DON ZIMMER: METS BIRTHDAY QUOTE OF THE DAY FOR JANUARY 17TH

Happy Birthday to baseball lifer Don Zimmer, born on this day in 1931. Zip was a true character of the game, loved and revered by players and fans (though maybe not so much when he managed the Red Sox).

Over his career, he played for five teams including a brief stint with the Mets (we'll get to that in a second). He was a manager of four teams including winning Manager of the Year with the Cubs and was coach for 12 teams. He and Joe Torre seemed to be tied at the hip during his Yankee days.

His Number 66 was retired by the Rays in 2015.

For us Mets fans, he is remembered for his brief stint with the team which led to an all-time hilarious Casey Stengel quote.

So in the Mets inaugural season of 1962, Zimmer played with them for 14 games. He did not actually set the world on fire as he had four hits in 52 at bats with a solid .077 batting average. He was soon thereafter traded to the Reds leading to this classic Casey Stengel quote.

"We gotta trade him while he's hot."
--Casey Stengel, after Zimmer got two hits in a row after an 0 for 33 start.