Milwaukee Brewers: Greatest Catchers In Franchise History

Greatest catchers in Milwaukee Brewers history #2: Ted Simmons

Ted Simmons was the starting catcher of the legendary 1982 season that is still talked about to this day. Ted Simmons became part of the Milwaukee Brewers in "the trade that made Milwaukee famous". Simmons came to Milwaukee alongside Pete Vuckovich and Rollie Fingers in December of 1980, the rest as they say, is history.

Before the Milwaukee Brewers acquired him, Ted Simmons had already been an All-Star six times and a perennial MVP candidate. Simmons made two more All-Star appearances in his five years with the Brewers from 1981-1985 in 1981 and 1983 respectively.

Ted Simmons' 1983 season was nothing short of fantastic, the second best in Milwaukee Brewers history by WAR, according to baseball-reference. In 1983, Ted Simmons slashed .308/.351/.448 for a .799 OPS. Simmons hit 13 home runs and drove in 108 runs, the most by a Milwaukee Brewers backstop in a single season.

In his five years as a Brewer, Simmons slashed .262/.311/.399, numbers not as good as they were while he was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals but still enough when paired with the seasons that were among some of the best in franchise history, land him at number two of the Milwaukee Brewers all-time catchers. To Simmons' credit, like Surhoff, Simmons struck out extremely rarely, never more than 51 times in a season as a member of the Brewers.

In 2020, Simmons was finally elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame on a veterans committee ballot. His Hall of Fame case never got a real chance on the writers ballots but an injustice was finally righted with his election a few years ago.