Today’s Sportstat: April 13, 2020
23 stats you may not know about… Ted Simmons
When he is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame later this year, Ted Simmons will become the seventh player to wear a Brewers jersey to become a Hall of Famer. The other Hall of Fame players with ties to the Brewers: Hank Aaron, Rollie Fingers, Trevor Hoffman, Paul Molitor, Don Sutton and Robin Yount.
Simmons was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers from 1981-85. He played in 665 games for the Brew Crew, collecting 666 hits, 66 HR, 394 RBI and batting .262.
Since he wore number 23 throughout his playing days, here are 23 stats you may not know about Simmons and his Hall of Fame career.
- Simmons ended his career with 2,472 hits and 248 home runs. He is one of 65 players in MLB history to have 2,400 hits and 240 HRs in a career. Of those 65 players, Simmons becomes the 39th to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
- He played 21 seasons in the majors, 13 with St. Louis, five with the Brewers and three with Atlanta.
- He was born in Highland Park, Michigan. Of all players born in Michigan who played in the majors, Simmons ranks second in career hits with 2,472 (behind fellow Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer) and third in home runs with 248, behind Kirk Gibson and John Mayberry who each hit 255. He ranks first on the list of Michigan-born ballplayers in MLB career games played with 2,456.
- Simmons was an eight-time All-Star. He was 2-for-10 in those games with one RBI.
- Seven times in his career he finished in the Top 20 in league MVP voting. His highest finish was sixth in the voting for the 1975 National League MVP.
- Simmons had 2,472 career hits, but did not have a season where he hit 200. The most hits he had in a season were 193 in 1975 with the Cardinals.
- His career high for home runs was 26 in 1979 with the Cards. His second-best year was 23 he hit for the Brewers in 1982.
- The best year for RBIs was in 1983 when Simmons drove in 108 with the Brewers. Three times in his career he had 100 or more RBIs in a season.
- Simmons twice led the league in intentional walks… in 1976 and 1977 with the Cards.
- He never played in a post-season game during his career with the Cardinals. He appeared in 17 post-season games with the Brewers in 1981 and 1982.
- The only positions Simmons did not play in his MLB career were pitcher, second base, shortstop and centerfield.
- He made 233 pinch-hit appearances, but was never a pinch-runner in a game.
- Simmons had 2,472 hits in 2,456 career MLB games. Of all players who played in 2,400 or more career games in the majors, Simmons is one of only 65 players to have more hits than games played.
- Simmons played 1,218 home games and 1,238 away games in his career. He had more HRs (132-116) in road games and had a higher batting average (.291-.279) in road games.
- Simmons highest monthly career batting average was in July. He hit .298 in July during his 21-year career.
- When his team won, Simmons’ batting average was .338. When his team lost, his career average was .233.
- He batted .301 in extra innings.
- The most career homers he hit versus one team were 23 each against the Pirates and Cubs.
- Simmons batted .300 or better in seven seasons. He was one of 157 players to accomplish that in a career. Cap Anson tops the list with 24 seasons with a batting average of .300 or better. Ty Cobb is second with 21 seasons at .300 or better.
- Most of Simmons plate appearances took place when he was batting clean-up. Of his 9,685 career plate appearances, Simmons had 5,296 of them from the fourth spot in the batting order.
- Simmons batted only .216 in his first season with the Brewers (1981). He batted .214 in five games in 1969 and .196 in his final season (1988 with the Braves), the lowest batting average seasons in his career.
- A switch-hitter, he hit a HR from both sides of the plate in a game three times.
- Simmons was first eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. He received less than 5% of the votes that year and was taken off the ballot. He was eventually voted in this year by the Veterans Committee.
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Lucroy making a run at Brewers’ RBI mark for catchers
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published with a focus on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Jonathan Lucroy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy had a pair of RBIs last night in the team’s 9-3 win over the Cubs. Those RBIs give Lucroy 42 for the season, which places him first on the team in that category.
In looking at the Brewers history, there has been only one Brewers catcher who has led the team in RBIs in a season. Dave Nilsson did it in 1994 when he had 69 RBIs. If Lucroy maintains this pace, he could become the second backstop to lead the team in runs batted in.
Lucroy has 42 RBI in 64 games played. The Brewers have 87 games left on their schedule, and should Lucroy play in all 87 games (not likely) he is on a pace to drive in 99 for the season. Only one Brewers catcher has ever driven in 100 or more runs in a season; that was Ted Simmons in 1983 when he had 108 RBI while catching in 86 of 152 games that season.
