AL Player of the WeekAl Simmons
As we have seen, the 1930s was an era of baseball legends. Both the #1 and #2 (by Bill James's rankings) first basemen, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, are the AL's leading sluggers in our replay. Three of his top ten catchers, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey and Gabby Hartnett are behind the plate. Arky Vaughan, Joe Cronin and Luke Appling are all at Shortstop.
Where are the great outfielders? In right field, we have Mel Ott and Paul Waner. The only "top ten" center fielder to play in the 1930s, Joe DiMaggio, won't show up until 1936, and is generally thought of as a player of the 1940s. Al Simmons, our player of the week, is the only top ten rated player in left.
Born in 1902, Simmons (HA7) played Major League baseball from 1924 through 1944 (except in 1942). He played outfield for Philadelphia from 1924 through 1932, when he was sold off by a Depression strapped Connie Mack to Chicago, where he played for three seasons, including the year of our replay (1934). He moved to Detroit for one year in 1936, and then Washington. He played a few years in the NL, and then back to the AL for Philadephia, Boston for one year in 1943 and finally back to the A's one last, brief time in 1944.
From 1925 through 1934, Simmons put up monster numbers (top 5 in slugging % every year from 1925 through 1932) , and would finish in the top 5 for MVP a few times, although he never captured the honor. Still, a decade's worth of being one of the very best, plus an overall OPS+ of 132 was good enough to earn him a top spot among Bill James's ranking of left fielders.
Like many players, Simmons was superstitious. He once broke out of a slump by putting his hat on before any other article of clothing, which caused the clubhouse to break out in laughter. The next day, Simmons had four hits. From then on, it was "hat first."
Simmons was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1953.
