Don Zimmer

Donald William Zimmer (born January 17, 1931, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a former infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball, currently serving as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization. In December 2008, he suffered a stroke, causing loss of speech for a week. Zimmer, nicknamed "Zim" and sometimes "Popeye" because of his facial resemblance to the cartoon character, began his career in 1949 at Cambridge of the (Mary... more

Donald William Zimmer (born January 17, 1931, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a former infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball, currently serving as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization. In December 2008, he suffered a stroke, causing loss of speech for a week. Zimmer, nicknamed "Zim" and sometimes "Popeye" because of his facial resemblance to the cartoon character, began his career in 1949 at Cambridge of the (Maryland) Eastern Shore League. He then played in Hornell, New York, Elmira, New York, Mobile, Alabama, and finally St. Paul, Minnesota before making it to the Major Leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954. At home plate before an Elmira night game in 1951 Zimmer married Soot (Jean), the girl he started dating in 10th grade. Beginning in 1954, his career included 12 seasons in the big leagues. He was a utility infielder with a great team, the 1955 World Series champion Brooklyn Dodgers, and with the 1962 New York Mets, who lost a record 120... less