One of the all time most colorful baseball figures, Zimmer played with the Dodgers in the 1950s but was better known as a manager and coach, most notably as Joe Torre's assistant with the great Yankee teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s. His best known moment was the fight he got into with Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox:
He was fun to look at and watch. Seemed like a cross between Curly Howard and the Cookie Monster.
Re: RIP Don Zimmer
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:13 am
by gsabc
Called "The Gerbil" by Bill Lee, Red Sox pitcher, and reportedly the inspiration for Coach on Cheers (mainly from being hit by pitches during his playing days). Had the misfortune to average over 90 wins over three (four?) seasons with the Red Sox, and finish second each year to the Yankees with the second-best record in the AL.
Re: RIP Don Zimmer
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 11:53 am
by ghostjmf
The obits I heard on NPR all covered him requiring a metal plate in his head after one of those hits & said "his playing was never the same (highest standard) after that". Apparently, though his playing suffered, his smarts were retained.