Major League Baseball Player, Coach, Manager. His career in Major League Baseball encompassed more than sixty-years. He was considered by many as being one of the most colorful personalities in the sport's history. For twelve seasons (1954 to 1965), he played at the third base, second base and shortstop positions with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Washington Senators. Born Donald William Zimmer, he attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati and was signed as an amateur free agent by Brooklyn in 1949. He marked his Major League debut on July 2, 1954 with the Dodgers and became a part of the squad's that were nicknamed "The Boys of Summer". He experienced two world championships during that period (1955 and 1959). In 1956, Zimmer had a metal plate inserted in his head after sustaining multiple hits to the head from baseballs. While with the Cubs in 1961, he produced a career-high 120 hits and earned all-star status that year. in 1,095 regular season games, he compiled 773 hits with a .235 lifetime batting average. He played one season in Japan (1966). After retiring as a player, he embarked upon a lengthy career as a coach and manager beginning at the Minor League level (1967 to 1970). He returned to the Major League as a coach in 1971 with the Montreal Expos, prior to his first managerial stint with the San Diego Padres (1972 to 1973). Zimmer experienced a successful period as skipper of the Red Sox (1976 to 1980) and guided Boston to three consecutive 90-plus win seasons (1977 to 1979). He went on to serve as manager of the Texas Rangers (1981 to 1982) and Chicago Cubs (1988 to 1991). In 1989, he guided the Cubs to the Eastern Division Title and received Manager of the Year honors. After a coaching stint with the Colorado Rockies (1993 to 1995), he served as a coach under Joe Torre with the New York Yankees and became interim manager, while Torre was receiving treatments for cancer during the 1999 season. From 2004 until 2014, he was a part of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' (later Rays) organization and served as a coach and at other capacities. His health began to decline when he suffered a stroke in December 2008 which affected his speech. He died from heart related issues.