Al Simmons

3.1. Philadelphia Athletics (1924-1932)

Simmons made his major league debut in 1924 with the Philadelphia Athletics, immediately making an impact by recording a batting average over .300 and more than 100 RBIs in his rookie season. In his second season with Philadelphia in 1925, he led the American League (AL) with 253 hits and 392 total bases. He posted an impressive .387 batting average, hit 24 home runs, and drove in 129 RBIs. He also scored 122 runs, hit 43 doubles, and finished with a .599 slugging percentage. Simmons's 85 multi-hit games in 1925 set a single-season MLB record. His outstanding performance earned him the second-most votes for the league's Most Valuable Player Award, only behind Roger Peckinpaugh.

Over the next three seasons, Simmons continued his strong hitting, recording batting averages of .341 in 1926, .392 in 1927, and .351 in 1928, while consistently driving in 110, 108, and 107 runs, respectively. He finished fifth in MVP voting in 1926 and fourth in 1927.

In 1929, Simmons played a crucial role in leading the Athletics to the AL pennant. The team finished with a dominant 104-46 record, 18 games ahead of the New York Yankees, and went on to defeat the Chicago Cubs in five games to win the World Series. That season, Simmons batted .365 with 34 home runs and led the AL with 157 RBIs, earning his first RBI title. He also scored 114 runs, tallied 212 hits with 41 doubles, and maintained a .642 slugging percentage. In the 1929 World Series, he batted .300 with two home runs and five RBIs, scoring six runs.

The 1930 season was a career-best for Simmons, as he won his first of two consecutive batting titles, hitting .381 with 36 home runs. He recorded 211 hits, 41 doubles, and 16 triples, achieving a remarkable .708 slugging percentage. Simmons drove in 165 runs and scored 152 runs in just 138 games. The Athletics secured another AL pennant, finishing 102-52, and defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to win back-to-back World Series titles. In the 1930 World Series, Simmons batted .364 with two home runs and four RBIs, along with a .727 slugging percentage.

In 1931, the Athletics clinched their third consecutive AL pennant, finishing 107-45, 13.5 games ahead of the Yankees. Simmons won his second batting title, hitting an impressive .390 with 22 home runs, 128 RBIs, and 105 runs scored. Despite a contract dispute with the team that was resolved on opening day with a substantial three-year, 100.00 K USD deal, he managed to collect 200 hits, 37 doubles, and 13 triples, achieving a .641 slugging percentage while playing in only 128 games. He finished third in AL MVP voting that year, behind his teammate Lefty Grove (the MVP) and the Yankees' Lou Gehrig. The Athletics' quest for a third consecutive World Series title was thwarted as they lost to the Cardinals in seven games. Simmons contributed with a .333 batting average, two home runs, and eight RBIs in the series.

In his final season with Philadelphia in 1932, Simmons led the AL with 216 hits. He batted .322, with 35 home runs, 151 RBIs, and 144 runs scored. During his nine seasons with the Athletics, Simmons maintained a .356 batting average, hit 209 home runs, accumulated 1,179 RBIs, and scored 969 runs in 1,290 games. He drove in 100 or more runs in all nine of his seasons with the team and scored 100 or more runs in five of those seasons. Across his three World Series appearances for the Athletics, he batted .333 with six home runs, 17 RBIs, and 15 runs scored in 18 games.

3.2. Later Career (1933-1944)

In late September 1932, due to team financial difficulties, the Philadelphia Athletics sold Simmons, along with teammates Mule Haas and Jimmy Dykes, to the Chicago White Sox for an undisclosed cash sum. This transaction was reportedly the largest cash purchase ever made by the White Sox and potentially the largest in AL history at the time, leading to speculation that Athletics owner Connie Mack was dismantling the successful team of 1929-1931.

