Curt Simmons: The Last of the 1950 Whiz Kids

by Rev. Connell A. McHugh

The first baseball game I recall listening to was one of the 1950 World Series between the Yankees and the Phillies in which the Bombers swept the Phils in a very low scoring World Series in which the Yanks only tallied 11 runs and the Phils but 5. Vic Raschi beat National League MVP and the top relief pitcher Jim Kostanty, who was a surprise starter in Game 1. The score was 1-0. My all-time favorite pitcher, Allie Reynolds defeated Robin Roberts 2-1 in a 10 inning game. One of the best Phillies pitchers, Curt Simmons, a 21 year old who was 17-8 for the Phils, got the call to report to Army Reserves and missed the month of September and the entire World Series.

Curtis Thomas Simmons was born May 19, 1929 and pitched in the Majors from 1947-1950 and 1952-1967 winning 193 games and losing 183 with a 3.54 ERA. He struck out 1,697 and issued 1063 walks. Simmons hurled 3,348 and 1/3 innings. He was the youngest of the Whiz Kids and as of this writing the only living one. During the 1950s teammate and friend Robin Roberts were the 7th best all-time right and left handed pitching duo. Roberts was right handed and Simmons left.

Simmons attended Whitehall High School and led the team to 3 straight District titles. He also led his American Legion team to 2 State titles. Originally, Simmons was an outfielder and batted over .400. In 1947, Bob Carpenter arranged an exhibition game between the Phillies and the Lehigh Valley All-Stars. 4,500 attended the game which ended in a 4-4 tie.

Simmons fanned 11 Phils and would have won the game save for some shoddy defense by his teammates. Carpenter quickly made Simmons one of the socalled “Bonus Babies” for $65,000 (one of the highest paid signings at the time). Later the New York Giants offered $125,000 but Simmons would not go back on his word that he would sign with the Phils. At that time, big time “Bonus Babies” had to be brought up to the Majors after one year in the Minors. I remember Tommy Carroll and Frank Leja of the Yankees. Carroll had more pinch running appearances than at bats. His career average was .300. He had 3 hits in 10 career at bats. Poor Frank Leja who was going to be the Yankees next great power hitter. He couldn’t hit his hat size going 1 for 25 for his career. Johnny Antonelli was another “Bonus Baby” for the Boston Braves who became a star pitcher for the Giants. The Braves helped the New York Giants greatly by also trading 1948 Rookie of the Year, Al Dark a fine shortstop, who was a much better athlete and hitter than Pee Wee Reese or Phil Rizzuto even though both are in the Hall of Fame and Dark is not.

Curt Simmons missed the entire 1951 Season in military service but returned in 1952 to go 14-8 with a National League leading ERA. He also led the Majors in shutouts with 6. Throughout the 1950s, Simmons had many good years with the Phillies but was released on May 17, 1960 because of a sore arm. The St. Louis Cardinals signed him 3 days later and Simmons resurrected his career. IN 1963, he won 15 games and 18 in 1964 when the Cardinals defeated the Yankees 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Simmons pitched very well in 2 starts with a 2.51 ERA but had a loss and a no decision. 1964 was Was the last good year for Simmons. Later he pitched for the Cubs and Angels before retiring to operate a Golf Course he coowned with his close friend, Robin Roberts. Over his career, Simmons had 163 complete games including 36 shutouts.

Simmons was the last player to retire from those active in the 1940s save for recently named Hall of Famer, Minnie Minoso who “unretired twice” for short spans. Baseball greats Hank Aaron and Stan Musial both named Simmons as the toughest pitcher they faced even though Aaron did have 6 homeruns off him.

After the Phils won the 1950 Pennant with many young stars such as Richie Ashburn, Del Ennis, Granny Hamner, “Puddin’ Head” Jones, Dick Sisler, Andy Seminick, Bubba Church, Russ Meyer, Stan Lopata, etc. along with the young pitchers Roberts and Simmons and older relief specialist, Jim Konstanty, the Phils seemed to have the future well in hand. Unfortunately, Team owner, Bob Carpenter adamantly refused to sign Afro-American players for many years, passing on Roy Campanella, Hank Aaron and Junior Gilliam among others. The first black to play for the Phils had a great name – John Kennedy, but he lasted for only a handful at bats.

Curt Simmons was placed on the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1993 and celebrated his 60th Wedding Anniversary with his childhood friend and later wife Dorothy in 2011. In that same year, Simmons was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was inducted into the Dodgers All Opponent Hall of Fame.

Curt Simmons was a 3 time All Star and started the 1957 Game. With the Phillies, he finished 7 times in the League’s Top 10 in ERA. Simmons was a close friend of pitcher Bob Miller who died at 94 leaving Simmons as the last remaining Whiz Kid. The two conversed by phone every couple of weeks before Miller’s death.

Another pitcher who was a fine one for the Cardinals, Cubs and Phillies who almost had identical statistics as Simmons was Larry Jackson. Simmons was 193-183 with a 3.54 ERA and Jackson 194-183 with a 3.40 ERA. Jackson pitched well for the Phillies in his final 3 years in the National League. He retired rather than report to Expansion Team, Montreal.

Curt Simmons appears on many baseball cards beginning with his 1949 Bowman Rookie. He is present in all of Bowman issues from 1949 through 1955 when Topps bought out Bowman. Simmons is included in the famous 1952 Topps set and the Topps sets from 1956 through 1967. He does not appear in the 1953, 1954, and 1955 Topps sets. Simmons cards from the 1950s are in the $10 to $25 range and the ones from the 1960s are less than half of that. Cards of Simmons are plentiful. References: Wikipedia, SABR: Edward Veer Article on Simmons, Philadelphia Inquirer, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Baseball, My Own Baseball Card Collection

Fr. McHugh can be reached at: revmchugh@ptd.net