updated 7:57 p.m. ET Aug. 21, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Don Zimmer watched the New York Yankees roll over the Boston Red Sox and remembered how it felt to be on the wrong side.

Zimmer managed the Red Sox in 1978 when the Yankees pulled off the “Boston Massacre” at Fenway Park in sweeping four games. New York, which had trailed by 14 games, later won the AL East when Bucky Dent homered to decide a one-game playoff.

“All you could do is just sit and wait,” Zimmer said Monday night. “There wasn’t much you could do about it. What am I going to do? Bench (Carl) Yastrzemski or bench (Butch) Hobson?”

Zimmer went on to become a bench coach for the Yankees under manager Joe Torre. Now 75, he’s a senior adviser for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Yankees finished off a five-game sweep at Fenway on Monday to take a season-high 6½-game lead over Boston. Before Tampa Bay played Texas, Zimmer recalled that series 28 years ago.

“We just couldn’t hit when we went into our real bad slump, and I had a real good hitting lineup. Everybody stopped at one time and we just couldn’t score runs,” he said.

Zimmer doesn’t recall exactly what he told his team after those losses, but said there wasn’t any long speech.

“As long as I knew they were trying, and busting their rear ends, I would say nothing,” Zimmer said. “If you see where somebody is dogging it or something, then you’ve got to say something. As it turned out, I don’t think I said much.”

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Zimmer was on the bench when Torre guided the Yankees to four World Series championships. Zimmer said he thought Torre is doing his best job this season, leading a team beset by injuries.

“Without a doubt,” Zimmer said. “The only thing is he probably won’t be the manager of the year because it will probably be (Detroit’s Jim) Leyland.

“If ever Joe would be the manager of the year, to me, this would be the year. The job he’s done with the pitching staff and three or four key men out of the lineup. This is probably his best job of keeping a club going,” he said.

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