Zim: Hard Nosed Player

When the Dodgers came to Los Angeles, Dodger icon and long time SS, Pee Wee Reese was ready to retire. He had come off of his worst season in the majors with a .224 showing in 103 games in 1957.

But probably because the LA fans were new and wanted to see all the Brooklyn stars they had heard about, Pee Wee managed to play in 59 games for the 1958 team. He would retire and become a coach after the season was over.

His heir apparent, Don Zimmer, was already a five year veteran when 1959 rolled around and he was handed the starting SS job.

Donald William Zimmer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 17, 1931. Today would have been Zim’s 92nd birthday.

His father, Harold Zimmer, owned a wholesale fruit and vegetable company. His mother, Lorraine, was a housewife. His brother, Hal, played in the minors from 51-53.

By the time he entered Western Hills High School, Don had become a two-sport athlete. He played football and baseball. He was named the Quarterback for an All-Ohio team, and he was the star SS for the baseball team.

Baseball was his real passion. Over the years, Western Hills could claim future MLB players such as Ed Brinkman, Art Mahaffey, Russ Nixon, Pete Rose, Herm Wehmeier and Clyde Vollmer among it’s players. Jim Frey, future MLB manager and GM also played there.

In 1947, Zimmer’s American Legion team won the National American Legion championship in Los Angeles. Zimmer and all of his teammates got to meet Babe Ruth and got an autographed ball from him. Zimmer literally tore the cover off of his by playing ball with it.

The hometown Reds and the Dodgers both showed interest in signing Zimmer. Zim’s heart was set on playing for the Reds. And his father assured the Reds brass that Zim would be a Red.

But Branch Rickey, who had been alerted by bird-dog scout Cliff Alexander, who coached at Western Hills rival Woodland High, arranged for a tryout for Zimmer with Hall of Famer, George Sisler.

Zimmer hit three or four balls out of the park and Rickey offered him 2,500 dollars to sign. The Reds said they could only offer 2,000, but they would start him at Class-B. Zimmer did not give the home-town discount, He signed with the Dodgers.

Zim started at D ball in 49. The next season he went to D ball again and hit .315, scored 146 runs and stole home 10 times. He was on the fast track to the majors.

He moved to Class-A ball in 51 and married his high school sweetheart, Carol Jean Bauerle on August 16th in Elmira.

Promoted to AA, he went to Mobile in 1952. In 1953, Don was playing for the Dodgers AAA affiliate, St. Paul. He was hitting .300 with 23 homers and 69 RBI’s in 81 games.

He was hit in the head by Jim Kirk of Columbus on July 7th. His skull was fractured and he was unconscious for 10 days. Because blood clots were forming on his brain, he was given spinal taps every two or three days.

Eventually three holes were drilled into the right side of his head. It is popular to say that he had a plate put in his skull. But that is inaccurate. He had three titanium buttons inserted to act like corks. After the procedure, his weight dropped from 170 to 124.

If there were any after effects from the beaning, he did not show them. He recuperated playing softball at home in Florida before reporting to spring training.

Since Reese was still the Dodger SS, he was sent to AAA. He had a .291 average with 17 homers. Reese got hurt and they called Zim up. He made his MLB debut on July 2, 1954 at Connie Mack Stadium against tough lefty, Curt Simmons. He had a triple in his first at bat.

When Pee Wee recovered, the Dodgers gave Zimmer his choice, to return to St. Paul or stay with the Dodgers. Zim stayed. But by the end of the season, he had played in only 24 games and he hit .182.

1955 would be a magical year for the Dodgers and Zimmer. He had a great spring and Alston asked him if he could play second base. Zim told the skipper he could, even though he had never played there. His little white lie paid off and he became the Dodgers top utility player getting into 88 games and showing a .239/15/50 line for the year. Brooklyn won the pennant, and were off to the World Series against the Yankees.

Zim started the first two games and had a hit in both, but Alston decided to sit him in game three against Bob Turley. This did not sit well with the brash rookie and he let the press know how he felt.

