Don Zimmer threw his tobacco.
Then Jim Quick threw out Zimmer.
And then Zimmer threw a fit.
The episode occurred in the eighth inning of Game One Sunday afternoon in Candlestick Park. Quick, the third base umpire, said Marvell Wynne failed to check his swing on a 3-2 pitch leading off the eighth inning.
As soon as Zimmer chucked his chaw to the dirt near the visitors` dugout, Quick ejected him.
”He said that out of the corner of his eye he saw me throw my chew at him,” Zimmer said. ”I can`t throw a baseball that far. I`ve got a dead arm.”
Zimmer covered the 40 or so yards from the visitors` dugout to third in record time for a guy with a bad knee, then let the impassive Quick have it.
Zimmer`s finest touch came when he doffed his cap during the long trudge to the clubhouse, sparking a roar from some 30,000 fans.
Zimmer still couldn`t believe the call when asked about it later. ”If Marvell Wynne swung at that ball, I`m an airplane pilot,” he said. ”What are you supposed to say, `Yes, you`re right, Jim Quick?` That`s what he wants.”
