{"product_id":"autographed-signed-ted-simmons-st-louis-blue-baseball-jersey-jsa-coa","title":"Autographed\/Signed Ted Simmons St. Louis Blue Baseball Jersey JSA COA","description":"\u003cp\u003e⚾ \u003cstrong\u003eAutographed\/Signed Ted Simmons St. Louis Blue Baseball Jersey JSA COA — The Authenticated Signature of Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Simmons, Eight-Time All-Star Catcher and the Most Prolific Hit-Producing Catcher in Major League Baseball History\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e⚾ Ted Simmons is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. That sentence carries more weight than it might seem to, because for a long time the sentence was not true — and the baseball community spent decades debating why. Simmons retired with 2,472 career hits, the most by any catcher in the history of Major League Baseball. He retired with a .285 career batting average, 248 home runs, and 1,389 runs batted in accumulated across a career that spanned from 1968 through 1988. He was an eight-time All-Star. He was a switch-hitter with genuine power at the catcher position, a complete offensive player at a position where offense has historically been considered secondary to defense and game management. And yet the Hall of Fame doors did not open for him through the regular voting process during his eligibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e⚾ The Today's Game Era Committee corrected that in 2020. Simmons was inducted along with Marvin Miller, and the baseball community that had been advocating for his election for years finally had the recognition the numbers demanded. Simmons had always belonged. His career statistics, evaluated against the catchers who did reach Cooperstown during his era and the eras since, made his case almost self-evident to anyone who read the numbers without the biases that can distort Hall of Fame evaluation. The 2020 induction was belated but it was right.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e⚾ He was the St. Louis Cardinals' catcher from 1968 through 1980 — thirteen seasons in a Cardinals uniform, thirteen seasons in which he was the most consistent offensive presence at the catcher position in the National League. The Cardinals during those years were a franchise navigating the post-championship rebuild that followed the 1967 and 1968 World Series teams, and Simmons was the constant — the catcher who showed up every day and produced at the plate with the kind of reliability that the organization built its offense around. No one who watched Cardinals baseball in the 1970s forgot what Simmons meant to that lineup.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e⚾ St. Louis has always understood catchers. The franchise's history at the position runs from the early decades of the franchise through Simmons' era and forward to the catchers who came after him. But Simmons holds the all-time record for hits by a catcher across the entire history of the position — a record that belongs to a Cardinals player, a record that connects the St. Louis franchise to the most prolific career output at catcher in the 150-plus years the position has existed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e🏆 \u003cstrong\u003eJSA Authentication — Hall of Fame Signature\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e🏆 James Spence Authentication has verified Simmons' signature through forensic examination against their database of authenticated exemplars. This is the signature of a Baseball Hall of Famer — the 2020 inductee who holds the career hits record at the catcher position — on a St. Louis blue baseball jersey, professionally authenticated and ready for display. For Cardinals collectors, for Hall of Fame collectors, for anyone building a display of baseball's catchers or baseball's most under-recognized stars who finally received their due recognition, this Ted Simmons signed jersey is the piece that belongs in that collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e⚾ Ted Simmons. Baseball Hall of Fame. St. Louis Cardinals. Blue Jersey. Eight-Time All-Star. All-Time Hits Record for Catchers. JSA COA. Hall of Fame Sports Memorabilia. Condition: NOS.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hall of Fame Sports Memorabilia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48039509885160,"sku":"J-TEDSIMMONS-STL-BLUE-JSA","price":99.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/2718\/4037\/files\/autographed-signed-ted-simmons-st-louis-blue-baseball-jersey-jsa-coa-vintage-treasures-940.webp?v=1770195562","url":"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/autographed-signed-ted-simmons-st-louis-blue-baseball-jersey-jsa-coa","provider":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}