Nicknamed "Bucketfoot Al", he had his best years with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics during the late 1920s and early 1930s, winning two World Series with the team.

After his playing career ended, Simmons served as a coach for the Athletics and Cleveland Indians.

In the fourth grade, he received a spanking from his father for insisting that he wanted to play professional baseball.

Simmons was known by his birth surname (Szymanski), until he was playing for a local minor league team and he was tired of hearing people mispronounce it.

In the following three seasons, he hit .341, .392 and .351 and drove in 110, 108 and 107 runs in those respective years, while finishing fifth in 1926 MVP voting and fourth in 1927.

Simmons led the A's to the AL pennant in 1929, as Philadelphia went 104–46, finishing 18 games ahead of the New York Yankees.

The A's won the AL pennant again, going 102–52, and defeated the St. Louis Cardinals to win back-to-back World Series titles.

In late September 1932, the Athletics sold Simmons, Mule Haas and Jimmy Dykes to the Chicago White Sox for cash.

The purchase price was not immediately revealed, though Simmons was reported as not getting along with Senators owner Clark Griffith.

The Reds won the NL pennant that year, and Simmons got to play in his final World Series.

Simmons played in the major leagues until 1944, when he finished his career with his original team, the Philadelphia Athletics.

[8] After his playing days ended, Simmons served as a coach for Mack's Athletics (1945–49) and the Cleveland Indians (1950).

In early April 1951, Simmons announced he was dealing with an undisclosed illness and would be stepping down as a coach of the Indians.

He had collapsed on a sidewalk near the Milwaukee Athletic Club, where he lived, and was thought to have suffered a heart attack.