Randall Simon waits for a pitch to hit during the game against the Schaumburg Flyers on Wednesday June 16th, 2010.
Seven years ago, Simon was at the top of his game. Playing for the Chicago Cubs, Simon provided a post-season spark to the Cubs offense. Batting .282 during the season, game three of the National League Championship Series found Simon hitting a home run that helped the Cubs take the 2-1 series lead.
After a disappointing game seven loss, the Cubs released Randall. During the 2004 offseason, Simon was picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he played the majority of the season before being dropped then picked up by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. A month later, he was released by Tampa bay, and picked up by the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese Pacific League.
Randall Simon walks back to the dugout after a 4-6 loss to the Flyers on Monday June 14th, 2010.
From 2005 through part of 2006, Randall spent time in the Mexican League, Arizona League, and then the Pacific Coast League. On September 1st, Simon received that phone call he had been waiting for, as he was then acquired by Philadelphia Phillies. Randall Simon would later be released by the Phillies and then continued to make his way through different independent leagues, highlighted by representing the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
Randall Simon reaches in the air for a badly thrown ball on on Wednesday June 16th, 2010.
Sadly, Randall Simon is most know for disrupting a sausage race. "Sausagegate" as it has been called. While with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2003, he was playing a game in Milwaukee against the Brewers, who have a traditional Sausage Race in between innings. While running past the Pirates dugout, the Italian Sausage was jokingly hit with a bat by Simon. The person in the costume fell to the ground suffering a scraped knee. Randall was questioned by police, fined $432.10 for disorderly conduct, and suspended three games by the MLB. Randall issued an apology and an autographed bat to the person he hit. The next year Simon returned to the scene of the crime as a Chicago Cub. During the sausage race, his teammates jokingly held him back as the sausages raced by the dugout. For the game, Simon purchased Italian sausages for an entire section of fans at Miller Park that day.
Randall now finds himself playing for the Rockford RiverHawks. On Wednesday night, Randall Simon launched a ball out of the park, a solo home run. It might not be as exciting as that homer that he hit in game three of the NLCS, but he still had a smile on his face as he jogged around the bases. Perhaps he will get a chance to do that in that major leagues again someday.
Randall Simon's homerun swing during the RiverHawks' 10-4 win over the Schaumburg Flyers on Wednesday June 16th, 2010.
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