Posted on 06/05/2014 7:00:40 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
Don Zimmer, the stubby, Popeye-muscled baseball lifer with the unforgettable jowls whose passion for the game endured through more than 60 years as a player, manager, coach and adviser, died Wednesday in Dunedin, Florida. He was 83.
His death was announced by the Tampa Bay Rays, a team he served recently as a senior adviser. Zimmer had surgery April 16 to repair a leaky heart valve, according to The Tampa Tribune.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
RIP, Don.
RIP Don.
He will always be remembered for his altercation with Pedro Martinez. That was hilarious!!
Great ballplayer. Loved him a “Dodger!!! RIP, Don Zimmer!!!
AKA The Gerbil
He managed some Boston teams in the late 1970s that should go down among the best teams of all time that didn’t play in the post-season.
Playing career[edit]
Zimmer, nicknamed “Zim,” “Gerbil,” and sometimes “Popeye” because of his facial resemblance to the cartoon character,[2] began his career in 1949 with the Cambridge Dodgers of the Class-D Eastern Shore League. He then played with the Hornell Dodgers of the Class-D PONY League in 1950, the Elmira Pioneers of the Single-A Eastern League in 1951, the Mobile Bears of the Double-A Southern League in 1952, and the St. Paul Saints of the Triple-A American Association in 1953 and 1954. Zimmer nearly died after being hit with a pitch in the temple while with St. Paul in 1953. He was not fully conscious for 13 days, during which holes were drilled in his skull to relieve the pressure of swelling. His vision was blurred, he could neither walk nor talk and his weight plunged from 170 to 124. He was told his career was finished at age 22.
Zimmer made it to the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954. Beginning in 1954, his career included 12 seasons in the big leagues. He was a utility infielder with the 1955 World Series champion Brooklyn Dodgers, and with the 1962 New York Mets, who lost a record 120 games.
Zimmer was beaned again in 1956 when a Cincinnati Reds fastball broke his cheekbone, but he persevered. Because of these beanings, it has been widely reported that he had a surgically implanted steel plate in his head.[3] This rumor is false, although the holes drilled in the surgeries following the 1953 beanball were later filled with four tantalum metal corkscrew-shaped “buttons.”[4]
They used to do an on-air skit on Don Imus’ radio show back in the mid-2000s. One of the members of Imus’ crew would do an occasional monologue as Omar Minaya, the GM of the Mets at the time. The one I remember most was after the Mets were eliminated in the playoffs one year, and “Omar Minaya” did this on-air tirade the next morning that had me laughing so hard I almost drove off the road. I’ll never forget his vivid description of Don Zimmer, who he described as “Mickey Rooney with Down’s Syndrome.” LMAO.
I can’t laugh on that
That was just wrong
OH MAN I remember that skit LOL!
Dubbed thus by the Spaceman, Bill Lee.
He and his wife were married at home plate in 1959 .
"Chan Ho Park came by for dinner, and we haven't seen our family dog since he left." LOL!!
I hated his clothing outlets.
You’re thinking of his little brother George.
Wow, he was in baseball as long as senators and congresscreeps remain in D.C.
On Tampa radio this morning (970AM) it was said that ‘Zim’ has/had a Babe Ruth autographed baseball given to him by the Bambino himself! Joe Madden of the Rays bemoans the loss of someone who has been able to stop a team slide in the past with just a talk to a couple of players (Rays have a perfect record ofr the last 9 games 0 & 9!)
There will be a moment of silence for tonights game with the Marlins and a remembrance at Saturday’s game. RIP!
Yeah I couldn’t stop laughing on that joke that so wrong ROFL
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