We are presenting this petition to the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors to award Don Zimmer the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr Zimmer's contribution to baseball has spanned over 6 decades including going to the postseason 18 times and has had a role in 68 postseason games,owns six World Series rings: four as a coach with the Yankees and two as a player for Brooklyn (1955) and Los Angeles (1959) Has been a major league coach or manager every year since 1971, 41 years total. Currently, Zimmer is a senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays. Every year, Zimmer increments his uniform number by one to match the number of years he has worked in baseball. During the 2012 season he wears #64, Zimmer is the last former Brooklyn Dodger still serving on the field in some capacity. Zimmer also serves as a member of the advisory board of the Baseball Assistance Team, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, and Negro League players through financial and medical difficulties. Teamed with NY Daily News columnist Bill Madden for a New York Times best-seller, Zim: A Baseball Life...book was released in 2001... the two combined on another book, The Zen of Zim, released in July 2004. Mr Zimmer has has often noted that every paycheck he'd ever gotten came from baseball, and has never held a job in any other profession. Don Zimmer's extraordinary efforts enhanced baseball's positive impact on society, broadened the game's appeal, and whose character, integrity and dignity are comparable to the qualities exhibited by O'Neil.

Links