Former Cub manager Don Zimmer passed away Wednesday evening. A baseball lifer, Zimmer started his career in professional baseball in 1949 and wore a uniform until earlier this year, when he underwent heart surgery and, sadly, never left the hospital. Zimmer first came to the Cubs as a player in 1960. He left for the Mets in the expansion draft after the 1961 season.
In 1984, he returned to the North side as third base coach when his high school pal Jim Frey was named manager. The Cubs surpised everyone by winning their first division title and heading to the post-season for the first time since 1945. When Frey became the team’s general manager following the 1987 season, he hired Don Zimmer to be his manager. One year later, the so-called Boys of Zimmer led the Cubs to their second divisional title in 6 seasons. In 1991, after demanding a contract extension from Tribune executive Donald Grenesko, Zimmer was fired.
After leaving the Cubs, Zimmer bounced around a bit as a coach before teaming up with Joe Torre in New York for their string of 4 World Series titles in 5 seasons starting in 1996. He left the team in 2003 after, what else, an argument with George Steinbrenner. He had spent the last decade as a senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays. Starting in 2008, he was the last member of the Brooklyn Dodgers to still hold a field position.
After 66 years in baseball, Don Zimmer leaves behind many friends and admirers. Nearly everyone involved in the game has a story about Zimmer, and they’ve all been retold over the past few days. Somewhere, I’m sure Zimmer would enjoy sitting around a clubhouse being part of those retellings.
Sunday, former Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux took his place in Cooperstown alongside Braves teammate Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, and former managers Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony LaRussa. I thought it would be interesting to look at the overall leaders amongst Hall of Famers on both sides of the ball from all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2013, finishing up with the defense. Which seemed like a much better idea before I saw there are only 4 Hall of Fame pitchers I’ve seen live. Oh well.