Baseball Weekend welcomes four MLB retirees

Major League Baseball retirees Ted Simmons, left, and Steve Carlton sit in on a panel discussion at the second annual Baseball Weekend in 2019. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record
Major League Baseball retirees Ted Simmons, left, and Steve Carlton sit in on a panel discussion at the second annual Baseball Weekend in 2019. - File photo by The Sentinel-Record

Hot Springs' third annual Baseball Weekend, May 8 and 9, will feature two members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Lee Smith and Steve Carlton, newly elected member Ted Simmons, and colorful Cardinals commentator Al Hrabosky.

"It's a really big opportunity for us to have Carlton and Smith as Hall-of-Famers, we'll have Ted Simmons who is a newly elected Hall-of-Famer and then Al is kind of our ... unofficial host," Mike Dugan, event volunteer and baseball historian, said Tuesday.

Dugan said the first thing the coordinators looked at when inviting the retired players to the event was a connection they had with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs, since the community is primarily made up of fans from these two teams.

"For almost 80 years, the Cardinals were the only team you could get on the radio in Arkansas; their network reached," Dugan said. "So most of the older people, and you know we have a lot of older people attend this, grew up as Cardinal fans. We've had so many people move down to this area from the Midwest who were Cub fans ... So we've just grown into a pretty big Cub area, also."

Smith, a Louisiana native, played primarily as a relief pitcher during his career spanning from 1985-1998. He played for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, California Angels, Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.

Smith was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.

"So we were able to bring in, this year, Lee Smith, who actually played for both (the Cardinals and Cubs), although I think most people remember him from the Chicago Cubs more than a Cardinal," Dugan said.

Carlton, a Florida Native, played as a left-handed pitcher during his career spanning from 1965-1988. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.

Carlton was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

"Steve Carlton has been a very elusive figure in baseball," Dugan said. "After he was inducted he has been very quiet and has not appeared a lot, so it was quite a coup for us to get him last year and then lo and behold he calls us and says hey if it's possible I'd sure like to come back this year."

Simmons, a Michigan native, played primarily as a catcher during his career spanning from 1968-1988. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves.

Simmons has been newly elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted this year.

"We had Ted Simmons here last year, but in December Ted was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, so we thought it would be great because he was so popular, so animated and really connected with the crowd (last year)," Dugan said. "He is considered one of the brightest talent scouts in all of baseball."

Hrabosky, a California native, played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves during his career spanning from 1970-1982.

"Al has just kind of become our host," Dugan said. "He's the one who kind of emcees a lot of it and interviews the other players, and obviously has a great deal of insight on questions to ask and stuff like that. And he is just so popular among Cardinal fans that it's just kind of a natural thing to bring him back."

According to a Visit Hot Springs news release, all four players will participate in panels, question-and-answer sessions and autograph sessions with the public; specific times for the panels and other events will be announced later. All of the events will be free and open to the public, and all will be held at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

Baseball Weekend will also feature a baseball card show hosted by card dealers and a traveling National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit.

"Picturing America's Pastime" will run through July 27 and will be free and open to the public during business hours at the convention center, according to the VHS release.

The exhibit features 51 framed photographs representing the Hall of Fame's collection of approximately 250,000 images," the release said. "An extension of the Museum's exhibit in Cooperstown, N.Y., the touring version of Picturing America's Pastime captures the essence of an exhibit designed to show the historic link between the advent of photography and baseball."

Local on 02/19/2020

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