Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Si Simmons, Baseball’s Oldest Old-Timer, Dies at 111 - New York Times
Si Simmons, the oldest professional baseball player, died Oct. 29. He was 111 years old.
To say he "saw it all" might sound a little cliched, but just think for a moment.
Born in 1895, he witnessed some amazing things over the course of 100+ years, in no particular order:
- Electric power as a staple of home life
- The automobile as an everyday "utensil"
- Radio and television as "essentials"
- Internet
- Two World Wars, plus Korea, Vietnam, and everything that followed
- Flight
- Space flight
- Twenty presidential administrations
Not to mention the fads and fashions during that span.
Of course, as an African-America he probably saw much of this at a distance.
Si Simmons, Baseball’s Oldest Old-Timer, Dies at 111
