Call me nutty, but to me “career ending” means you never play again. As the quote itself says, he was hit in 1953, came back in 1954, and even appeared in the 1955 World Series. But that’s not all. He also played from 1956-1965, with a high of 477 AB in 1961, a full eight years after the beaning. That’s certainly not career ending. Cmon, World Eater! He played for another 12 years in the majors.
Also, I would suspect that when one says Zimmer couldn’t hit a damn, one is referring to his major league career, not his minor league career. This would leave his stats in the American Association out of the discussion. (He hit .235 over those 12 seasons, although he was an All Star with the 1961 Cubs.)
Bob, you are absolutely on the mark with that comment.
The Yankees are a class act organization all the way.
Of course by class act, I mean they have raging whack job players who beat the shit out of Fenway Park employees and try to stomp their head in with metal cleats.
All right I’ll concede your point, but it was obviously career altering, and a shot to the ribs would have most likely been preferred.
None the less, to say it was the best thing that could have happened to him is makes me think that Airman himself was beaned a bit too hard at one point in his life.
Yeah. The minor leagues. Big flirkin difference between AA and the Majors. Lots of people hit minor league pitchers like gangbusters but can’t cut it in the Majors.
And as was pointed out, he played for the Mets in 1962. So, no, it wasn’t career ending.
Now before you start adding the Mayor of Boston’s speculative trash talk (only the pitchers & the groundskeeper qualify as primary sources) to your own, here’s what NYC’s mayor was quoted as saying
I think we have to factor out both of the elected officials statements as fluff to keep them elected another term. As for the Boston Police, I don’t know what doughnut shop they were watching the game from, but they didn’t show up until 5 minutes after the scuffle had started. While there is not CITE to a direct broadcast, the YES network’s female reporter on the scene called Fenway Security “A Joke” compared to Yankee Stadium security. Simply put, if there were 3 cops in the bullpen, the way the Yankees provided security to Boston when they visited, then it wouldn’t have happened. Nelson would have looked at the cop, pointed to out-of-control towel-boy, and a nightstick and cuffs would have ended his groundskeeping career.
But then, that just asks the question: Is Boston even Capable of providing sufficient competant security to handle the series? God Knows they couldn’t even keep some Saudis with boxcutters off of flights out of Logan two years ago.
We paid for that lapse of security too.
In a huff? Where did I get in a huff? Yes you said it was interesting and you could have added funny to your description too.
Apparently World Eater didn’t realize it was a joke. FYI, ESPN’s Page 2 has tons of joke articles that take a lighthearted look at situations. If you didn’t see the humor in the article then I can’t help you.
Quietman so far you have all biased testimony. Would Nelson admit he was guilty? Do you think George would let a YES employee say Nelson was responsible? Show me testimony from someone at the game not employed by George.
I have no doubt this is true. I certainly don’t think that he would have been pointing at his head if he had to put on a helmet and step into the box against Clemens.
You just said a mouthful, my friend. My younger brother got hit in the face by a mid-80s fastball and spent 3 days in the hospital. I’ve been hit by 90+ mph fastballs, and it took all my concentration to avoid rubbing it, so charging the mound usually never entered my mind.
But there’s something about a fastball around the head. You get a burst of adrenaline from fear that’s very easy to mistake for anger. That’s why I don’t blame Garcia for sliding hard into Walker at 2nd, or Sammy Sosa for bouncing out toward the mound in the direction of Josh Beckett. Heck, I got beaned once in an intrasquad scrimmage, and I nearly charged the mound. Idiotic, I know, but it was more of a reaction than a choice.
Well considering they said it was an exclusive interview and it wasn’t really over the top considering the current circumstances, I expect a good deal of people to get whooshed.
Page 2 is nothing but a joke. It’s the fake news. It’s the Daily Show portion of ESPN. Plus, it was a column by Jim Caple, not known for his sober outlooks at times.
If a big out-of-control guy is charging me and getting ready to throw a punch, he’s going down…I don’t care how old he is. I can’t believe that anyone has a problem with what Pedro did. He’s allowed to defend himself.
Yeah, it’s a technicality victory. Just admit you were wrong. And really wrong at that. And then you just compound your idiocy by pulling some completely off-base analogy out of your ass. And then go on with some sour grapes whining.
Zimmer played twelve more years in the majors, and this was before they had guaranteed contracts.
He played with the Dodgers until 1959. With more than 200 ABs every season except 1954, the year he was brought up, and 1956. In 1958 he had 488 ABs.
Then he went on to the Cubs for two years, with 368 ABs and 477 ABs respectively. He then played with the Mets and was traded to Cincinnati in 1962. Then back to the Dodgers in 1963 until he went to the Senators midseason. With 321 ABs between the two teams. He finished his career with the Senators in 1964-1965 with 341 ABs and 226 ABs respectively.
So, to sum up, after Zimmer was hit he went on to MAKE THE MAJORS and then stay there for 12 seasons. Yeah, it’s just a technicality that his career didn’t end after getting hit. :wally
It would be like looking at Willis McGahee’s injury and calling it career ending after he played 10 years in the NFL. :wally
Try and keep up, we’re past that point. My real beef was his statement that it was the best thing to ever happen to him. Of course Airman is a big boy and can fight his own battles, so feel free to shut the fuck up anytime.