In my time announcing for three different colleges, I have met so many great student-athletes and so many great families. When I was at UMass, I didn't do all of the softball games, but did broadcast quite a few of them, and got to know the players and families fairly well. The Mollica family didn't miss a game, driving down from New Hampshire to see their daughter, Whitney, our all-star thirdbaseman play. One of the games her freshman season, they asked me if I would like to meet Whitney's grandfather. It was Don Zimmer.
Zim passed away yesterday at the age of 83.
It was a pleasure to talk baseball with him on several occasions. A couple of times we had him as a guest on the softball broadcasts and a couple of times it was in a casual setting, as his granddaughter is now the wife of a former UMass football player that was my broadcast partner for several years on the Minutemen's games.
Last night after hearing of Don's passing, I surfed the internet for some of the stories on his life. Several things I knew included that he got married at home plate before a minor league game he was playing; played on some great Brooklyn Dodger teams including the only one that ever won the World Series; managed four teams – including the Red Sox squad that lost the division to the Yankees on Bucky Dent's home run and is one of only four managers to lead the Cubs to a division title; and served as Joe Torre's bench coach for all those great Yankee teams. In all, Zimmer was in baseball for 66 years, the last of which he was an executive for the Rays.
Some of the interesting facts that I found last night that I didn't know included that in Zimmer's rookie year of 1954 there were two other guys on the team that went on to be major league managers – Tommy LaSorda and Dick Williams. He bookended his playing career with two great catchers – The 1954 Dodgers had Roy Campanella and he finished his playing career in 1967 as a player manager for the Reds AAA team in Buffalo with a 19-year old by the name of Johnny Bench. He played on the 1962 expansion New York Mets and played the 1966 season in Japan. Imagine the players he's competed with or against in his time as a player, coach, or manager. From Jackie Robinson to Sadaharu Oh to Derek Jeter and every one in between.
I also got to attend my only game at the new Yankee Stadium with him. After taking the job in Boise, I went back east for a summer visit. Matt and Whitney invited me to a Yankees/Rays game on a Sunday afternoon in the Bronx. It was this weekend (I know because I had gone to the Belmont the day before with another friend). The three of us met Don at the stadium. We had tickets somewhere in the stands but never made it to the seats. As we entered the stadium someone spotted him and we were wisked in to an elevator and headed for a suite right behind home plate. The whole time person after person came up to him to shake hands and say hello. When the game ended all of us headed for Whitney's car…no one exiting the park even noticed him…typical New York…everyone was in such a hurry to get somewhere.
After the game, I am sitting in the back seat with Don and we are headed to a great Italian restaurant in New York. We talked a lot of baseball. I think the Yankees won but I really don't remember.
