Fridays With Zimmer
So I spent Friday hanging with the Devil Rays, asking the ballplayers how they choose their at-bat/jog to the mound songs and what's on their iPod.
Almost everyone has an iPod in the clubhouse -- the days of cranking the clubhouse stereo seems to have given way to the boys of summer popping in their iPod ear buds and rocking out on their own.
Everyone was pretty cool (well, almost everyone, but I'll keep that to myself). My feature should run on April 10 -- opening day in Tampa Bay -- but I will allow that Carl Crawford is torn between Juvenile and Young Jeezy for his at-bat song. Stay tuned...
Anyway, just before batting practice, Times baseball guru Marc Topkin introduces me to THE Don Zimmer, an honorary bench coach/Yoda these days for the Rays. Now, let me say this: I don't get star-struck much, but staring into the 75-year-old Zim's adorable gerbil face and shaking his hand left me speechless. When I was a wee lad growing up in Boston, I used to boo the crap out of Zimmer, then the skipper of the Red Sox. Now the circle of life is complete.
I'll save our conversation for the story, but I did jokingly asked him what's on his iPod. Zimmer's response:
"iPod?! I don't even know how to spell iPod!"
I just wanted to hug him.
Sean Daly is the pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times. His CD collection -- from Journey to Dylan, Prince to U2, Public Enemy to Stan Getz -- is much bigger and better than yours.
I heard that guy Huff is a class A jerk? I'm just axin ..Hey, remember Hanson? Those kids?Yeah, they've gone indy while we were getting old (I heard Sean turned 40 this week!) ... Hanon's "they're all grown up" album "Underneath" freakin' rocks.Seriously..stop laughing. I'm being serious .... dammit ...
Posted by: Anonymous | March 24, 2006 at 07:56 PM
I know that's a great shot of Zimmer, specially if you know the back story, but you couldn't find anything of him in Rays gear? C'mon . . .
Posted by: Anonymous | March 25, 2006 at 09:04 AM
Zimm is one of my heroes, back in the day when he was the skip of the Cubs, my all-time favorite baseball team, which is now the most cursed team in baseball.
Posted by: Steve Spears | March 26, 2006 at 10:05 PM
Did Zim share any good Jim Rice stories? Like the time he chucked a baseball at a reporter? Or maybe that was Albert Belle I'm thinking of ...
Posted by: Guy | March 27, 2006 at 03:36 PM
Did Zim share any Steinbrenner stories? I'm sure he has some doozies.
Posted by: sparky | March 27, 2006 at 03:57 PM
Naah, Zim and I just talked music. He's totally bummed about the unevenness of the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album.
Posted by: Sean Daly | March 27, 2006 at 04:10 PM