RetroSimba

(Updated Sept. 20, 2023)

In 1973, the year he turned 24, Ted Simmons achieved an ironman feat that remains largely unappreciated and mostly unmatched.

Simmons caught a staggering total of 1,352.2 innings for the 1973 Cardinals. To put the achievement in perspective, consider:

_ Hall of Fame catchers such as Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella and Ivan Rodriguez never caught that many innings in a season.

_ The only Hall of Fame catchers who topped Simmons’ 1973 total were Carlton Fisk, who caught 1,355.2 innings for the Red Sox in 1978, and Gary Carter, who caught 1,353.2 innings for the Expos in 1982, according to baseball-reference.com.

_ Yadier Molina, a multiple Gold Glove Award winner, caught a career-high 1,218.1 innings for the 2016 Cardinals. That’s 134.1 innings, or the equivalent of 15 games, fewer than what Simmons did for the 1973 Cardinals. Simmons’ 1,352.2-inning total is a franchise record. The next closest is Tim McCarver, who caught 1,261.1 innings for the 1966 Cardinals.

Randy Hundley holds the major-league record for most innings caught in a season. He caught 1,385 innings _ 32.1 more than Simmons _ for the 1968 Cubs.

Playing primarily on the punishing artificial surface of Busch Memorial Stadium, Simmons appeared in 161 of the Cardinals’ 162 games in 1973. He caught in 152 of those games.

“He’s about as strong a human being as I’ve ever seen,” Simmons’ teammate, Joe Torre, a former catcher, said to The Sporting News. “He’s so durable. That’s tough, catching every day in August and September.”

Looking back at Simmons’ endurance, teammate Mike Tyson said to Cardinals Magazine, “How’d he do it? He was a beast.”

Cardinals reliever Al Hrabosky told the Baseball Hall of Fame Yearbook, “His best attributes were his strong will to win and dedication to being out there every day.”

Shortstop Dal Maxvill said to Cardinals Magazine, “He wanted to be in the lineup every day. He was strong, he was young and he was a real gamer. He would take a foul ball off the shoulder _ chest protectors didn’t have flaps then _ and you could see he was in pain.”

Getting it done

Simmons played in every inning of the Cardinals’ first 91 games in 1973 before being held out of a July 18 night game against the Giants at St. Louis, The Sporting News reported. Although Simmons spent that day serving military reserve duty, he asked to be in the lineup that night, but manager Red Schoendienst decided to rest him.

Simmons established single-season career highs in 1973 for defensive chances (975), putouts (888) and plate appearances (690).

“There were days I felt terrible and I did wonderful, and days I felt wonderful and did terrible,” Simmons told Cardinals Magazine. “I realized fairly quickly there wasn’t any connection. Besides, it wasn’t going to do me any good to worry about it because I was going to play no matter if I felt good, bad or indifferent.”

Though playing the most demanding position on the field without hardly a rest, Simmons excelled on defense and offense.

He caught 50 runners attempting to steal in 1973. Only the Phillies’ Bob Boone, who threw out 54, had a higher total among National League catchers that year. Simmons ranked third in the league in percentage of runners caught attempting to steal (44 percent). Only Bench and Boone did better.

“He’s still not the smoothest catcher, but he gets the job done,” Torre said after the 1973 season. “He’s throwing better and catching better.”

Doing it all

Batting primarily in the cleanup position, Simmons led the 1973 Cardinals in batting average (.310), RBI (91), doubles (36), total bases (271) and slugging percentage (.438). He also tied with Torre for the team lead in home runs (13).

Impressively consistent, Simmons, a switch-hitter, hit .310 against right-handed pitching and .311 against left-handed pitching in 1973. “That was a great shot in the arm _ batting over .300 from both sides,” Simmons said. He struck out just 47 times in 619 at-bats.

“He doesn’t often look bad at the plate,” Cardinals coach Vern Benson said. “He’s so good at adjusting with one or two strikes.”

Rather than wane under the toll, Simmons grew more productive as the season progressed. After hitting .212 with no homers in April, Simmons batted .272 in May, .333 in June, .314 in July, .295 in August and a stunning .391 (43-for-110) in September when the Cardinals challenged the Mets for the division title.

