Major League Baseball has lost another all-time great. The legendary Don Zimmer has passed away. MLB.com’s Marty Noble reported Wednesday evening that Zimmer died at Baycare Alliant Hospital in Dunedin, Florida. Zimmer was trying to recover from heart surgery in April. He was 83.
Zimmer was a baseball hero even if not as a player. In his 12-year playing career from 1954-1965, Zimmer hit only .235, but he did have a little power: 91 HR and 352 RBI. He played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Senators. He was a member of the original 1962 Mets, playing in 14 games for the expansion team that won 40 games and lost 102. Current Cubs broadcaster Len Kapser said during the Cubs game Wednesday night that Zimmer, the Mets’ third baseman, committed an error on the first ball ever put in play in a New York Mets game.
He did not have a Hall-of-Fame career as a player, but Zimmer did make the National League All-Star game in 1961 as a Cub, and he won a World Series in 1955 when the Brooklyn Dodgers beat Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra‘s New York Yankees for the only World Championship ever in Brooklyn. That series is best-known for Jackie Robinson‘s infamous steal of home. Robinson was also a Dodger and, therefore, Zimmer’s teammate. Zimmer was also on the 1959 World-Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers and briefly a member of the 1963 World Champion Dodgers.
What Zimmer may have lacked as a player he more than made up for as a manager and bench coach. Zimmer managed for 14 non-consecutive seasons with the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, and Chicago Cubs from 1972 to 1991. He never made a World Series, but he did lead the 1989 Cubs to a National League East title, the same year he won the National League Manager of the Year.
He is most likely known today as the bench coach for Joe Torre (pictured with Zimmer) during the Yankees’ run of World Series titles from 1996-2000 (save for 1997). Torre thought of Zimmer as more like a family member as the two got to know each other as Yankees. Torre spoke of his friend’s passing on Wednesday. Said Torre,
“I hired him as a coach, and he became like a family member to me. He has certainly been a terrific credit to the game. The game was his life. And his passing is going to create a void in my life and my wife Ali’s. We loved him. The game of Baseball lost a special person tonight. He was a good man.”
His last coaching job was with the Tampa Bay Rays for the past 11 years. As Noble reports, the Rays will honor Zimmer with a moment of silence during the Rays’ game with the Florida Marlins on Thursday. They will also have a pre-game ceremony in Zimmer’s honor before Saturday’s game.
Zimmer had his share of nicknames, indicating his love for the game and the game’s love for him. Mostly known as “Popeye,” Zimmer also went by “Zip” or “The Gerbil.” On the June 4 edition of Quick Pitch, MLB Network’s Scott Braun announced that Popeye was the last Brooklyn Dodger to serve on the field in any capacity.
It is easy for us to remember Zimmer as a baseball man, but we must also remember him as a man. He was someone’s son, father, grandfather, husband, and friend as well as teammate, coach, and manager. We may say good-bye to a great baseball man, but they say good-bye to a great man and personal loved one.
Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg paid homage to him on Wednesday.
“Today we all lost a national treasure and a wonderful man. Don dedicated his life to the game he loved, and his impact will be felt for generations to come. His contributions to this organization are immeasurable. I am proud that he wore a Rays uniform for the past 11 years. We will miss him dearly.”
Mr. Sternberg, you are so right. The game of baseball, its fans, and his friends and family will miss Don Zimmer. Good-bye, Popeye! May God rest your soul.
PHOTO CREDIT: AP Photo/Peter Kramer