Zim

Baseball fans will love listening to the personal story of one of the most famous Dodgers of the 1950s and '60s, at this time still working as a bench coach for the New York Yankees. With the writing skill of Bill Madden, a NEW YORK DAILY NEWS reporter, he has created a classic sports biography worth all the skill of the testosterone-soaked voice of the narrator, Dennis McKee. His deep voice reads slowly and clearly enough to hear every hit as we are drowned in the cheers of some memorable and famous games, and entertained with comments made by many of the author's famous teammates like PeeWee Reese and Roy Campanella. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

March 26, 2001
Zimmer is a "lifer," having been involved with professional baseball for half a century. A native of Cincinnati, he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949; a powerful shortstop, he was the logical successor to Pee Wee Reese. Zimmer suffered several beanings that nearly cost him his life and never became the ballplayer he was projected to be. Still, "Popeye"—so-called because of his bulging forearms—did enjoy a successful major league career. A member of Brooklyn's only World Champion team in 1955, he then played on the Los Angeles Dodgers' first world championship team four years later. He tells riveting stories about the "Boys of Summer," like Billy Loes, Johnny Podres, Clem Labine and Duke Snider. Zimmer became a much-traveled utility infielder and spent his last year playing in Japan, where, he observed, the horses "ran backwards" at the racetrack. He recounts his stints as a manager in San Diego, Boston, Texas and Chicago, and as Joe Torres's bench coach during the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 Yankee World Championships. Zimmer pulls no punches in his evaluations of baseball celebrities like Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, managers Don Baylor, Billy Martin and Joe Torre, and owners Eddie Chiles and George Steinbrenner. Zimmer's book is bluntly honest and filled with amusing anecdotes, a cut above the average baseball autobiography.