In an interview with the Baseball Hall of Fame magazine, “Memories and Dreams,” McCarver, who had returned to the Cardinals in 1973 as a utility player, recalled, “That year, Ted Simmons hit more balls hard than anybody I’ve ever seen in the course of a season. Honestly, I felt he could have gotten 350 hits that year.”

Dal Maxvill said to Cardinals Magazine, “Ted has said he learned a lot about hitting from his teammates. By watching Matty Alou from the left side, he learned how to get his hands into a position that led to countless line drives to right field. (From) Joe Torre, Ted says he developed an approach to fight off inside fastballs from the right side.”

Will to win

On a hot, humid Labor Day at Pittsburgh on Sept. 3, 1973, Simmons caught all 22 innings of a doubleheader (the first game went 13 innings) and produced three hits in each game, helping the Cardinals split.

“This is the closest I’ve ever been to a division title,” Simmons said to the Associated Press, “and I’m at the point where I’m willing to sacrifice everything to get there.”

The next night, Simmons made what Schoendienst called the “play of the game” when he stretched for a relay throw from second baseman Ted Sizemore and tagged out Richie Zisk at the plate, preserving a 4-2 Cardinals victory that moved them two games ahead of the second-place Pirates. Boxscore

Simmons had a 19-game hitting streak from Aug. 19 through Sept. 8. He hit safely in 36 of the 1973 Cardinals’ last 39 games.

Asked how he was able to perform so well in the season’s final four weeks when it would have been natural to weaken, Simmons said, “It was the thought of the $25,000 (that went to the World Series winners) and the Series ring.”

Julio Gonzalez gave the Cardinals an Easter treat.

A reserve infielder, Gonzalez hit a ninth-inning triple, igniting a winning streak that put the Cardinals on the path to the 1982 National League pennant and World Series title.

After winning their season opener at Houston, beating Nolan Ryan, the Cardinals erased most of the good vibes from that victory by losing their next three.

On April 11, 1982, a chilly, gray Easter Sunday in St. Louis, the Cardinals were looking to get back on track against the Pirates.

The Cardinals led 5-1 after seven innings, but the Pirates scored four in the eighth to tie and a run in the ninth to take a 6-5 lead.

After reliever Enrique Romo retired the first two batters, George Hendrick and Darrell Porter, in the bottom of the ninth, it appeared the Cardinals would lose their fourth in a row.

When Manager Whitey Herzog sent Orlando Sanchez, a third-string catcher, to bat for center fielder David Green, it seemed more desperation than inspiration.

Sanchez, though, coaxed a walk.

That brought up Gonzalez, who had entered in the top of the ninth to play third base after Mike Ramsey was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth.

With one unlikely swing, Gonzalez turned around the Cardinals’ season.

Swinging at a high slider, he tripled to left, scoring pinch-runner Gene Roof with the tying run. Then, he scored the game-winner when Dane Iorg followed an Ozzie Smith walk with a single to left, lifting the Cardinals to a 7-6 victory. Boxscore

“Gonzalez’s hit was our biggest of the season,” Iorg said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It was something we needed badly.”

Inspired, the Cardinals rolled to a 12-game winning streak that put their record at 13-3. That early-season surge helped propel them to their first postseason appearance in 14 years.

Despite his Easter heroics, Gonzalez rarely played after that, but he did finish with a flourish.

On Oct. 3, 1982, in the Cardinals’ regular-season finale against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Gonzalez entered in the third inning as a replacement for second baseman Tommy Herr. Gonzalez went 4-for-5 and led off the 14th inning with a home run, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 victory. Boxscore

It would be the last at-bat of his Cardinals career.

Gonzalez didn’t play in the 1982 postseason. He was released in December after batting .241 in 42 games for the 1982 Cardinals. The Tigers signed him and he played in 12 games for them in 1983, ending his big-league career after seven seasons.

(Updated Dec. 17, 2019)

Joe Girardi and Mike Matheny have much in common. Both attended Big Ten Conference schools (Northwestern for Girardi; Michigan for Matheny). Both were catchers who played in the World Series for franchises they later managed (Yankees for Girardi; Cardinals for Matheny). Both were teammates for one season, with the 2003 Cardinals.

