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Our guys used to call him Mr. Clutch. He was a clutch pitcher.
Don Zimmer -
He could have been an engineer and he would have been a great one, but he decided to be a catcher and he was a good one. Then he decided to be a bench coach and he was a good one. Now he is going to be a manager and he is going to be a good one.
Don Zimmer
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Hey, it's been a great ride for me, a great life. Everything I have I owe to baseball. Baseball owes me nothin'. Ain't nobody has to give me nothin'. I would be embarrassed if I had a day somewhere. I don't want no day. I want friends, to live my life the way I wanna live it.
Don Zimmer -
We ask each other about it in the coach's room every day. What do you think is going to happen? Nobody knows anything. All I know is Lou's got a contract for next year, and all the coaches have contracts, too.
Don Zimmer -
I was sitting in the back room by myself when someone came in and said, "Mr. Zimmer, I have to take you down to the make up room." I told them that if anyone can help this face they deserve a bonus.
Don Zimmer -
Probably the best I saw was a guy they said took pitches too much, that he should have tried to hit a ball even if it was a little outside: It was Ted Williams. They say he would tell the umpire whether it was a ball or strike.
Don Zimmer -
The weather's cold. My club's bad. My knee hurts. I can't putt no more. I'm off my diet. My wife is nagging me. Other than that, everything's great.
Don Zimmer -
It just as easily could have gone the other way.
Don Zimmer
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Everyone keeps me telling me how great a knee replacement is. Whitey Ford said it was great and so did Ralph Branca. If I had one of those, I don't know that I would retire. But if I left for a month or more, who's going to want me back?
Don Zimmer -
When Yogi hit the ball down the left-field line, with Amoros' speed and being a left-handed thrower -- a right-handed thrower probably couldn't have caught the ball. I always kid around with people. I say, 'I was very important in that seventh game.' You don't win many games by being taken out of the game.
Don Zimmer -
A lot of companies are calling for availability, but we're committed to FEMA.
Don Zimmer -
One hundred ten thousand ears in this ballpark, and he's got to hit my ear.
Don Zimmer -
I'll be talking to him a lot in the next couple of months.
Don Zimmer -
I don't want to go anywhere but here. They've treated me well. I don't know how anybody could be treated any better. This is where I want to be, and I'm not going anyplace.
Don Zimmer
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I don't want to, anyway. I've got a job here with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I'm at home and I don't want to leave home. Living at home is a big plus after you've been gone from home for 55 years.
Don Zimmer -
Someone will say he's too young of a guy. Well, only thee years ago they hired an older man who took them to the promised land.
Don Zimmer -
What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110 percent all the time.
Don Zimmer -
Never drew a paycheck outside of baseball.
Don Zimmer -
We won '98, '99 and 2000. I don't think you'll see that again. I really don't believe you'll see a team win three World Series in a row. Not that we were so much better than everybody else, but that's how hard it is to even win one World Series.
Don Zimmer -
It's like seeing a $3,000 racehorse running against a $1-million horse. You always think the million-dollar horse is going to win, right? That's baseball.
Don Zimmer
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Of course, I was there eight years. Seven of the eight years, we had a team. A team. You know what I mean by team? A team. I think when you go through so many players and changes, that tends to drift away a little bit.
Don Zimmer -
Baseball will miss Steinbrenner. He did a lot of great things-and some not so great-but it's a sad day for baseball, no doubt about it. He was a winner, and he made the Yankees a winner.
Don Zimmer -
This new baseball is like a golf ball. I think there are going to be a lot more dents put in the wall at Fenway Park this year.
Don Zimmer -
I don't think so. I have a good job. I'm getting up in years. I don't want to manage. That's out of the question. Nobody has to ask to me. That's the way it is.
Don Zimmer