Ted Simmons clobbered the Cubs with his bat, but he also used brains and hustle to beat them.
Fifty years ago, on May 24, 1974, Simmons outmaneuvered the Cubs, escaping a rundown between third and home to score the lone run in a 1-0 Cardinals victory.
Hardly swift, the Cardinals’ catcher evaded the Cubs’ fastest player in a race to the plate.
Cubs tormentor
Sonny Siebert of the Cardinals and the Cubs’ Rick Reuschel were locked in a scoreless duel on a Friday afternoon at Chicago’s Wrigley Field when Simmons led off the ninth.
A switch-hitter, Simmons was a frightening sight on either side of the plate to Cubs pitchers. He would hit .466 against the 1974 Cubs, with a .500 on-base percentage and .781 slugging mark. Eleven of his 34 hits versus the 1974 Cubs were for extra bases. Reuschel was a favorite target. For his career, Simmons batted .357 (30 hits) against him and walked 10 times.
Sticking to the script, Simmons smashed a double to right to start the ninth. He moved to third on Bake McBride’s sacrifice bunt. Reuschel gave an intentional pass to Joe Torre (who hit .300 against him). Ken Reitz was due up next, but Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst sent Tim McCarver to bat for him.
McCarver pulled a grounder to the right of Billy Williams, who was moved to first base from the outfield that season.
Simmons broke from third when McCarver made contact, then stopped when Williams fired an accurate throw to rookie catcher Tom Lundstedt.
“I was a dead duck,” Simmons said to United Press International.
Path opens
Lundstedt ran toward Simmons, who turned and retreated toward third. Lundstedt then tossed the ball to third baseman Matt Alexander. “I thought Lundstedt released the ball too soon,” Simmons said to United Press International.
After making the throw, Lundstedt kept advancing until he was almost even with Simmons. Pivoting, Simmons (“exhibiting amazing reflexes,” the Chicago Tribune noted) turned his back to Alexander and could hardly believe his eyes. Home plate was unguarded. “I was somewhat startled,” Simmons said to United Press International, “because (until then) there was no way I was going to score.”
Reuschel, who had left the mound to cover first base when Williams pursued McCarver’s grounder, was standing near the bag, watching the play. Williams was alongside him.
What they saw was Simmons rush past Lundstedt and rumble toward home, his batting helmet off and long hair flowing, as Alexander chased after him. “It sounded like a fire behind me,” Simmons said to United Press International.
Normally, a race between Alexander and Simmons would be no contest, but “he had too big a head start,” Alexander told the Chicago Tribune.
Though Alexander (described by the Tribune as “the fastest of the Cubs”) was gaining on him, Simmons streaked across the plate before his pursuer could apply a tag, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Arriving too late were Reuschel and Williams, whom the Tribune described as “somewhat confused.”
Torre and McCarver advanced to third and second on the play, but Reuschel got out of the inning without allowing anymore scoring. Siebert set down the Cubs in order in the bottom of the ninth, retiring Williams, Jose Cardenal and Rick Monday to complete the shutout. Boxscore
Blame game
Cubs manager Whitey Lockman said Reuschel should have gone from first to home to cover the plate when he saw Simmons in a rundown.
“Any one of a number of players should have covered the plate, but I guess in the final analysis it should have been Reuschel,” Lockman said to United Press International.
Schoendienst told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he agreed that it was Reuschel’s responsibility to protect the plate. (Reuschel won National League Gold Glove awards when he was with the Pirates in 1985 and 1987.)
Cardinals coach George Kissell saw it differently, telling the Post-Dispatch that Williams should have covered the plate because the play was in front of him. (Two months later, Williams returned to the outfield and rookie Andre Thornton took over at first. The next year, Williams was a designated hitter for the Athletics.)
For his career against the Cubs, Simmons hit .334, including .339 at Wrigley Field.