RIP Don Zimmer

u2me57 said:

Sad to hear about this. Bet he could tell some great old baseball stories. R.I.P. Zim

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mchenrycards said:

I had the great pleasure of working at Wrigley Field for much of the time Zimmer served as a coach under Jim Frey and then when he managed the team. A nicer man in baseball you will never find. Zim would mince no words and tell you how he felt and sometimes that stung a bit but at least you knew where you stood with him.

After I was moved up to the front office my desk was in an area where he would walk through on his way out of the ball park each day. Zim would normally ride with Jim Frey to and from the ball park and he would wait at my desk for his ride. He would actually tell me to get up and let him sit down to watch the television that was near my desk. He did it in a joking way but after awhile I would see him coming and just gave him my seat. He would normally watch the news on the teleision and saved his best insults for the politicians he saw on the tube.

Zim had some great stories and used to hold court with the media before games in the Cubs dugout. I alwats heard him talking about Reese, Snider, Hodges, Robinson and many of the other greats he had played with. When asked once by the media if he was still playing would he submit to drug testing his response was that if the team wanted to pay him a million dollars for playing this game he would piss on or in anything the team wanted him to piss in.

Baseball is going to miss Don Zimmer and honestly, although I was not a person he would have remembered later in life, I counted him as one of the nicest men I ever had the chance to make an aquaintence during my time in the MLB. We saw each other every game day for a number of years, had several conversations about life and baseball and after I left the team I never saw him again. Like I said, I dont want to make the impression we were friends but I think with Don Zimmer, anyone he met and talked to was made to feel like his friend. I am saddened today and know he will be missed.

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jbhofmann said:

ESPNs Jeremy Schapp wondered if Zimmer was the longest IN UNIFORM figure in baseball history.

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BiggioBrooks755 said:

That is an awesome quote!

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mrmopar said:

I think anyone from a less "entitled" generation would probably agree and be willing to do so themselves. I think that about what I make now and I make nothing near $1M. I work for the company and they pay me a salary. If they want me to spend my time cleaning toilets instead of the job they trained me to do, then so be it!

The crybabies of today's celebrity world were basically raised to expect different treatment. That is why when I read those common jokes that talk about "If you remember this when you were a kid…", because they ring so true for people and the younger generations are oblivious to much of it sadly, yet they are exposed to so much more now and at a younger than any of the older generations were. We are spoiling ourselves younger and younger.

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u2me57 said:

mchenrycards- Thanks for the post about Zimmer. Good read.

Is Jimmy Reese also known as Pee Wee Reese? If my memory is correct, I remember Reese and Curt Gowdy calling baseball games for NBC in the 60's.

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mchenrycards said:

I had the great pleasure of working at Wrigley Field for much of the time Zimmer served as a coach under Jim Frey and then when he managed the team. A nicer man in baseball you will never find. Zim would mince no words and tell you how he felt and sometimes that stung a bit but at least you knew where you stood with him.

After I was moved up to the front office my desk was in an area where he would walk through on his way out of the ball park each day. Zim would normally ride with Jim Frey to and from the ball park and he would wait at my desk for his ride. He would actually tell me to get up and let him sit down to watch the television that was near my desk. He did it in a joking way but after awhile I would see him coming and just gave him my seat. He would normally watch the news on the teleision and saved his best insults for the politicians he saw on the tube.

Zim had some great stories and used to hold court with the media before games in the Cubs dugout. I alwats heard him talking about Reese, Snider, Hodges, Robinson and many of the other greats he had played with. When asked once by the media if he was still playing would he submit to drug testing his response was that if the team wanted to pay him a million dollars for playing this game he would piss on or in anything the team wanted him to piss in.

Baseball is going to miss Don Zimmer and honestly, although I was not a person he would have remembered later in life, I counted him as one of the nicest men I ever had the chance to make an aquaintence during my time in the MLB. We saw each other every game day for a number of years, had several conversations about life and baseball and after I left the team I never saw him again. Like I said, I dont want to make the impression we were friends but I think with Don Zimmer, anyone he met and talked to was made to feel like his friend. I am saddened today and know he will be missed.

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championMan said:

Topps doesn't have much auto of him in a Yankees uniform? Is that true? I find one in UD but I don't like the road uniform prefer pinstripe.

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gracecollector said:

This is your only option then. Limited to 40 copies (and I have 2).

I've head Zimmer's feud with Steinbrenner caused the Boss to refuse most Yankee licensing requests for Zimmer merchandise and cards.

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SINFULONE said:

Why only 40 made of those?Come on Topps.

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