A commonly accepted theory in town here is that former Cardinals All-Star catcher Ted Simmons did not necessarily have a warm, fuzzy feeling for former manager Whitey Herzog after Herzog brought in Darrell Porter to take Simmons’ catching job after the 1980 season.
At that point, Herzog, who was not a big fan of Simmons as a defensive catcher, said Simmons, for 1981, would be moved to first and first baseman Keith Hernandez to left field for the first six innings of games and then Hernandez would take over at first base.
Following a couple of days of reflection, Simmons decided this did not sound like a very good idea to him and asked for a trade.