On Dec. 17, 2002, Girardi, a free agent, signed with the Cardinals to be the backup to Matheny. Because of injuries, Girardi was limited to 16 games played for the Cardinals in 2003, the last of his 15 seasons as a big-league player.

Six months before joining the Cardinals, Girardi had helped them during one of their saddest days.

On June 22, 2002, before the Cardinals and Cubs were to play a Saturday afternoon game at a packed Wrigley Field, the teams learned St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile had been found dead in his hotel room. After officials agreed to call off the game, it was decided Girardi, the Cubs’ catcher, should inform the crowd.

Displaying his leadership skills, Girardi stood on the field, faced the fans and informed them through the public-address system that a “tragedy in the Cardinals’ family” had occurred, that the game would not be played and the spectators should show respect and “pray for the Cardinals’ family.”

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “Girardi’s statements helped turn what some club officials feared might be an unseemly response by a disappointed crowd into one of quiet sympathy.”

Helping to recruit Girardi to the Cardinals was first baseman Tino Martinez, who had played with Girardi for four seasons with the Yankees. “Tino told me St. Louis would be a great place to play,” Girardi said to the Associated Press.

Girardi, 38, acccepted a one-year, $750,000 contract from the Cardinals. Strauss wrote Girardi “is considered a solid complement to Matheny.” (The Cardinals also had catcher Eli Marrero, but planned to play him primarily in the outfield in 2003.)

At spring training, Girardi indicated he was picking up the vibe of a championship club.

“To me, this is very similar to the feel in New York,” said Girardi, who played for three World Series-winning Yankees clubs (1996, 1998 and 1999). “They (the Cardinals) expect to win. Anything short of a World Series is considered a failure. Guys were here early before they had to report, working out. It’s just a good group and you can see that.”

Girardi was hitting .375 in 27 at-bats for St. Louis in 2003 spring training games, but after a March 20 exhibition against the Orioles he complained of pain in his side and stiffness in his neck. Medical tests showed he had an enlarged disc. The Post-Dispatch reported he would miss four to six weeks of the regular season “after undergoing a procedure to alleviate potentially career-ending pressure on his spine caused by a herniated disc.”

Wrote Strauss: “When Girardi left camp with his family, those he left behind were unsure when, or if, he would return to uniform.”

The Cardinals signed Chris Widger, who had been released by the Yankees, to replace Girardi. After missing the first 61 games of the season, Girardi was activated June 10, 2003. He made his Cardinals debut June 11 at Fenway Park and went 0-for-4 against Pedro Martinez and John Burkett. Boxscore

Three days later, at Yankee Stadium, Girardi got his first Cardinals hit, a single off rookie Jason Anderson. Boxscore

On July 1, 2003, Girardi returned to the disabled list, suffering back spasms unrelated to his disc problem. He wasn’t activated by the Cardinals until two months later. “It hasn’t been the season I had in mind,” Girardi said. “I was really looking forward to contributing to a championship team.”

On Sept. 28 at Phoenix, in the Cardinals’ last game of the 2003 season, Girardi came to bat for the final time as a big-league player. He led off the ninth inning with a single against Edgar Gonzalez. It was Girardi’s 1,100th hit in the majors. (Girardi batted .130, 3-for-23, for the 2003 Cardinals.)

Unable to overome injuries to players such as outfielder J.D. Drew, pitchers Matt Morris and Jason Isringhausen, second baseman Fernando Vina and Girardi, the 2003 Cardinals finished third in the National League Central, five games behind the first-place Cubs. “This team doesn’t need heart,” Girardi said to Dan O’Neill of the Post-Dispatch. “It needs health.”

Girardi sat out the 2004 season. The Cardinals, with Matheny and rookie Yadier Molina catching, won the pennant for the first time in 17 years and went to the 2004 World Series.

In 2005, Girardi became a coach for Yankees manager Joe Torre and the next year he became manager of the Marlins. In 2008, Girardi replaced Torre as Yankees manager. The next year, Girardi managed the Yankees to the 2009 World Series championship.

Girardi was Yankees manager for 10 seasons until he was fired on Oct. 26, 2017.

After the 2019 season, Girardi was hired to manage the Phillies in 2020 and Matheny, fired by the Cardinals in July 2018, was hired to manage the Royals.

