Card fact: This is the Undisputed King of all "dude looks like a lady" cards. An absolutely classic card.What I thought about this card then: One of my friends had the mini card and we thought this guy was a freak. The regal look. The long mane flowing behind him. We found it quite disturbing.
What I think about this card now: You see a lot in 30 years time. The photo doesn't disturb me anymore. Heck, I think Timmy Lincecum might have him beat.
Other stuff: I always wanted Simmons to get more attention than he did. Everything was Johnny Bench this and Johnny Bench that. But Simmons was about as fine a hitting catcher as you will see. If it wasn't for the last few seasons of his career, he would have hit .300 lifetime, which isn't easy for a catcher.
Back facts: Simmons had 619 at-bats in 1973 and 599 in 1974. The vast majority were when he was catching, rather than playing first or elsewhere. I wonder if anyone talked about him wearing down as the season went along like they do with Russell Martin.Other blog stuff: I know purple-pink is a favorite for the color combo that appears most in this set. But right now it is far behind orange-brown. We'll see what happens when the MVP subset arrives, though. There are purple-pinks all over the place then.
Oh man...don't get me started on my Ted Simmons mancrush. Loved the guy. My friends have long grown tired of my whining about the lack of respect he has gotten. I still hope eventually the Veterans' Committee puts Simba in the HOF where he belongs.
ReplyDeleteI always like Ted. I have some of his earlier cards and he always seems to have that same semi-serious look about him.
ReplyDeleteIn 1973 he had 61 walks too...that is a lot of ABs. How do you think the backup catcher was feeling about his playing time?
ReplyDeleteMore longhairs from the 70s right here (including a guy who looks alot like Lincecum):
ReplyDeletehttp://reallybadbaseballcards.blogspot.com/2014/02/hippie-freaks_2977.html