Inductees

Born in 1949, Ted Simmons grew up in Highland Park, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. One of the greatest hitting catchers of all time, Simmons signed with the St. Louis Cardinals right after he graduated from Southfield High School. He played a few games in Sarasota, but spent most of his first summer as a professional playing for Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the Midwest League. The next season, he hit .331 with 28 homers and 117 RBI at Modesto and following a short stint at the Cardinals farm team in Tulsa, the Cardinals brought him up to the big league club in September. By 1970, Simmons had won the Cards’ starting catching job. In eleven full seasons with St. Louis, he batted .280 with 1,704 hits, 172 homers and 929 RBI, making him arguably th most productive offensive catcher in team history.