William Anthony Simas (born November 28, 1971) is a former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

from 1995-2000. He is currently the pitching coach for the AAA

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

Career

Simas played amateur ball at St. Joseph High School and at

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semester ...

. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 6th round of the

1992 MLB Draft The 1992 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 1, 1992, through a conference call involving all 28 MLB teams of the time. Phil Nevin of Cal State Fullerton was the first overall selection, chosen by the Houston Astros. Derek Jeter, sele ...

. He remained with the Angels organization through 1995, playing with the

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in Garden City, Idaho, a small city surroun ...

(Class A

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels are owned ...

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...

(Class A-Advanced California League), Midland Angels (Class AA

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

) and

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

(Class AAA Pacific Coast League). On July 27, 1995 he was traded (with

McKay Christensen McKay Andrew Christensen (born August 14, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Christensen played for three different ballclubs during his career: the Chicago White Sox (1999–2001), Los Angeles Dodgers (2001), and New York Mets ( ...

, Andrew Lorraine and John Snyder) to the

for

Jim Abbott James Anthony Abbott (born September 19, 1967) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers, from 1989 to 1999. He ...

and

Tim Fortugno Timothy Shawn Fortugno (born April 11, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and current scout, working for the New York Mets as of November 2015. Career He graduated in 1980 from Uxbridge High School (Uxbridge, Massachusetts). Fortug ...

. After starting in AAA with the Nashville Sounds, Simas made his Major League debut on August 15 against the Angels, pitching a scoreless inning of relief. He made 14 relief appearances for the White Sox in 1995, with a 2.57 ERA. Simas became a solid member of the White Sox bullpen through 2000, and had an 18-19 record and 3.83 ERA in 308 Major League games, including saving 23 games. He underwent Tommy John surgery in December 2000 and missed the entire 2001 season. He was signed as a minor league free agent by the Detroit Tigers on February 20, 2002 but was not fully recovered from his surgery and did not appear in any games in the system before he was released on May 23. He was re-signed by the White Sox on May 25 and pitched in 28 games with the

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

in AAA. He signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

on February 21, 2003 that contained a spring training invitation. He appeared in 26 games for the Las Vegas 51s with a 1.96 ERA. He also started 3 games, the first time he had started since 1992 with Boise. He pitched for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in 2004 before he was picked up in August by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

and got into 9 late season games for the

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...

. After spending 2005 in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

he was out of baseball until 2009-2010 when he returned to pitch for the Ducks again. He retired from baseball in 2011 and became the pitching coach for the

Ogden Raptors The Ogden Raptors are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Ogden, Utah and play their home games at Lindquist Field. Pitcher ...

, the Dodgers rookie-class team in the

Pioneer Baseball League The Pioneer League is an independent baseball league that operates in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Its teams are not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB). It is designated as an MLB Partner League. From 1939 t ...

. He was promoted to pitching coach for the Class-A

Great Lakes Loons The Great Lakes Loons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Midland, Michigan, and play their home games at Dow Diamond, which opened in April 2007. Histor ...

in 2013 and to the advanced-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2015. In 2016, he was named pitching coach for the AA Tulsa Drillers of the

. For the 2018 season he was promoted to the pitching coach for the AAA

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Dodgers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ba ...

of the Pacific Coast League.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simas, Bill 1971 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from California Boise Hawks players Calgary Cannons players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Fresno City Rams baseball players Gulf Coast Dodgers players Lake Elsinore Storm players Las Vegas 51s players Long Island Ducks players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Midland Angels players Minor league baseball coaches Nashville Sounds players Tacoma Rainiers players Vancouver Canadians players