Ted Simmons Marquee Hall of Fame 2020

He caught 1,769 games and hit like an infielder: 2,472 hits, 483 doubles, 1,389 runs batted in, and more walks (855) than strikeouts (694). No catcher in major league history had more hits when he stopped playing in 1988, and only Iván Rodríguez has passed him since.

He caught for St. Louis from 1969 through 1980, twelve seasons in which the club never finished first; second place three times was as close as it came. The Cardinals traded him to Milwaukee after 1980. In 1982 the Brewers won the American League pennant and lost the World Series to St. Louis.

The Hall of Fame nearly missed him altogether. He drew 17 votes of 456 in 1994, below the five percent needed to stay on the ballot, and left the writers' consideration after a single try. The Modern Baseball Era committee elected him in 2020, thirty-two years after his last game, on a vote of 13 of 16.