Alston went off on the kid telling him, we are trying to win a World Series and you are thinking about yourself, that’s terrible.

He did not play in games four or five. But he did play in six and seven as the Dodgers won their first title. Zim went 2-9 in the series and drove in 2 runs.

His 1956 season was cut short when he was hit in the cheek by a fastball from Hal Jeffcoat. His cheekbone was broken and surgery was needed to put it back in place.

He would play in 86 games in 57, mostly as the utility player. He posted a .219/6/19 line. Zimmer thought his days as a Dodger were coming to an end.

But the team moved to Los Angeles that winter. There was a spirited competition for infield spots. Charlie Neal won the second base job, Reese moved to third, and that left Zimmer and Bob Lillis vying for the SS job. Zim won and posted his best year as a Dodger with a .262/17/60 showing.

In 59, he did not last long as the starter. He had a terrible start, and was replaced at SS by Maury Wills. Zin would hit only .169 and he had one appearance in the World Series as a pinch runner and defensive replacement in game 5.

Before the 1960 season started, Zim was traded to the Cubs for Lee Handley, Johnny Goryl and Ron Perranoski plus 25,000 dollars.

The long term gain for LA was Perranoski who would develop into one of the team’s best all time relievers. Zim was named team captain of the Cubs and raised his BA to .258. In 1961, Wrigley brought in his college of coaches. No manager, just six coaches sharing the job. Zim hit .252 with 13 bombs. He was a huge critic of the system and was left unprotected in the expansion draft that winter.

He was taken by the Mets. There were several former Dodgers with the Mets, so it was a homecoming of sorts for Don. But he approached spring training as a time to get in shape and did not feel like he was auditioning for a job.

So his stay with the Mets was short, 14 games, and a .077 BA. He was traded to the Reds for Cliff Cook and Bob Miller.

He got into 63 games with the Reds and his final line was .250/2/16. In January of 1963, Zimmer was traded back to the Dodgers for minor leaguer Scott Breeden. Pete Rose took Zimmer’s roster spot on the Reds.

He did not fare well in LA. In 22 games he hit .217 with a homer and 2 driven in. On June 24th, he was sold to the Senators, who were being managed by old teammate Gil Hodges.

Zimmer would play the last 2 1/2 years of his career with DC. He hit .235/27/99 in 299 games. After the 1965 season he was released. He was 34 years old. He had added catching and playing the outfield to his resume while with the Senators.

He got an offer of 30,000 dollars to play in Japan. He started out well then he broke his toe. He tried to play through it, but tore up his shoulder making the throw from SS. That was it.

He was out of baseball until Buzzie Bavasi came to his rescue. He offered him a spring training instructors job. About the same time, the Reds offered him a managerial post at AA Knoxville for 8 grand a year. That was a lot less than he was used to making, but the Reds promised a raise to 12 grand the next season. Zim realized he did not have a job and took it. He was a player manager at Knoxville. He was then promoted to AAA Buffalo, where Johnny Bench was his catcher. He hit his last professional homer at Buffalo.

Zim went to Puerto Rico to hone his managerial skills. His team, San Juan, was loaded with MLB talent, including Tony Taylor, Pat Dobson, Rick Wise and Roberto Clemente, who played once a week.

Zimmer clashed with Ramon Hernandez after the team clinched a playoff berth. Hernandez, a Puerto Rican pitcher on the team, and the team sided with Hernandez and Zimmer was fired before the playoffs.

Zim was named manager of the Reds new AAA affiliate, Indianapolis. The team had a lot of talent, but they were called up to the Reds and finished. 66-78 and Zim lost his job.

Bavasi, who had left the Dodgers to lead the new San Diego Padres, rode to the rescue. The Pads had only 2 minor league teams, one in Elmira and the other in Key West. Zimmer agreed to manage Key West because it was in Florida where he lived.

He only earned 7.500 managing the team. Not only had he taken a pay cut, but the clubhouse had no A/C, the bus driver had a drinking problem, and the bus was a rattletrap.

