Bill Simas

William Anthony Simas

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 220 lb.
• School Fresno City College
• High School St. Joseph High School (Santa Maria)
• Debut August 15, 1995
• Final Game September 30, 2000
• Born November 28, 1971 in Hanford, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bill Simas spent his entire six-year major league career was spent with the Chicago White Sox. He was the fireman with 18 saves in 1998.

Simas began his professional career in 1992 after being the sixth-round pick of the California Angels in the 1992 amateur draft. Assigned to the Boise Hawks, Billy went 6-5 with a 3.95 ERA. Moving up to the 1993 Cedar Rapids Kernels, Simas had a 5-8, 4.95 year with 6 saves, being moved to the bullpen primarily. Bill began to put it together in 1994. He went 5-2 with 13 saves and a 2.11 ERA for the Lake Elsinore Storm and 2-0, 0.59 with 6 saves for the Midland Angels, allowing only 7 baserunners in 15 1/3 IP. He led the California farm system in saves. He began 1995 with the Vancouver Canadians and went 6-3 with 6 saves and a 3.55 ERA. On July 27th, he was traded with McKay Christensen, Andrew Lorraine, and John Snyder to the Chicago White Sox for Jim Abbott and Tim Fortugno. He was 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA with the Nashville Sounds in 7 outings and then made it to the majors, going 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 14 games for the ChiSox.

He had a fine 124 ERA+ over six years in Chicago, saving 23 and going 18-19 with a 3.83 ERA. He had ligament surgery on his elbow in December of 2000 and missed the next season, then got released by Chicago.

In 2002, Simas caught on with the Detroit Tigers but did not appear in a game in their system and was let go. Chicago picked him back up and he appeared in 28 games for the Charlotte Knights, going 1-3 with 2 saves and a 3.60 ERA. 2003 brought him to the Los Angeles Dodgers system and he went 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA for the Las Vegas 51s, allowing only 9 walks in 46 IP; he also pitched briefly with the GCL Dodgers.

Simas spent most of 2004 with the Long Island Ducks and was 2-4 with 17 saves and a 1.95 ERA for the independent team. He was named to the Atlantic League All-Star team. In the playoffs, he saved 3 games and did not allow a run in leading the Ducks to victory. The Seattle Mariners signed him and he went 1-1, 3.86 in 9 games for their Tacoma Rainiers team.

Bill then moved south of the border to the Monclova Steelers and had a 4-6, 21 saves season for them with a 2.82 ERA. He led the Mexican League with 50 games finished and was third in saves, four behind co-leaders Isidro Marquez and Maximo de la Rosa. Simas was out of baseball for the next three years but still had the urge to pitch. He joined the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League in 2009 and led the league in saves and set a new team saves record in the process. In 2020 he returned to the Ducks as their pitching coach, but also pitched in the latter half of the season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers hired Simas as a pitching coach in 2011 and he coached in their minor league system for the next decade. Simas was the pitching coach for the Ogden Raptors in 2011-2012, Great Lakes Loons in 2013-2014, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2015, Tulsa Drillers in 2016-2017, and Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2018-2019. He was scheduled to return to Oklahoma City in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

In 2021 Simas joined the Texas Rangers organization and was pitching coach for the Round Rock Express in 2021-2022.

Sources: 1993-2005 Baseball Almanacs, 2006 Baseball Guide

Related Sites

• For an interview with Simas about his major league playing days, go here - [1]