Jerry Zimmerman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jerry Zimmerman
Catcher
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 14, 1961
for the Cincinnati Reds
Final game
September 22, 1968
for the Minnesota Twins
Career statistics
AVG     .204
FP     .991
RBI     72
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Last coach to umpire a Major League game (August 25, 1978).

Gerald Robert Zimmerman (September 21, 1934-September 9, 1998) was an American catcher and coach in Major League Baseball. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he went to high school in Oregon, and began his career as an amateur free agent when he was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1952.[1] After spending seven years in the minor leagues, he was released by the Red Sox on July 16, 1959 only to be picked up by the Baltimore Orioles on the same day.[1] He had played for the Minneapolis Millers for the previous few seasons until his release.[2] Two later, on September 25, the Orioles released him, and he was picked up by the Cincinnati Reds, then known as the Redlegs.[1] Zimmerman fnally got his big break during the 1961 season, when he was called up to the majors.

He played a season for Cincinnati as the starting catcher during their World Series run, and although he only had a batting average of .206, he still led the team's catchers, with Johnny Edwards hitting .186 and Bob Schmidt hitting .129.[3] After the 1961 season, Zimmerman was traded on January 30, 1962 to the Minnesota Twins for Dan Dobbek.[1] He played for the Twins for 7 seasons, serving mostly as a backup for Earl Battey. During the Twins' 1965 World Series run, Zimmerman ended up being one of the few players on the team with World Series experience,[2] as he had seen some playing time as during 2 games during the 1961 Series.

In 1967 Zimmerman became the Twins' bullpen coach, as the Twins only had three coaches during that time.[2] After Battey's retirement, he played sparingly during the 1968 season before being released by the Twins on March 18, 1969.[1] Zimmerman was bullpen coach for the Montreal Expos from 1969 to 1975,[4] then was bullpen coach for the Twins from 1976 to 1980. Zimmerman also umpired a game on August 25, 1978 in Toronto during an umpires' strike.[2] Zimmerman and Don Leppert have since been the last two active coaches to umpire a Major League game. He died in Neskowin, Oregon, and his remains were cremated.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Jerry Zimmerman Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-14.
  2. ^ a b c d Cool of the Evening: Jerry Zimmerman. Retrieved on 2007-04-14.
  3. ^ 1961 Cincinnati Reds Statistics and Roster. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
  4. ^ Jerry Zimmerman, BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.

[edit] External links