Cards: Simmons, Forsch, Flood, Kissell to be honored Aug. 15
The St. Louis Cardinals on Friday unveiled their plans for the 2015 Cardinals Hall of Fame induction ceremony at 2 p.m. Aug. 15 in Ballpark Village.
To be honored: Ted Simmons, Bob Forsch, Curt Flood and George Kissell, selected by fans, a Red Ribbon panel of baseball experts, and team officials.
“We look forward to celebrating the achievements of these remarkable Cardinals as they permanently join the greatest names in Cardinals history within our Hall of Fame,” Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. said in the team’s announcement Friday. “Fans won’t want to miss being part of this truly special celebration.”
The weekend will include a series of radio and TV tributes that weekend, on KMOX Radio and Fox Sports Midwest.
The honorees form the second class of Cardinals Hall of Fame members, and will be permanently enshrined in the Cardinals Hall of Fame gallery on the second floor of Cardinals Nation in Ballpark Village. The inaugural class last year – Jim Edmonds, Willie McGee, Mike Shannon and Marty Marion – joined the team’s Cooperstown Hall of Fame inductees in the Cardinals Hall.
Simmons and Forsch won the 2015 fan voting after their nomination by the Red Ribbon panel. The other nominees included Steve Carlton, Keith Hernandez, Mark McGwire, Matt Morris, Edgar Renteria, and Joe Torre. More than 45,000 votes were cast during the fan balloting earlier this year.
The Red Ribbon Panel, which chooses one honoree each year, elected Flood, and the Cardinals organization selected Kissell – the longtime player, coach, scout and instructor – for his 66 years of service to the team.
Simmons is the only one of the four who is living; the others will be represented by family members at the ceremony. Other Cardinal greats are expected to attend the event.
The Hall of Fame ceremony is open free of charge to fans wanting to attend the event, which will be held before a Cardinals’ home game against the Miamia Marlins at 6:15 p.m. that evening.
Joe Ostermeier is chairman of the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America and has written about the Cardinals for the News-Democrat since 1985. He can be reached at 618-239-2512 or at jostermeier@bnd.com Follow him on Twitter: @JoeOstermeier.
2015 St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame
Curt Flood
1958 – 1969: .293 AVG, 85 HR, 636 RBI
Bob Forsch
1974 – 1988: 163-127, 3.67 ERA, 1,079 strikeouts
George Kissell
1940 – 1942, 1946 - 2008: Player, coach, scout, instructor
Ted Simmons
1968 – 1980: .298 AVG, 172 HR, 929 RBIs
This story was originally published July 31, 2015 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Cards: Simmons, Forsch, Flood, Kissell to be honored Aug. 15."