Steve Simpson: Early Seventies Pitcher (1974)

Steven Edward Simpson was born on August 30, 1948, in St. Joseph Missouri. The big six foot three, two-hundred-pound right hander attended Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas where he was a teammate of future Dodger second baseman Davey Lopes.

In 1970, Simpson was chosen in the 4th round by the San Diego Padres. Over the next two seasons, he won eight games each year at the A ball level. He was promoted to AA where he primarily became a full-time reliever. 

MLB Debut: On September 10th, 1972, Simpson debuted pitching two scoreless in a 4-1 loss to the Braves. On September 17th he collected his first save coming against the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati. 

In his next outing he took an extra inning loss to the Dodgers at home. On September 25h he
earned his second save in a 5-3 win at Los Angeles. He took one more loss before the season was over to go 0-2 with a pair of saves & a 4.76 RA in nine appearances.

Mets Career: Just five days before Christmas 1973 he was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Jim McAndrew. 

Simpson was even issued the same uniform number (#43) as McAndrew had worn. Simpson was sent down to AA Victoria, where he was 10-7 with 4.78 ERA pitching on the same staff as future Mets Nino Espinosa, Rick Baldwin & Dwight Bernard. Other teammates included other classic Mets yearbook prospects of that period, Rich Puig, Brock Pemberton & Greg Harts.

By Spring Training of 1975 Simpson had retired from baseball. 

Passing: In 1989, he sadly passed away from a heart attack in Omaha Nebraska, at the young age of 41.