Al Simmons, at top form in the Roaring Twenties, sparked one of baseball’s greatest dynasties, the Philadelphia Athletics, to multiple championships, before becoming just another ballplayer. While his achievements demonstrated greatness, he was not an easy man to like—for those competing against him or with him—and he seemed to play to the level of team expectation. Contemporary accounts and other recollections give us a sense of Al Simmons the person and the ballplayer, his connections to people, his teams and his ability to capture the fans’ imagination in his halcyon days.

Clifton Blue Parker is a magazine editor at the University of California, Davis, and a former newspaper journalist and Congressional press secretary. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), he lives in Davis, California.

Clifton Blue Parker
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 251
Bibliographic Info: 21 photos, tables, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6143-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8640-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      ix

Introduction: Swaggering Shooting Star      1

1. Sultan of the Milwaukee Sandlots      5

2. Bucketfoot Swings and a New Name      12

3. Milwaukee’s Best      20

4. Athletic Ambitions      29

5. Sophomore Breakout      39

6. “Best Centerfielder”      45

7. Ty Cobb and Long Flannel Sleeves      53

8. Nurturing the Nucleus      62

9. Building a Dynasty      71

10. Hard Times and World Champions Again      86

11. “No Reason to Be Friendly”      101

12. Woe to White Elephants      115

13. New Socks for the Sox      126

14. Changes in Chicago      137

15. Tail of the Tiger      151

16. Mr. Simmons Leaves Washington      164

17. Chasing Three Thousand      172

18. Twilight Times      181

19. Coaching the A’s and Indians      191

20. Cooperstown Comes Calling      200

21. Analyzing Al Simmons      208

Appendix: Al Simmons Statistics      215

Notes      219

Bibliography      235

Index      239