The team lasted one season but managed to finish third in the FSL with a 66-64 record. Zim was promoted to AAA Salt Lake City in 1970. There was little talent on the team except for Fred Kendall and Walt Hriniak and they finished 52 1/2 games behind Southern Division leader Hawaii. Zimmer resigned after the season.

Zim coached third base for Gene Mauch’s Expos in 1971. Before he worked for Joe Torre later, Zim felt Mauch was the best manager he ever worked for.

In 72, Bavasi offered him the third base coaching job with the Padres. Zim accepted. When the Padres started 4-7, Bavasi fired Preston Gomez and Zimmer had his first managing job in the majors.

His pitching coach was former teammate, Roger Craig. The Pads, who lacked much talent, finished 58-95 in the strike shortened season. 73 would be his toughest managing job ever. Not only did the team lack talent, but owner, Arnholdt Smith, was having financial difficulties and was trading players to dump salary.

The fire sale became too much for Zimmer and he told Bavasi he was quitting. The team finished at 60-102 and Zim was fired. He then joined the Red Sox as their 3rd base coach.

Zimmer enjoyed working with the Red Sox. With vets like Carl Yastrzemski and Luis Tiant, Bill Lee and Rico Petrocelli. They also had kids like Rick Burleson and Dwight Evans. The 74 team faded down the stretch, and it did not help that catcher Carleton Fisk was injured.

Jim Rice and Fred Lynn joined the team in 1975 and they won the AL pennant. They would lose an exciting 7 game series to the Reds.

After the season, manager Darrell Johnson was fired, and Zimmer was named his replacement. Over the next five seasons he would lead the Sox to a third place finish in 76, 2nd in 77. Offense was that team’s strength. In 78 they had a monumental collapse and lost to the Yankees in a one game playoff featuring Bucky Dent’s homer.

This team’s breakdown can be attributed at least in part by a group known as the ” The Loyal order of Buffalo Heads.” The founding members included Ferguson Jenkins, who was traded to the Rangers before the 78 season, Bill Lee, Jim Willoughby, Rick Wise and Bernie Carbo. They chose the buffalo because they believed it to be the dumbest animal on earth.

None of the group respected the manager and were always second guessing him and explaining how the Red Sox were going down the drain.

Lee explained much later in an interview in 2004. The origin of the group came after the next to the last game of 1977. The group went out drinking. The morning found Carbo asleep under the trainer’s table, Jenkins asleep in the bullpen, Lee went on a six mile run to get the poison out of his system.

Mike Paxton made the start against the Orioles and was not going well. Zimmer called the bullpen to get Jenkins ready. His teammates could not believe that and instructed the BP coach to say that Jenkins was not there and therefore was not available. That started the bad blood which boiled over into the 1978 season.

The group had no respect for Zimmer and Lee referred to him as “The Gerbil”. Zim had little control over the group. Carbo was traded to Cleveland in June, and Lee staged a brief walkout in honor of his friend. When he returned, he was banished to the bullpen and rarely used. The team did rally to force the playoff.

But Red Sox fans are not a forgiving lot. Zim was booed on opening day when he brought out the lineup. The Red Sox won 91 games in 79, good enough for third place. But in 1980, they slid to fourth. Zim was fired before the season was over. Johnny Pesky managed the last five games. Zim said he really regretted not winning a championship in Boston.

He was not unemployed for long. The Rangers owner, Eddie Chiles hired him. Chiles did not know baseball and he tried to set formalized goals. He wanted Zimmer to evaluate each player, and then have the players evaluate themselves. He had these goals on index cards. It did not work, Zim tossed them in the garbage.

1981 was the strike year. Texas was in second with a 33-22 when the players left. In the second half, they had injuries to Bump Wills and Mickey Rivers. Al Oliver and Buddy Bells production dropped off and they ended up second again, 5 1/2 games behind the A’s.

The Rangers were terrible in 82. And their owner was known to be erratic. At one point he even made Zimmer the GM. But when they returned from a brutal road trip where they lost 10 games, Chiles fired Zimmer. He was replaced by Darrell Johnson, who Zim had replaced in Boston.

