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MLB

Baseball legend Zimmer passes away at 83

Veteran of over six decades had a profound impact on Minor Leagues
By Jake Seiner
June 5, 2014

He loved the game so much, he was married at home plate. And after 66 years as a member of the baseball fraternity, it's safe to say the game loved him back.

Longtime player, manager, coach and ambassador Don Zimmer passed away Wednesday evening at age 83. He had recently undergone surgery to repair a leaky heart valve, according to the Tampa Tribune.

Zimmer began his affiliated professional career as an 18-year-old in 1949 with Class D Cambridge in the Eastern Shore League. While playing with Elmira (N.Y.) of the Class A Eastern League in 1951, Zimmer married his high school sweetheart, Soot, at the dish prior to a game.

He later played with Mobile of the Double-A Southern Association (1952) and Triple-A St. Paul in the American Association (1953-54) en route to a 12-year Major League career. His time in the bigs included stints with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Washington Senators.

Zimmer returned to the Minor Leagues in 1967 after a year playing in Japan, spending time as a player-manager for Double-A Knoxville and Triple-A Buffalo.

The next year, he transitioned to a full-time managerial role, beginning that career in earnest with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians in the Pacific Coast League. He spent two more seasons managing in the Minors, next with the Key West Padres in the Florida State League and then the Salt Lake City Bees of the PCL, before moving to on to the Majors.

Zimmer served on the coaching staff of 10 different franchises between 1971 and 2003, including managerial gigs with San Diego, Boston, Texas and Chicago. In 2004, he became a senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a role he maintained until his passing.

"I hired him as a coach," said MLB executive vice president and former Yankees manager Joe Torre in a statement. "He became like a family member to me. He has certainly been a terrific credit to the game. The game was his life. And his passing is going to create a void in my life and my wife Ali's. We loved him. The game of baseball lost a special person tonight. He was a good man."

That loss reverberated through Minor League Baseball, where Zimmer's impact was felt by teams, coaches and players who interacted directly with Zimmer or played under and with those who did.

Jake Seiner is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Jake_Seiner.