The leader of the last successful Philadelphia Athletics team is the 65th inductee into the Baseball Hall of Immortals.
From 1924 to 1932 Al Simmons patrolled left field for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics, helping to turn the team around from basement dwellers to annual contenders. This would culminate in 3 consecutive World Series appearances from 1929 to 1931 (they won the first 2).
Simmons could hit for both power and average, batting .340 or better for severn straight years and hitting double digits in homeruns for 12 straight years. In 1925 he set the record for hits by a right-handed batter with 253, a record that still stands.
One of the most dominent offensive players in the majors, while in Philadelphia Simmons racked up 1,796 hits and 343 doubles, both first among all major leaguers while driving in 1,157 runs (2nd) and hitting 208 homeruns (4th).
Simmons played for 20 years and when he retired he had amassed just under 3,000 hits, more than 500 doubles and 300 homeruns, with a .334 lifetime batting average.
One of the greatest slugging left-fielders, Al Simmons is without a doubt an Immortal.
For some background on what this is, check out the introduction post here.
