RIP Don Zimmer

One of my favorite Zim memories.

RIP

 

I think Rangers, but that's because I lived in Dallas when he managed there. RIP.

 

Zimmer was either a player, coach or a manager on:
Dodgers
Cubs
Mets
Reds
Senators II/Rangers
Padres
Red Sox
Expos
Yankees
Giants
Rockies
Devil Rays

That's 12 different MLB franchises -- that's pretty amazing.

 

Well, he WAS a pretty average player and spent 66 years in baseball. But yeah, pretty cool.

 

That sums it up nicely. He was an old school baseball guy. There's good and bad in that. The my way or the highway sometimes doesn't get you where you want to go. Billy Martin was a more extreme case, as shown with the way he disliked Larry Gura and his relationship with Reggie Jackson.

 

Also was the first third baseman in Mets history.

As the story goes, he went 0-35 or something, then he got two hits and the Mets traded him. The joke was they traded him while he was hot.

I also remember some sportswriter, I think it was, that described Zimmer's face as looking like a blocked kick, which made me laugh.

RIP

 

I think Red Sox and the 1978 collapse.

 

That wasn't even the bad one, Steak.

He bounced back after that two-week coma and made it to the majors with the Dodgers before the next season was over. Then, in 1956, Hal Jeffcoat was looking for revenge after giving up two early home runs and crushed Zim's cheekbone with a fastball. That's when he was never quite the same.

Consider this: In 1950, he stole 63 bases in a minor-league season. Ten of those were steals of home.

RIP to a true baseball man.

 

From the Chicago Tribune obit:

 

This is very sad news, but Zim spent his whole life just where he wanted, and you can't do better than that.

 

If you've got 5 minutes, give Vin a listen as he rhapsodizes about Zimmer.

The last story is marvelous.

A few minutes in, as he's talking about one of the beanballs, Van Slyke was beaned.

http://atmlb.com/1pH3KEW

 

Getty Images.