Major Leagues Don Zimmer

1 major leagues

1.1 montreal expos , san diego padres (1971–73)
1.2 boston red sox (1974–80)
1.3 1981–95
1.4 new york yankees , tampa bay rays (1996–2014)
1.5 managerial record

major leagues
montreal expos , san diego padres (1971–73)

in 1971, joined montreal expos third base coach. took similar job san diego padres in 1972, after 11 games called on replace preston gómez skipper april 27, giving zimmer first managerial job in major leagues.

zimmer compiled 54–88 record remainder of 1972, posted 60–102 mark in 1973, each season finishing last in national league west division. padres attendance woes caused team s founding majority owner, c. arnholdt smith, sell club amidst rumors might move washington, d.c. when new owner ray kroc bought team, zimmer , of coaching staff dismissed.

boston red sox (1974–80)

he hired third-base coach boston red sox, serving 2½ seasons. working under skipper darrell johnson, zimmer s tenure included memorable event during game 6 of 1975 world series. boston had bases loaded , none out in home half of ninth inning. score tied. soft fly left field shallow score winning run, baserunner denny doyle thought zimmer s shouts of no! no! no! go! go! go! ran home, , thrown out @ plate. play, , dwight evans brilliant catch off joe morgan in innings, set carlton fisk s classic, game-winning home run.

the 1976 red sox never got on track under johnson, , fired in july. zimmer named acting, permanent, manager , led them winning record, disappointing third-place finish in al east. red sox win more 90 games in each of zimmer s 3 full seasons (1977–1979) manager, second time had pulled off feat since world war i. 1978 team won 99 games, still fourth-best record in franchise history.

however, best remembered among red sox fans team s dramatic collapse during 1978 season. after leading american league east many fourteen games, red sox stumbled in august. september lead reduced 4 games. lead evaporated in four-game series against surging new york yankees still known boston massacre.

the red sox spent last month of season trading first place yankees, forcing one-game playoff on october 2. in game, yankees took lead permanently on legendary home run bucky dent on fenway park green monster.

during stretch, zimmer made several questionable personnel moves. never got along left-handed starting pitcher bill spaceman lee. matter of fact, outright hatred of lee (who had nicknamed zimmer gerbil. ) ran deep gave starting assignment in last game of massacre rookie bobby sprowl, had been called triple-a pawtucket few days earlier. reportedly, carl yastrzemski pleaded zimmer start lee, who, along luis tiant, had dominated yankees during careers. (lee, example, won 12 out of 17 decisions against yankees in 10 years boston.) sprowl allowed 4 walks, 1 hit , 1 run in first inning before being pulled , made 3 more major-league starts.

zimmer penciled fisk, team s longtime starting catcher, lineup 154 times (out of possible 162), heavy workload catcher. fisk complained of sore knees of stretch , missed of next season sore arm. finally, zimmer kept third baseman butch hobson in lineup, though hobson s elbow miseries (he had floating bone chips rearranged before coming plate) made impossible him hit power or average, or throw accurately. hobson made 18 errors during august , september 1978 (and league-leading 43 errors season, resulting in abysmal .899 fielding percentage). finally, zimmer called on jack brohamer replace hobson on september 23; brohamer @ third, boston won last 8 games of regular season force tie yankees, red sox lost playoff game on home runs dent , reggie jackson.

1981–95

zimmer next managed texas rangers. spent less 2 years in job , firing owner eddie chiles different. zimmer fired on monday asked remain on through wednesday s game before being replaced darrell johnson. when asked reason fired zimmer, chiles said personal refused elaborate further.

after texas, zimmer coached 3 stints yankees (1983, 1986, 1996–2003), coached san francisco giants in 1987. served third base coach chicago cubs 1984 1986. zimmer took on manager of cubs in 1988. in 1989, managed cubs division title , named manager of year. fired cubs manager during 1991 season after slow start. later, returned boston 1 season coach (under manager hobson) in 1992. overall, zimmer won 906 major league games manager.

zimmer on first coaching staff of expansion colorado rockies in 1993, , coached rockies through 1995.

new york yankees , tampa bay rays (1996–2014)

zimmer rays in 2009

in 1996, joined yankees bench coach run of 4 world series titles. in 1999, zimmer filled in manager joe torre while torre recuperating prostate cancer. zimmer went 21–15 while guiding yankees during torre s absence. record, however, credited torre s managerial record. many fans know him brawl pedro martínez in 2003 american league championship series, when zimmer ran @ martinez , martinez threw zimmer ground. zimmer accepted responsibility altercation , apologetic family , yankees organization maintained martínez 1 of unprofessional players had ever known. once hit sharply hit foul ball batted yankee second baseman chuck knoblauch. next game, zimmer wore army helmet word zim painted on side , yankees logo stenciled on front, given him michael patti, madison ave. advertising executive. event led installation of fences in front of dugouts @ yankee stadium, became commonplace @ mlb ballparks.

zimmer senior advisor tampa bay rays. role included assisting team during spring training , during home games. every year, zimmer incremented uniform number 1 match number of years has worked in baseball. during 2014 season wore #66,. (in 2014, longtime tampa bay third base coach tom foley wore zimmer s name , number on of own uniform in tribute.) zimmer noted every paycheck d ever gotten came baseball, , never held job in other profession.

zimmer wrote 2 books, zim: baseball life, , zen of zim, describe life in baseball, player, manager, , coach.

from 2008 season death, zimmer 1 of last former brooklyn dodgers (besides pitcher don newcombe , announcer vin scully) still in baseball in capacity. zimmer served member of advisory board of baseball assistance team, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated helping former major league, minor league, , negro league players through financial , medical difficulties.

on march 24, 2015 rays announced retiring number 66 in honor of zimmer.

managerial record