrill for a kid to be a few feet from musial, brecheen, pollet and slaughter.
Thanks for the insights, Herb. You got to witness some of the best all-time Cardinals. Always nice to hear from fellow Cardinals fans.
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t a Cardinals fan; I’ve seen games at Busch I, Busch II and Busch III. So, I was delighted to discover retrosimba.com. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the feedback, Mike, and thanks for reading. I enjoy connecting with fellow Cardinals fans!
Wow! What an awesome website. I love to read about Cardinal history. Thanks for your efforts. I just discovered your site and I am so excited to have such a good reference to learn from! Thanks for putting such a great item out there representing the best organization in baseball!….GO Cards!
Chris: Thanks for reading and for the feedback. I enjoy doing this for fellow Cardinals fans.
I just found your website through a link from Will Leitch at SOE and I’ll be sure to bookmark it. I only wish that I had found it sooner as the content is fantastic. I will have a lot of reading to do to catch up.
On a separate note, Ted Simmons was also my favorite player growing up. I was wondering if anyone had any detailed information on his walk-up song when he was coming to bat. If I remember correctly, it was a tune from his daughter’s jewelry box. However, I do not know the name of the actual song (if it even has one). I’d love to make that my phone’s ring tone, if I could ever find out the song title.
Steve: Thanks for your feedback and thanks for reading. I recall well that walk-up jingle played as Ted Simmons came to bat at home games. I’ll research it and let you know if I find out anything.
Was Simmons’s song Swan Lake?
This site is great! I started following the Cardinals in 1976. As with many others Ted Simmons was my hero. His getting traded to Milwaulkee was a real dose of worldly reality– I was still young and naive; it never occurred to me he could ever be traded. Anyway, I love this blog!
Thank you, Emerson. I always enjoy connecting with a fellow Ted Simmons fan and Cardinals fan!
To Mark Tomasik. From Ross Lewis-former NFL photographer (1972-1984). I am crafting a photography book about Yankee Stadium. I am seeking the 1943 photograph (Game 1 Yankees/Cardinals) of the near-miss B-17 plane flown by Jack Watson. Please contact me at rossl-see@att.net. I would very much appreciate your help with this. Thank you.
Ross: I don’t own or possess the photo. Sorry.
Great site! I look forward to each of the new entries and also your back log of great stories ranging from prospect lists to personal insight. Keep up the good work!!
Retrosimba!
Long-time listener. First-time caller. Could you please contact me via email? I need your help.
Thank you!