SAN FRANCISCO -- Lon Simmons worked so long in Bay Area broadcast booths -- 45 years as the voice at one time or another of the Giants, A's and San Francisco 49ers -- that it seemed he was a permanent part of the local landscape.
As of Saturday, he really is. The Giants recognized their longtime voice by holding a day in his honor and hanging plaques with his name and that of longtime broadcast partner Russ Hodges on them between the ones in tribute to Jackie Robinson and Christy Mathewson.
Hodges, Robinson and Mathewson are already in the Hall of Fame, and Simmons will join them there with the July 26 induction ceremony.
As much as Simmons appreciates the Giants holding a day in his honor, and as much as he'll appreciate the ceremonies later this month in Cooperstown, N.Y., he said, "The biggest thing that has happened was the fans voting for me."
Simmons won the Hall's Ford C. Frick Award in part thanks to balloting by the fans.
"It's the biggest award you can get if you're an announcer or whatever you are that the people you've been trying to please for 45 years agree that you had pleased them," he said.
The way Simmons pleased those fans was not so much his mellow baritone, a voice so smooth that it would have caused the radio to be invented had it not already existed. Nor was it his signature "Tell it goodbye" home run call.
Instead, Simmons became a fan favorite through his day-in, day-out delivery punctuated by a droll, self-deprecating humor still in evidence two years after his retirement.
Asked for the highlight of his career, Simmons said, "I was in Dodger Stadium once for a game and Kim Novak brushed against me."
Simmons' career was also distinguished by a lack of ego and a genuine appreciation for the host of great partners he had behind the microphone -- Hodges, Al Michaels, Bill King and Bill Thompson, to name a few.
He also has a style that would earn him a rating somewhere between PG-13 and R.
"I've been blessed by working not only with great announcers but with great people," he said. "Some of it rubs off on you, because actually being born an [PG-13 term], I obviously needed some help and I got it from the people I worked with."
Pitching changes: Manager Felipe Alou and pitching coach Dave Righetti spent part of Saturday afternoon going over the rotation and schedule for when play resumes after the All-Star break.
Kirk Rueter / P
Born: 12/01/70
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 210 lbs
Bats: L / Throws: L
Alou said nothing has been set yet, but the three days off will give the Giants a chance to set the order however they want it.
"We'll put some guys behind other guys, maybe move [Kirk] Rueter ahead of [Jason] Schmidt," he said.
The relatively soft-tossing Rueter had been taking his turn a day behind the hard-throwing Schmidt, but now Alou and Righetti think opposing hitters may have more trouble adjusting to Schmidt's heat after seeing a game's worth of slow ones from Rueter.
More pitching changes: General manager Brian Sabean said left-hander Noah Lowry, who went 0-0 with a 3.48 ERA in three San Francisco starts earlier this season before being sent down to Triple-A Fresno, is pitching well enough to join the rotation now if there was room for him.
Another farm arm that could soon be in San Francisco belongs to Kevin Correia, now in the process of converting from starter to reliever. Correia, a right-hander who started seven games for the Giants last season and went 3-1 with a 3.66 ERA, now is being groomed as a middle or short reliever.
David Aardsma, the Giants' first-round draft choice in 2003 who has been with the big league club four times this season, is not ready to return to the Majors soon, Sabean said.
All-Star sub: It seems less and less likely that Marlins manager Jack McKeon, who will be leading the National League squad in Tuesday's All-Star Game, will name Schmidt as his starting pitcher instead of Houston's Roger Clemens.
Jason Schmidt / P
Born: 01/29/73
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 205 lbs
Bats: R / Throws: R
McKeon called Alou on Saturday, though "he didn't tell me who was pitching, but he did tell me who was going to play left field."
Clemens pitched Saturday, which would leave him in better shape to start than Schmidt, who is on the hill Sunday for the Giants.
Alou said he's not going to put any limits Sunday on Schmidt just to accommodate the All-Star Game, nor is he going to lobby McKeon to go easy on his ace.
He said he trusts both Schmidt and McKeon to come to the right conclusion about how much work the pitcher can take in the All-Star Game.
"None of those two is an amateur," he said.
It'll have to come down to trust, Alou said, because "Tuesday, Schmidt has a manager who is not Felipe Alou. Once he leaves here, he's Jack McKeon's pitcher, not mine."
Tony Kuttner is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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Kirk Rueter / P
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