BRUCE KIMM

Does one of Norway, Iowa's finest baseball players, Bruce Kimm, a former (MLB) Major League Baseball player, manager and coach have any reason to feel resentment or bitterness about his thirty four years in the fickle world of professional baseball? According to Kimm, "Absolutely not, I feel pleased and blessed that I was able to spend all those years doing what I loved and that's what a kid dreams about doing. Sure, some opportunities didn't play out the way that I planned, but all in all, I'd have to say that I was fortunate." To be mentioned as one of Norway's finest players is saying something, considering that Norway High School was and is one of the premier programs in the state of Iowa. By this column's end, you will find out that there is much more to the Kimm story than just being the personal catcher for folk hero and legendary pitcher, Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.

During Bruce's high school years at Norway, he was a member of six state tournament baseball teams and two state tournament basketball teams. He held the single game scoring record of forty six points, for quite a few years after his graduation in 1969. That's forty six points in thirty two minutes and with no three point shot. "I grew up in a small, close-knit town, about fifteen minutes outside of Cedar Rapids, with competitive and talented athletes. We looked forward to playing and beating the bigger schools from large cities. Back in my day, there was only one classification that all the schools were mixed into, so you had to play and beat every team, no matter the school size," Kimm stated. 

Bruce was selected by the MLB's Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the 1969 amateur draft. After moving up and down the Sox's minor league system for three years, Kimm was traded to the California Angels organization. Then in 1973, Bruce was traded to the Detroit Tigers. He had some good seasons over the next few years and in 1975, Kimm was the main catcher in AAA at Toledo, the Tigers' top minor league team. While he was in AAA, Bruce was a catcher for a young phenom pitcher, Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. The next season, 1976, when the Tigers' starting catcher went down because of an injury, Kimm was put in the lineup to replace him, especially in games when Fidrych was the starting pitcher. Bruce said, "In our first game together, "The Bird" threw a no-hitter for 7 innings and we hung on two win that game. So, for the next couple of seasons, I was his personal catcher. He was the best pitcher in baseball at that time and he had the best pitches and control of any pitcher that I've ever seen. Beside the fact that wherever we played and he went, Fidrych was treated like royalty. He was always a great guy and teammate, Mark never let the special treatment go to his head. Talking about him after his tragic passing at the age of 54 in an accident on his farm, only a couple of weeks ago, is choking me up," Bruce related to me, after pausing for a moment to compose himself.

In 1979, the Chicago Cubs acquired Kimm and the next year, he went from the North side of Chicago to the South side, to the organization that originally drafted him out of high school eleven years earlier, the White Sox. After the 1980 season, Bruce knew that his playing days were over. He decided that he wanted to find a job outside of baseball. After driving a bread truck for about a year, Bruce's wife Deb, talked him into getting back into baseball. Bruce said, "I was still getting quite a few phone calls about getting back into baseball, so I started managing in the Tigers minor league organization in 1982." Kimm coached or managed in the Majors and the Minors for the next twenty one years. Some highlights for Bruce: named AA Manager of the Year for the Cubs' minor league team in Orlando, Florida; managed for the Cincinnati Reds' minor league team in Cedar Rapids, fifteen minutes from his Iowa home town of Norway; won a World Series ring as a coach for the 1997 Florida Marlins. Kimm even reached the status of Chicago Cubs Manager, for the last half of the 2002 season. Bruce ended his career in professional baseball by being the third base coach for his original team, The Chicago White Sox, in 2003. Thirty four years in professional baseball for Kimm...half of those years were spent in the Majors, as a player or coach. "What a great ride," Bruce beamed.

Quick Hitters

1. My favorite music/musicians:

50's music/Elvis & The Beatles

2. My favorite television show:

Seinfeld

3. My favorite movie:

The Sound of Music

4. My idol while I was growing up:

Alan Schulte   

5. My favorite sports memory:

Being the catcher for Mark "The Bird" Fidrych and

Being a member of the 1967 state high school baseball championship team from Norway, Iowa

6. My favorite life memory:

Marrying my wife Deb and the birth of our kids & grandkids

7. The one person that I'd like to meet:

President Barack Obama

8. My advice to kids:

Set goals-work hard and take care of your body to reach those goals

9. My advice to parents:

Let your kids know that you're their biggest fan-but don't be overly involved

Continued success to Bruce Kimm.