- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2001 Topps #573.
- Player Name, position, team: Bill Simas, pitcher, Chicago White Sox.
- Major League Debut: August 15,1995.
- Last Line of Statistics: 2000 stats (White Sox): 60 G, 67.2 IP, 2-3, 27 R, 26 ER, 49 SO, 22 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 3.48 ERA.
- Any special information about player: Drafted by the Angels #6th, June 1992. Traded by the Angels to the White Sox 07/27/1995. Bats: left. Throws: right.
- Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 3. This is his third and final Topps card.
- Blurb on the back: "Bill has been called a "bridge" pitcher, meaning the reliever who bridges the gap between the starter and the primary set-up man. Whatever the label, he pitched terrifically in 2000, eradicating batters with his fastball/sinker combination. He was part of a deep and effective bullpen that helped Chicago post the best record in the AL. The Sox will miss Simas in '01 as he'll rehab the whole season after "Tommy John" surgery on his elbow."
- Commentary: It was so nice that Topps brought back the number of cards in their base set to 790 (remember, no Mantle, plus the set ended at #791). Guys like William Anthony Simas wouldn't be in any Topps sets. Which is funny, because the guy has been a staple in the White Sox bullpen from 1995 onwards, and he only appeared on three regular cards (from 1999-2001)...and that's it. The blurb on the back, as lengthy as it is, pretty much goes the long way around of saying that he only showed up for maybe an inning at most when he appeared, and he wasn't the main set up pitcher, so he was just there to pitch in certain situations pitching. Ouch. But as the blurb on the back indicates, Simas missed all of 2001 because of Tommy John surgery. In 2002, he signed with the Tigers, but he had not fully recovered from the surgery. Without pitching a game for the organization, he was released. The White Sox re-signed him to a minor league deal and sent him to Charlotte, where he appeared in 28 games, boasting a 1-3 record in 40 innings pitched. The following year, he signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, achieving a 4-0 record with their AAA club in Las Vegas. The Mariners picked him up in 2004, after seeing him pitch in the independents. He would continue to play, on-and-off (taking three years off from 2006-08), all the way into 2010. He finally retired from playing in 2011, and in 2013, was named the pitching coach of the Ogden Raptors. Because Simas never pitched in the majors after the 2000 season, the career numbers on the back of his card are complete.
- Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 3.
Tomorrow's card will be: 2012 Topps Update Series #US134. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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