For a while, in the early part of September 1963, Cardinals pitcher Curt Simmons couldn’t do anything wrong at the ballpark.
From Sept. 1 to Sept. 13, Simmons won four starts in a row for the 1963 Cardinals and pitched three consecutive shutouts in that stretch.
His hot streak extended beyond the pitching mound. Simmons drove in runs and, in perhaps the most amazing feat of all, stole home.
Base thief
A left-hander who turned 34 in 1963, Simmons was a starter who overcame career-threatening injuries. Part of the big toe on his left foot was sliced off in a lawn motor accident in 1953 and he underwent surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow in 1959. After the Cardinals signed him in May 1960 following his release by the Phillies, Simmons mixed more changeups and slow curves into his assortment of pitches.
Simmons was part of a 1963 Cardinals starting rotation with Bob Gibson, Ernie Broglio, Ray Sadecki and Lew Burdette.
On Sept. 1, 1963, Simmons started against the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. In the second inning, with Tim McCarver on first and one out, Simmons hit a Chris Short pitch to the base of the scoreboard in center for a triple. McCarver scored, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
(The triple was the third and last for Simmons in 20 seasons in the majors. The others came in 1953 against Sal Maglie of the Giants and in 1955 versus Hy Cohen of the Cubs.)
With Julian Javier at the plate, the Cardinals called for a squeeze play. Overeager, Simmons broke for home too soon. Short noticed and tried to throw a pitch that Javier would be unable to bunt. In his excitement, Short threw the ball high over the outstretched mitt of catcher Bob Oldis. Simmons scooted safely to the plate and was credited with a steal of home.
Asked by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat whether he could recall his last previous swipe of home, Simmons said, “Maybe in high school. They don’t want to take too many chances with me (attempting to steal).”
(The steal of home versus the Phillies was the second and last stolen base for Simmons in the majors. The first came 10 years earlier when he swiped second base in a 1953 game against the Pirates.)
In the sixth, with Bobby Locke pitching for the Phillies, George Altman tripled and Simmons drove him in with a sacrifice fly for his second RBI of the game.
Simmons pitched a six-hitter for the win, beating the Phillies for the 12th time in 14 decisions since joining the Cardinals. Boxscore
In command
For the next two weeks, Simmons was unbeatable _ and also untouchable when it came to scoring runs against him.
On Sept. 5, he shut out the Mets and contributed a single and a walk in the 9-0 triumph. He thought he had another hit but his liner with the bases loaded was caught against the wall by right fielder Ed Kranepool. “How could they play me so deep?” Simmons said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “They had a first baseman playing right field. If they had a regular outfielder, he wouldn’t have played so deep.” Boxscore
Four days later, Simmons shut out the Cubs on a five-hitter. Cleanup batter Ron Santo, held hitless, told the Post-Dispatch, “That’s the best I’ve seen Simmons.” Boxscore
On Sept. 13, Simmons pitched his third shutout in nine days when he beat the Braves and Warren Spahn.
Hank Aaron, who sometimes was frustrated by Simmons’ soft tosses, struck out twice. So did Eddie Mathews. Simmons held Aaron, Mathews and Joe Torre hitless. “Simmons is like Spahn,” Mathews said to the Post-Dispatch. “He knows what he’s going to do on every pitch.”
Simmons’ RBI-double down the left field line drove in a run and knocked Spahn out of the game in the second inning. Boxscore
Tough foe
The win streak ended for Simmons on Sept. 17 against his season-long nemesis, the Dodgers. Trailing the first-place Dodgers by two games in the National League standings, the Cardinals sent Simmons against Sandy Koufax, but the Dodgers won, 4-0. Boxscore
When the Dodgers completed a sweep of the three-game series the next night, it virtually secured the pennant for them.
In four starts versus the 1963 Dodgers. Simmons was 0-3, even though he had a 2.00 ERA over 36 innings. He lost twice to Koufax and once to Don Drysdale. The Cardinals totaled three runs in those three defeats.
For the 1963 season, Simmons was 15-9 with a 2.48 ERA. He pitched six shutouts and totaled 232.2 innings. (Koufax had 11 shutouts in 1963 and Spahn had seven.) Simmons also fielded flawlessly, committing no errors in 35 chances.
“Curt doesn’t beat himself,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane remarked to the Post-Dispatch. “He walks few batters, fields his position and gets a base hit now and then.”