back better than ever, said Timbers owner Merritt Pauls

ST. Nike NFL Jerseys Outlet . PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Joe Torre, Tommy Lasorda and Jim Leyland were among the many friends and family members at Tropicana Field on Saturday to celebrate the life of longtime baseball man Don Zimmer. The tribute was held before the Tampa Bay Rays played Seattle. Zimmer, a senior adviser for the Rays, died Wednesday at 83 in a hospital in nearby Dunedin. Both teams wore Zimmers No. 23 Brooklyn Dodgers jersey as they lined up along the foul lines. Fans stood and cheered at the end of a video tribute. There is no funeral or other memorial service planned. More than 20 family members, including Zimmers wife "Soot" -- they were married at home plate during a minor league game in 1951 -- also attended. "A great life," Soot Zimmer said. "No regrets." Son Tom Zimmer, a scout with the San Francisco Giants, caught the ceremonial first pitch thrown by granddaughter Whitney Goldstein. Torre says Zimmer was "one of a kind" and "an institution." Zimmer was Torres bench coach for four World Series championships with the Yankees. "His loss creates a void in my life," Torre said. "I hired a coach who became a family member, basically. I think baseball is just going to miss the presence of him. He was a big teddy bear, theres no question about it." Zimmer spent 66 years in baseball as a player, manager, coach and executive. "I just hope that people remember what a great baseball man this guy was," Leyland said. "He was a character, but he wasnt somebody that you laughed at when you understood how much this guy knew about baseball. His passion for the game and his passion for people." "Its kind of an ironic day," he said. "Todays the day of the Belmont, as you know, and everybody knows how he liked horses. Family came first, baseball second, horses third. So, family is here today, were going to have a ballgame and the Belmont is today." Zimmer convinced Torre not to make ties mandatory when the Yankees travelled. Torre, who wore a tie Saturday with horses on it, removed it when the subject came up during the ceremony. Yankees star Derek Jeter made a video statement. So did Yankees manager Joe Girardi, whose first big league manager was Zimmer with the Chicago Cubs. "He made an impact like no else has," Texas Rangers senior adviser Tom Giordano said. The ceremony ended with "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" played on a bagpipe. "Perfect," Tom Zimmer said. "Emotional." Nike NFL Jerseys China . -- Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson couldnt hear himself amid the roar in Koch Arena, so he kept stomping on the floor in a fruitless attempt to get his teams attention. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . The 23-year-old Neustaedter will move at the end of the season when his contract with Moenchengladbach expires. He signed a four-year deal with Schalke. https://www.chinajerseysnfl.us/ . LOUIS -- St.TORONTO - It took just seconds for the Portland Timbers to lose their captain Saturday.Will Johnson was stretchered off in the first minute of an MLS game against Toronto FC. He broke the fibula and tibia in his right leg after going shin-on-shin in a 50-50 challenge with Toronto fullback Mark Bloom that saw both players sliding to get at the ball near midfield and close to the Portland bench.The 27-year-old Canadian international midfielder, curled on the ground, immediately grabbed his leg just below the knee and motioned to be substituted. He remained in Toronto after the game to have surgery.Players know, Toronto coach Greg Vanney said later. Players know and he knew immediately (he was hurt).That was for me, the moment, the second I knew he was in trouble. It was a sad moment because I think hes a great player for this league ... I hope he recovers well and quickly.Johnson, a no-nonsense midfielder in his own right, was taken off the field after a lengthy delay. Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley, a close friend of Johnsons, stood by as the Portland player was treated before leaving on a stretcher and taken to hospital.I didnt get a great view, not sure if Ill watch it again. said Portland coach Caleb Porter. It was a tackle, two guys went in and he got the wrong end of it.It was unfortunate and tough but I was really pleased with the way the guys responded, sometimes you lose your captain and it sends your group into a funk but I thought we responded really well.Portland scored in the 13th and 16th minutes to go ahead 2-0 but gave up three goals in the second half, including the 89th-minute winner via a Bradley free kick to lose 3-2.Bloom also went down in the collision with the Toronto-born Johnson but was able to continue.For me it was just a matter of getting up and walking it off, Bloom said later. Unfortunately for him, it was more intense.There was no call on the play.They both went down just a little bit late for me, Vanney said of the collision. And what happens is theres so much force into the challenge when guys go down a little bit late. Neither guy was going after each other. The ball was just there and they were both going for it.Its a matter of inches and millimetres, one guy getting a broken leg and one guyy being able to walk away. Fake Nike NFL Jerseys. Its a sad moment.Growing up in Chicago, Bradley played youth soccer with Johnson and the two have also been teammates in Europe. They were both in each others weddings.As a player and as a competitor you hate to see anybody get hurt. But when its one of your closest friends its not nice at all, said Bradley. They both went in very hard. On the one hand you expected that they were both going to pop right up and on the other hand that play had a harder tone to it.If you were close to it, you could hear a€” the way they crashed into each other a€” you kind of knew that that was a hard one. I thought the medical staff and everybody did a good job. More than anything, at that moment, youre just trying to let him know youre there for him and make sure hes as calm and comfortable as possible.After the game, Bloom said his leg was throbbing but he was grateful it was nothing worse.It was just a situation where he took a bad touch, (the ball) got away from him. And at the beginning of the game you want to set a tone. So we both went in for the tackle. I thought we both went in clean, no one went in dirty. Its just unfortunate that someone had to come out like that.And Bloom tweeted: Good luck @WillJohnson04 in your recovery. Hope you get better quickly. God bless.The injury led to eight extra minutes at the end of the first half.More reaction was quick to follow via Twitter.Stay strong, @WillJohnson04 ... know you will be back better than ever, said Timbers owner Merritt Paulson.My thoughts and prayers to you @WillJohnson04, said Ben Zemanski, the Timber player who came on for Johnson.Wishing you a quick and healthy recovery, added Real Salt Lake goalie Nick Rimando. The five-foot-10, 160 pound Johnson was playing in his 29th game of the season and 177th of his MLS career. He has six goals this year.The injury and defeat overshadowed several Portland marks:a€” The Timbers tied their club MLS single-season record in goals (54).a€” The two goals in 16 minutes were the fastest to begin a match in the teams MLS history.a€” Midfielder Diego Chara became the first Timbers MLS player to surpass the 10,000 minutes played milestone in his Portland career.___Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter ' ' '

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