Minor leagues During his active career, Zimmerman threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He was signed at age 17 by the
Boston Red Sox to an $80,000
bonus contract as an amateur
free agent in
1952. Zimmerman progressed slowly through the Red Sox' farm system, not reaching the
Double-A level until 1957. The following year, 1958, he was promoted to the
Minneapolis Millers, Boston's
Triple-A farm club, where his manager was
Gene Mauch. Led by Mauch, and with Zimmerman catching, the Millers won the
American Association and
Junior World Series championships. Zimmerman's
rookie batting average was only .206, but—apart from the production of late-season pickup
Darrell Johnson—it led the team's catchers, with
Johnny Edwards, a fellow rookie and a future NL
All-Star, hitting .186 and
Bob Schmidt, obtained for Bailey, hitting .129. In the
1961 World Series, Zimmerman appeared in two games as a late-
inning defensive substitution and had no
at bats, as the Reds lost to the
New York Yankees, four games to one.
Minnesota Twins Almost four months after the World Series, Zimmerman was traded on January 30,
1962 to the
Minnesota Twins for
Dan Dobbek. The Twins lost to the
Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. In
1967, Zimmerman played in 104 games as Battey was troubled by health issues; In addition to his service as an active player, Zimmerman also functioned as the club's unofficial bullpen coach, as the Twins only employed three full-time coaches in 1967. After Battey's release in the off-season, the Twins traded for catcher
John Roseboro, and Zimmerman went back to being a reserve player during the
1968 season. He was released by the Twins on March 18, 1969. ==Coaching career==