#299 Jerry Zimmerman

Jerry Zimmerman seems annoyed by the proceedings in this photo. It does look like he's trying to catch the yellow Twins pennant on the card. Maybe he's tired of clowning around with cartoons while there's a real game going on over his shoulder.

Fun facts about Jerry Zimmerman:

-Born in Omaha, NE, Jerry attended Milwaukie High School in Oregon before signing with the Red Sox in 1952.

-He toiled in the minors for Boston for nearly eight seasons before they released him. He caught on with the Orioles and played only a half a season at AAA before they released him as well.

-Jerry finally caught a break when the Reds signed him in late 1959. He went back to the minors for another year before debuting in Cincinnati at age 26. In his first full game he walked, scored twice, and singled twice.

-Though he batted just .206 and appeared in 76 games in his rookie season of 1961, Zimmerman was the primary catcher for the National League champs for the first half of the season.

-Following an offseason trade, he became Earl Battey's backup with the Twins. He would spend seven seasons in that role.

-Jerry hit only three home runs in his career. The first came in 1965, a two-run shot off of Washington's Phil Ortega. It took him four-plus seasons and 238 games to break his drought.

-Led the American League with a .997 fielding percentage behind the plate in 1965.

-Served as the unofficial bullpen coach while still active as a player in 1967.

-Appeared in only 24 games in 1968 and was released the following spring. In parts of eight seasons he hit .204 with three home runs and 72 RBI in 483 total games.

-Was on the original coaching staff of the Montreal Expos (1969-1975), and also served as Twins' bullpen coach from 1976-1980. In 1978, he umpired a game in Toronto during an umps' strike. He also did some scouting for the Orioles in the 1980s. He passed away in 1998, a few weeks shy of his 64th birthday.