Remembering Curt Simmons, a Phillies icon
A kid from tiny Egypt, Pa., wound up as one of the greatest pitchers in Phillies history. Curt Simmons, the last surviving member of the Phillies’ 1950 pennant winners known as the Whiz Kids, is resting in peace, having passed away at age 93 in his Ambler, Pa., home on Dec. 13, 2022.
With Philadelphia, Simmons posted a record of 115-110 with 109 complete games, 18 shutouts and a 3.66 ERA in 325 games (263 starts) in 13 seasons with the club. Among all Phillies pitchers, he ranks fifth in wins and innings (1,939 2/3), sixth in games started, tied for sixth in shutouts and ninth in strikeouts (1,052). He was selected to three All-Star teams with the Phillies in 1952-53 and 1957, earning the starting nods in both the 1952 and 1957 games.
Only Steve Carlton (241) and Chris Short (132) won more games as left-handers with the Phillies than Simmons (115).
A .181 hitter with the Phillies included one home run, but not a normal trip around the bases. He’s the only pitcher in franchise history with an inside-the-park homer, which he hit on May 22, 1952, against the Pirates at Shibe Park.
Courting Curt
The Phillies did something on June 2, 1947, that’s never been done since and may never be seen again. The scene was Egypt Memorial Park located in a small town about seven miles north of Allentown, Pa.
The hard-throwing 18-year-old high school pitcher was on every team’s radar. Scouts flocked to see him dominate at Whitehall High School and American Legion ball.
“The scouts used to sit on the front porch because they didn’t want to miss a thing,” Simmons once said. “I remember Mom got so annoyed that she chased them off the porch.
“Cy Morgan was the Phillies’ scout. Dad finally told him, ‘Why don’t you bring your team here to play our team?’ Cy carried the message back to the Phillies’ offices.”
The Phillies had a day off on June 2. Owner Bob Carpenter sent the team to Egypt Park for an exhibition game against Simmons, who would pitch for the town team that would compete in the Twilight League. The day before, the Phillies lost to the Cubs, 4-3, at Shibe Park. Two Cubs pitchers combined to strike out 11 Phillies.
Facing Simmons, the Phillies wound up in a 4-4, nine-inning tie, a game called by darkness. Except for the shortstop, the Phillies fielded the same starting lineup that faced the Cubs. Simmons held the Phillies to seven hits, walked three and struck out 11. An error led to a game-tying eighth-inning run that kept the Phillies from losing. The crowd was estimated at 6,000, including nearly a dozen baseball scouts.
Next day, the Tigers and Red Sox scouts offered Simmons a $58,000 signing bonus.
“That was a lot of money, but Dad had told the Phillies they would have the last crack,” Simmons said.
Morgan offered $60,000 plus a promise the Phillies would call him up in September and give him an additional $5,000. Morgan’s salesmanship paid off.
His pro career began with the Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks after signing on June 16. Simmons' first start in Wilmington drew 7,000 fans, the largest crowd in Blue Rocks history at that time. He went 13-5 with a 2.69 ERA in 19 games. The Blue Rocks won the championship series, 4-3, against a team near his home, the Allentown Cardinals.
True to Morgan’s word, Simmons made his Major League debut in the second game of a Sunday, Sept. 28 doubleheader against the New York Giants at Shibe Park. Wearing No. 32, he won the last game of the season, 3-1, a complete game five-hitter with six walks and nine strikeouts. He lost the shutout on a two-out base hit in the top of the ninth.
Career
Simmons enjoyed a 20-year career in the Majors, pitching for the Phillies (1947-50; 1952-60), Cardinals (1960-66), Cubs (1966-67) and Angels (1967). A member of the pennant-winning “Whiz Kids,” Simmons missed part of the 1950 season, including the World Series, serving in the National Guard during the Korean War. Given a 10-day leave of absence from Camp Atterbury (Ind.), Simmons was a spectator for the first World Series game at Shibe Park.
He also missed the entire 1951 season while fulfilling his military commitment.
In his 20 Major League seasons, the southpaw was 193-183 with 163 complete games, 36 shutouts and a 3.54 ERA in 569 career appearances (462 starts). He got to pitch in the 1964 World Series because the Phillies blew the pennant.
“Here I was trying to get as many Phillies World Series tickets as possible for my many friends in Philadelphia,” he once said. “Next thing I know, I’m going to the Series with the Cardinals, but only needed a few tickets because I only had a couple of friends in St. Louis.”
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Following his playing career, Simmons briefly returned to the Phillies in an instructional role in the Minors in March 1970. He then spent most of his post-playing days managing the Limekiln Golf Club in Ambler, which he owned with Robin Roberts.
A 1993 inductee into the Phillies Wall of Fame, Simmons was first selected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1968 and later the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
To commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Phillies playing in Egypt, the community honored their most famous resident on “Curt Simmons Day” on June 2, 2012. Festivities began with a parade that went past a modest two-story house on Main Street. A sign strung across the porch simply read, "Welcome Home, Curt." The afternoon ended with a ceremony at the bandstand in Egypt Memorial Park. To Curt’s surprise, the ballfield was named Simmons Field.
Simmons, normally a man of few words, is known to have said, "Trying to throw a fastball by Henry Aaron is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster."