Don Zimmer
photo by Tim Evearitt
Don Zimmer passed away Wednesday at age 83.
In 12 seasons and 3,283 at-bats with the Dodgers, Mets and four other teams,Don Zimmer produced a .235 batting average, 91 home runs and 352 RBIs. He was a one-time All-Star, with the Cubs in 1961, and participated -- barely -- in the two World Series with the Dodgers, in Brooklyn in 1955 and in Los Angeles in '59.
The teams he managed -- the Padres, Red Sox, Rangers, Cubs, and on an interim basis, the Yankees of 1999 -- produced a composite .509 winning percentage in 1,780 games and one first-place finish in 14 seasons. Interspersed with his seasons as a manager were 26 years of coaching that began with Expos in 1971, took him to Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, the North Side of Chicago, the Bronx and ended in 2006 in Tampa Bay.
Most of the public's recall of Zimmer was tied to his years with the Yankees and at Joe Torre's side. He was the club's bench coach and the personal good-luck charm of Derek Jeter from 1996-2003, during which the Yankees won four World Series. But he did have something of an after-career with the Rays, and when he worked for them, he extended his distinction as the last former Brooklyn Dodger still on a Major League field.
--- Source: MLB.com