Zimmer’s old nemesis piles it on

BOSTON, Oct. 12 - For ex-Red Sox pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee, watching Don Zimmer go after Pedro Martinez brought back memories of his own verbal sparring with the man he dubbed “The Gerbil.”

“MAYBE IT KNOCKED some sense into him,” Lee said in a telephone interview Sunday with The Associated Press, adding that he was impressed by Martinez. “It’s pretty hard to grab a bowling ball by the ears.”

Lee pitched for the Red Sox from 1969-78, a period that overlapped with Zimmer’s 1976-80 tenure as manager. The two simply did not get along, with Zimmer refusing to speak to Lee at the end of the 1978 season and passing him over for a key start against the Yankees down the stretch.

The teams finished tied at the end of the regular season, with New York grabbing the AL East title by winning a one-game playoff on Bucky Dent’s notorious homer.

Lee’s antics earned him the nickname “Spaceman,” and since his retirement he’s done little to alter his reputation. He has written several offbeat books, and he also ran for President of the United States on the “No Guns, No Butter” platform, saying: “Both can kill you.”

Zimmer is now with the Yankees, who are playing the Red Sox in the AL championship series. During a bench-clearing brawl in Game 3 on Saturday, the 72-year-old bench coach lunged at Martinez.

The pitcher sidestepped Zimmer, grabbed his head and threw him to the ground.

While most involved in the fight considered it a black eye for baseball and tried to put it behind them, Lee felt no such compunction.

“What amazes me is that he didn’t bounce,” Lee said. “I would have been sure he was full of helium.”

Even so, Lee allowed himself a moment of sympathy when Zimmer was lying on the field after the tussle.

“He’s a human being,” Lee said. “You don’t want to see him get hurt.”

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