Here’s a look at Brewers catchers who finished in the Top 3 in team RBI for a season (players must have caught 50% or more of the season’s games to qualify):
1973: Darrell Porter, 67 RBI (third on team)
1975: Darrell Porter, 60 RBI (tied for second on the team)
1981: Ted Simmons, 61 (third on team)
1983: Ted Simmons, 108 (second on team)
1994: Dave Nilsson, 69 (first on team)
Here’s a look at the most RBI by a Brewers catcher in a season (caught 50% or more of the season’s games to qualify)
1. Ted Simmons, 1983… 108
2. Ted Simmons, 1982… 97
3. Dave Nilsson, 1994… 69
4. B.J. Surhoff, 1991… 68
5. B.J. Surhoff, 1987… 68
Note: Through games of June 25, Lucroy ranks tied for second in the majors for catchers with 42 RBI (he is tied with Cards’ catcher Yadier Molina). Buster Posey leads all MLB catchers with 43 RBIs.
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Rickie Weeks has visions of reaching the Mendoza Line!
Rickie Weeks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ is a sports statistics blog published multiple times weekly focusing on stats that go beyond the numbers.
Rickie Weeks is venturing into territory that no major league player wants to reside. With another “o-fer” last night, Weeks saw his average drop to .154 for this season. But last night’s performance was even more painful in that his 0-4 included four strikeouts. He has struck out seven times in his last nine at-bats, and has struck out two or more times in 18 of his 35 games this season. His 48 K’s in 2012 leads the National League.
As Weeks tries to get his average up to the Mendoza Line (if you don’t know what the Mendoza Line is, go to Google!), a look at the Brewers history reveals a number of players who have had less-than-stellar seasons as Brewers starters. The list includes some of the best and best-loved players in team history.
Weeks is one of four players in the National League bating under .200. The others: Clint Barmes, Pittsburgh, .155; Nick Hundley, San Diego, 167; Ike Davis, NY Mets, .167. In the American League there are eight players with batting averages under .200. In fact, if it wasn’t for Seattle’s Brendan Ryan, Weeks would have the lowest BA in all of baseball. Ryan is currently hitting .137.
Here are the Brewers players who had a season batting average under .220 (minimum of 100 or more games played in the season to qualify for this list).
Season average, Player, Year (Games played)
.165 Ray Oyler, 1969 (106) * with the Seattle Pilots
.178 Craig Counsell, 2011 (107)
.179 Gorman Thomas, 1975 (121)
.199 Pedro Garcia, 1974, (141)
.203 Chris Magruder, 2005 (101)
.204 Mike Matheny, 1996 (106)
.208 Darrell Porter, 1976 (119)
.208 Chad Moeller, 2004 (101)
.209 Rob Deer, 1990 (134)
.210 Ellie Rodriguez, 1971 (115)
.210 Rob Deer, 1989 (130)
.210 Henry Blanco, 2001 (104)
.211 Ronnie Belliard, 2002 (104)
.212 Greg Brock, 1988 (115)
.213 Tim Johnson, 1973 (136)
.213 Franklin Stubbs, 1991 (103)
.216 Ted Simmons, 1981, (100)
.218 Rick Auerbach, 1972 (153)
.219 Jose Valentine, 1995 (112)
.219 Pat Listach, 1995 (101)
.219 Bob Hamelin, 1998 (109)
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“SIX STATS” you might not know about… 1982 Milwaukee Brewers
Image by Scott Ableman via Flickr
“SIX STATS…” is a bonus feature of Sports Stats ‘on Tapp’ and is published every Friday
The last time the Milwaukee Brewers won a divisional title was in 1982 when they played in the American League. Here’s a look at that title season.
1. The ’82 Brewers tied the 1979 team for most wins in a season with 95. However, the 1982 squad had 67 losses while the 1979 team had 66 losses. Thus the 1979 team has the best winning percentage in franchise history.
2. The ’82 Brewers had similar records at home and on the road (unlike the 2011 version of the team). They were 48-34 at County Stadium; 47-33 on the road.
3. Harvey’s Wallbangers were a dangerous offensive team. Consider the team had three players who scored 100 or more runs (Cooper, Molitor and Yount), three players with 200 or more hits (Cooper, Molitor and Yount), three players with 30 or more home runs (Cooper, Oglivie and Thomas) and four players with 100 or more RBIs (Cooper, Yount, Oglivie and Thomas). They missed out having five players with 100 RBI when Ted Simmons fell three short at 97 for the season.
4. The 1982 team took first place for good on July 31. Their biggest lead was 6.5 games and the farthest they were behind in the race was 8.5 games. The most games over .500 was 31 for the season. The 2011 version is currently 24 games over .500.
5. The big late-season trade in the ’82 season was the Brewers getting Don Sutton from the Houston Astros on August 30. Sutton went 4-1 in seven starts for the Brew Crew in ’82 and won a game in the American League Championship Series. The three players the Brewers gave up for Sutton were Kevin Bass, Frank DiPino and Mike Madden. Bass went on to have a 14-year MLB career and hit 118 HRs in his career. DiPino saved 40 games in three seasons with the Astros and was a reliever during his 12-year MLB career. Madden spent four seasons with Houston and won 12 games.
6. Yount (210 hits), Cooper (205 hits) and Molitor (201 hits) were 1-2-3 in the American League in hits … the only time in major league history that teammates had 200 or more hits and finished 1-2-3 in the league.
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