(Updated Jan. 22, 2019)

Skip Schumaker’s most important hit during eight seasons with the Cardinals occurred during one of the greatest at-bats in one of the classic games in franchise history.

Chris Carpenter pitched a gem against the Phillies in the decisive Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series, but the effort could have been wasted if Schumaker hadn’t driven in the run that led to a 1-0 Cardinals victory.

Schumaker’s first-inning RBI-double off Phillies ace Roy Halladay was the defining achievement of his Cardinals career.

Rally Squirrel

In 2011, Schumaker was the Cardinals’ second baseman. In Game 4 of the National League Division Series at St. Louis, Schumaker singled in each of his first two at-bats. In his third at-bat, in the fifth inning, a squirrel ran across the plate, distracting pitcher Roy Oswalt as he unleashed a pitch. Oswalt asked umpire Angel Hernandez to nullify the pitch, ruled a ball, but Hernandez denied the request. “I was wondering what size of animal it needed to be for it not to be a pitch,” Oswalt said. (The Cardinals went on to win, 5-3, preventing the Phillies from clinching the series that night. Thus was born the Rally Squirrel, which became a part of Cardinals lore. Said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel: “Being from the South and being a squirrel hunter, if I had a gun there, might have did something. I’m a pretty good shot.”) Boxscore and MLB video

Schumaker subsequently flied out to center in that squirrelly at-bat. He was lifted before the start of the next inning with what the Cardinals described as a hamstring cramp caused by dehydration.

Before Game 5 at Philadelphia, doctors cleared Schumaker to play. Manager Tony La Russa opted to start Nick Punto at second base and Schumaker in center field in place of the slumping Jon Jay. Schumaker hadn’t started in center in eight weeks, but he had a career .364 batting mark versus Halladay and La Russa wanted Schumaker second in the order, behind Rafael Furcal.

The decision paid immediate dividends.

Epic at-bat

Furcal led off the game with a triple and Schumaker followed with an at-bat the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described as “epic.” With the count 0-and-2, Schumaker fouled off five two-strike pitches. On the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Schumaker pulled a curveball into the right-field corner for a run-producing double. MLB video

“That was a good at-bat,” Halladay said. “I threw him two or three pitches that were good pitches and he just kept fouling them off.”

Said Schumaker to ESPN.com: “I was happy just to put the barrel of the bat on the ball.” Asked whether he was fortunate to foul off a couple of Halladay’s toughest pitches, Schumaker said, “Yeah, probably seven of the 10.” MLB video

Halladay stopped the Cardinals the remainder of the game, but Carpenter was better. He shut out the Phillies on three hits. The Cardinals advanced to the National League Championship Series against the Brewers. Boxscore

Schumaker wouldn’t play in the Milwaukee series. In his second at-bat against Halladay, Schumaker strained a muscle in his side and left the game after he flied out. Schumaker returned for the World Series against the Rangers, started three games in center and appeared in three others. He had two hits in 11 at-bats.

Skip six

Schumaker’s most memorable regular-season performance occurred on July 26, 2008, when he had six singles in seven at-bats in the Cardinals’ 10-8 victory in 14 innings against the Mets at New York. He keyed the winning rally with a one-out single off Aaron Heilman. One out later, Albert Pujols launched a two-run home run. Boxscore

Batting in the leadoff spot and playing left field, Schumaker became the first Cardinal in 73 years to produce six hits in a game. Until then, the feat was last achieved by rookie Terry Moore on Sept. 5, 1935, against the Braves at St. Louis. Batting leadoff and playing center field, Moore was 6-for-6, with five singles and a double. Boxscore

Schumaker and Pujols (who was 5-for-8) became the first Cardinals pair since 1930 to each have five hits in a game. Charlie Gelbert and Taylor Douthit each had five hits against the Cubs on May 16, 1930, at St. Louis. Boxscore

Schumaker had two other feats of note for the Cardinals.

On the last day of the 2007 season, Schumaker was 5-for-5 (four singles and a double) against the Pirates at Pittsburgh. Boxscore

Three years later, on Aug. 9, 2010, during a heated series against the Reds at Cincinnati, Schumaker hit a grand slam, the only one of his career, against Mike Leake in a 7-3 Cardinals victory. Boxscore