Once again he was not unemployed for long. He got offers from the A’s Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner with the Yankees. He knew George from the horse track so he took the Yankee job.

Clyde King was the Yanks manager, but the rumor was George was going to bring Martin back. In 83, Martin returned to manage the Yankees. Zim left after one season. He said Martin treated him fine, but he had trouble with the way he treated others.

He was going to join the Angels as their 3rd base coach in 84, but then childhood friend Jim Frey called. He wanted Zim to be his third base coach for the Cubs.

1984 was a magical year for the Cubs, but they ended up losing in the playoffs to the Padres and Steve Garvey. The next season they dropped under .500 mainly because of injuries. In 86, they started at 19-27. After a 3-7 road trip, GM Dallas Green fired Frey and Zimmer. Gene Michael was named the new manager.

Over the next two seasons he coached for the Yankees and Lou Pinella in 86, and then for the 87 season he joined Roger Craig with the Giants. They won the division but lost to St. Louis in the playoffs.

He was going to sign a 2-year deal with the Giants, but then he learned that Green had been fired in Chicago and Frey took his place. Frey offered Zim the Cubs managerial post and he accepted.

The Cubs had a lot of young talent. The Cubs were below .500 in 88, but in the offseason, Frey and Zimmer decided they needed a closer. They traded Rafael Palmeiro for Mitch, wild thing, Williams. He saved 36  games and the Cubs were known as the Boys of Zimmer. A takeoff on Kahn’s book. Behind Maddux, Grace and Sandberg, Dawson and Sutcliffe, they won the East. Jerome Walton was the ROY. But they lost to the Giants in the playoffs. The next year they fell to fourth. After they started off the 91 season, 18-19, Zimmer was fired. He would not manage in the majors again.

Over 13 years at the helm his teams were 885-858. For only the second time in his long career, he spent the summer at home. It allowed him to do a lot of things he had not been able to, but he was itching to get back to the game.

He was hired for Don Baylor’s staff in Colorado. During spring training in Tucson, Zimmer had a burning sensation in his eyes and he was having problems seeing. They took him to a hospital and it was determined he had a mini-stroke. Doctors suggested he quit smoking tobacco.

He returned to spring training shortly after. In 94, Zim had sensed that his relationship with Baylor was souring. It became more evident in 95. There was bad blood between the GM and third base coach, Ron Hassey. Zim was friends with the GM and Baylor and Hassey were close.

Baylor ostracized Zimmer and the rift became wider as the season progressed. On June 6th, Zimmer informed Gerhard that he was going to retire.

He returned home and really enjoyed himself that summer. His heart was still not ready to retire. A friend suggested he apply for Social Security.

About 2 weeks later he found a check in the mail. About a week after that, he got a call from Joe Torre who had been named the Yankees manager and wanted a bench coach.

Zim took the job and for the next 8 years, he was the bench coach in New York. He told his wife, this is going to work. The Yankees would win 7 division titles, go to the World Series six times and win four times. The only real incident that marred his time with the Yankees was the confrontation in the 2003 ALCS. Martinez would throw Zimmer to the ground, and most every baseball fan remembers that.

What that charge showed Derek Jeter, was that even at age 72, Zimmer was a spirited competitor. Zimmer did not want to leave the Yankees, but he did so because of Steinbrenner. For years he had seen how he treated others and Zim quite frankly had had enough of it.

So he left after the 2003 season. Mentally Zim was ready for life without baseball. But then Vince Naimoli, the original owner of the Tampa Bay franchise, offered Zim a senior advisor job. They wanted to make use of Zim’s vast knowledge of the game.

The biggest selling point was the fact that Tropicana Field was just 15 minutes from Zimmer’s home in Treasure Island.

He would do some on field training in uniform during spring training and then during the season, he would sit upstairs in the suites during home games.

Zimmer spent the last 10 years of his life working for the Rays. On June 4, 2014, Zimmer passed away at the age of 83 in Dunedin Florida. Don Zimmer, #23 on your Dodger scorecard was the definition of a baseball lifer.