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Even at 80, Zimmer not done with baseball yet

We turn the pages on the months and years, rarely judging adequately the speed with which time passes, rushing to keep pace with the trials, and too often the tribulations.

Before you know it, New Year's Day is arriving more quickly, the numbers adding up faster than the unease that accompanies.

Don Zimmer is acutely aware, as this particular calendar is a significant one.

“OK, let me stop you there,” Zimmer says. “When you get to be my age, every year's a big one.”

Fair point, I admitted, as Zimmer laughed at my expense.

The former manager, beloved in Cubs lore for the 1989 “Boys of Zimmer,” is more cognizant than ever of passages as he struggles to recover from a pacemaker procedure a few weeks ago.

That's on top of two knee replacements, a serious back injury and a stroke just in the last couple years.

“It gets tougher as you get up in this territory,” Zimmer said Tuesday from his home near Tampa. “You got a lot of miles on you and stuff breaks down. You can't stop that.”

He's reminded daily that every morning is a gift, but there are still anniversaries galore in 2011.

A few weeks ago, Zimmer celebrated his 80th birthday.

This summer, he will mark 60 years of wedded bliss, remembering the day he married his high school sweetheart, Soot, at home plate before a Class-A game in Elmira, N.Y.

“Do I remember it all?” Zimmer said, raising his voice. “How dumb do you think I am? Soot's in the room. I remember every minute of it.”

Not so happy is the memory of his firing by the Cubs, 20 years ago next month.

“Never should have happened,” Zimmer says quietly. “Best job I ever had. Most fun I ever had.”

Having been informed by team president Don Grenesko in early May 1991 that he wouldn't get a new contract until after the season, if at all, Zimmer told Grenesko that he wanted to know his status by June 1, or he would finish the season — and then be finished with the Cubs.

Grenesko didn't wait that long, firing Zimmer on May 21 in New York.

Jim Essian was immediately hired and the rest of the season went so well that an entire organization went up in flames.

Grenesko, GM Jim Frey — a close Zimmer pal — Essian and most of the coaches were sent packing at season's end, ringing in the eminently forgettable Larry Himes era that set the franchise back another decade.

The result, traced back to the Zimmer decision, has been 10 managers in 20 years, to go along with five GMs and five team presidents.

Hardly the conventional recipe for success.

“It's a long time ago but it still is a sad thing to me,” Zimmer said. “Things could have been done a lot different. A lot of people got hurt.”

Zimmer, of course, survived and thrived, ultimately winning four World Series in the late '90s while sitting on the Yankees' bench next to Joe Torre.

“That's the funny thing about the way time goes by,” Zimmer said. “It seems like that was two or three years ago.''

In 2004, Zimmer left New York and thought he would finally retire, but he was convinced to join the Rays as a “senior baseball advisor,” and this year he celebrates 63 consecutive years in professional baseball.

Think about that for a moment.

That's 63 straight years of going to the park nearly every day, a record surpassed only by Connie Mack's 64.

And his role now is not the traditional one given to revered former players and managers who stand around and sign autographs, or go to the occasional game.

Zimmer, when healthy, works with players, coaches and managers during spring training, is on the field before every game, and then scouts the game from the stands.

“I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it, especially working with the young kids,” Zimmer says. “As long as I like it and I can contribute, I'll do it.”

He hasn't traveled as much the last year or two and won't be with the Rays when they're on the South Side of Chicago this weekend.

“Not a chance,” Zimmer insists. “Too darn cold. I love Chicago but I did that a couple years ago and I froze. I'll be back when it's warm.”

And there are no plans to give it up.

“Well, what would I do with my time?” Zimmer wonders. “I think my wife would throw me out. It's not like I'm going to fix the roof. We've been married this long because I'm not here a lot during baseball season.”

Zimmer laughs again, but then turns serious for a moment.

“Think of the life I've had in baseball and what I would have had without it,” Zimmer says. “I must be the second luckiest man ever on Earth.”

Lou Gehrig would probably smile and understand. For baseball people, the game is life and life is the game, a concept they don't try to explain to anyone outside baseball.

It's why he keeps going to the park, and why this year he wears No. 63. He has designs on 65 or maybe even 70.

“If I'm still here and they still want me, I'll be there,” Zimmer says. “But I wouldn't be here without Soot. She's the best ...”

Zimmer stops for a moment, his voice cracking, and composes himself.

“Sixty years,” he says. “She's the best.”

The conversation turns from the serious to the trivial with a healthy dose of baseball and family, but Don Zimmer is tired and of late it's been a battle.

“It's OK. I'm still ticking,” Zimmer says. “We'll catch up another time. I guarantee it. There's still a lot of baseball left in me.”

And for that, baseball is also very lucky.

brozner@dailyherald.com

Ÿ Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM.

  Don Zimmer sits in the dugout before Game 3 of the ALDS in 2008. RICK WEST/rwest@dailyherald.com
  White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, left, talks the Rays’ Don Zimmer before Game 4 of the ALDS in 2008. DANIEL WHITE/dwhite@dailyherald.com
Cubs manager Don Zimmer sits in the dugout before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1989. Associated Press
Cubs manager Don Zimmer, approaches Greg Maddux, right, and catcher Rick Wrona (1) with the bases loaded and the Giants’ Will Clark at bat during the fourth inning of Game 1 of the NLCS in 1989. Clark hit a grand slam, leading the Giants to an 11-3 win over the Cubs. Associated Press
Cubs starting pitcher Greg Maddux wipes his brow as he talks to Cubs third baseman Luis Salazar (11) and manager Don Zimmer during the third inning of Game 4 of the NLCS in 1989. Maddux was pulled from the game in the fourth inning. Associated Press
Rays senior baseball advisor Don Zimmer throws out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 7 of the ALCS in 2008. Associated Press