Nelson Bernard Simmons (born June 27, 1963) is an American former professional baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He attended James Madison High School. He played during three seasons at the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Career

Simmons was drafted by the Tigers in the 2nd round of the

1981 MLB draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation Picks Other notable players *Darrin Jackson, 2nd round, 28th overall by the Chicago Cubs *Mike Gallego, 2nd round, 33 ...

. Simmons played his first professional season with their Rookie league

Bristol Tigers Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...

in 1981, and his last with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

' Triple-A

Calgary Cannons The Calgary Cannons were a minor league baseball team located in Calgary, Alberta, for 18 seasons, from 1985 until 2002. They were a member of the AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) and played at Foothills Stadium. The Cannons displaced the Calgary ...

in 1995. In a 3-year, 100-game MLB career, Simmons posted a .261

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(86-for-330) with 38 runs, 11

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 40

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. He finished his career with a .963

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

playing left and right field.

References

"Nelson Simmons Statistics".
''The Baseball Cube''. 23 January 2008.
"Nelson Simmons Statistics".
''Baseball-Reference''. 23 January 2008.

External links

1963 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Washington, D.C. Birmingham Barons players Bristol Tigers players Broncos de Reynosa players Cafeteros de Córdoba players Calgary Cannons players Charros de Jalisco players Denver Zephyrs players Detroit Tigers players Evansville Triplets players Ganaderos de Tabasco players Huntsville Stars players Lakeland Tigers players Long Beach Riptide players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Mexican League baseball right fielders Nashville Sounds players Palm Springs Angels players Palm Springs Suns players Rieleros de Aguascalientes players Rochester Red Wings players Saraperos de Saltillo players Tacoma Tigers players Tri-City Posse players Venados de Mazatlán players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-outfielder-1960s-stub