In his first season with Chicago in 1933, Simmons batted .331 with 14 home runs, 119 RBIs, and 200 hits. He was also voted by fans as the leading vote-getter for the inaugural Major League Baseball All-Star Game that year. In 1934, he maintained strong performance, batting .344 with 18 home runs, 104 RBIs, 102 runs scored, and 192 hits in 138 games. His final season with the White Sox in 1935 saw a dip in performance, with a .267 batting average, 16 home runs, and 79 RBIs in 128 games-the first time in his 11-year career that he failed to reach a .300 batting average and 100 RBIs.

Simmons rebounded in 1936 with the Detroit Tigers, hitting .327 with 13 home runs, 112 RBIs, and 96 runs scored. In 1937, he joined the Washington Senators, where he struggled again, batting only .279 with 8 home runs and 84 RBIs in 103 games. However, he had a stellar season in 1938, batting .302 with 21 home runs and 95 RBIs in just 125 games for Washington. His 21 home runs that year made him the first player to hit 20 home runs in a single season for the Senators.

In December 1938, Simmons was purchased from the Senators by the Boston Bees (formerly the Boston Braves). The purchase price was not immediately revealed, but reports indicated Simmons had a strained relationship with Senators owner Clark Griffith. On August 31, 1939, Simmons was then acquired by the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds went on to win the National League pennant that year, giving Simmons the opportunity to play in his final World Series. He appeared in one game in the 1939 World Series, going one-for-four with a double and a run scored.

Simmons continued to play in the major leagues until 1944, when he concluded his career with his original team, the Philadelphia Athletics.

3.3. Annual Batting Statistics

3.4. Career Highlights and Unique Records

Al Simmons is widely regarded as one of the finest hitters in MLB history, particularly among right-handed batters. He concluded his career with an impressive lifetime batting average of .334, which stands as the fifth-highest for a right-handed hitter since the 20th century. He achieved a batting average of .340 or better in eight different seasons, including four seasons with an average exceeding .380. For his first 11 major league seasons, he consistently recorded a .300 batting average and 100 or more RBIs.

Simmons holds unique records for reaching career milestones: he accumulated 1,500 hits in just 1,040 games and 2,000 hits in 1,393 games, both marking the fewest games needed to reach these respective milestones in major league history since 1900. He also holds the record for the most hits by a player after 1,000 games played since 1900, with 1,443 hits. He compiled 200 or more hits in a season six times, with five of these instances occurring consecutively from 1929 to 1933. Additionally, he had 199 hits in 1926 and 192 hits in 1934. He held the record for more hits than any other right-handed batter in AL history until he was surpassed by Al Kaline.

Throughout his career, Simmons recorded 8 five-hit games and 52 four-hit games. He finished with 307 career home runs, placing among the top six in the AL in home runs for seven consecutive seasons from 1925 to 1932. In 19 World Series games across his career, he hit .329 with 6 home runs, 17 RBIs, and 15 runs scored, accompanied by a .658 slugging percentage. He was also a proficient outfielder for his era, maintaining a career .982 fielding percentage and recording exactly 5,000 putouts in his MLB career.

Simmons earned the distinctive nickname "Bucketfoot Al" because of his unusual batting style: when hitting, he would stride noticeably toward third base, a movement that observers likened to stepping into a bucket. This unique form was a hallmark of his powerful hitting approach. His former manager, Connie Mack, was reportedly so fond of Simmons that he kept his photograph in his office even after Simmons had been traded.

6.1. Hall of Fame Induction

Simmons was honored with induction into multiple halls of fame:

• In 1951, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, acknowledging his roots and athletic achievements in his home state.
• In 1953, he achieved the ultimate recognition in baseball, being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
• In 1975, his Polish heritage was recognized with his induction into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

6.2. Rankings and Evaluations

Al Simmons's standing among the baseball elite has been affirmed by various authoritative rankings and evaluations:

• In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Simmons at number 43 on its list of the "100 Greatest Baseball Players." He was also nominated for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, an honor reserved for the most iconic players of the 20th century.
• In the 2001 book The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, renowned baseball historian and statistician Bill James ranked Simmons as the 71st greatest baseball player of all time. James also specifically listed Simmons as the seventh greatest MLB left fielder in baseball history.