Bruce Kimm

Bruce Edward Kimm

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
• High School Norway High School
• Debut May 4, 1976
• Final Game September 19, 1980
• Born June 29, 1951 in Cedar Rapids, IA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bruce Kimm had a brief major league career where he was best known as being Mark "The Bird" Fidrych's designated catcher. He later managed the Chicago Cubs for a short time.

Kimm was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the 1969 amateur draft and made his pro debut that summer with the GCL White Sox, hitting .310 in 36 games. Following the 1972 season, he was traded to the California Angels, but before the 1973 campaign, he was dealt again, this time to the Detroit Tigers.

Kimm reached the majors in May 1976, and he soon became the personal catcher of fellow rookie Mark Fidrych. He hit his only career home run on August 17th, against Frank Tanana of the California Angels. The homer gave the Tigers the lead and they went on to win the game; Fidrych was the winning pitcher. Kimm ended the season with a .263 average in 63 games.

Kimm went 2-for-25 in 14 games for the Tigers in 1977, but when Fidrych's season was cut short due to injury, he was sent back to the minors. After spending most of the next two years with the AAA Evansville Triplets, he was acquired by the Chicago Cubs late in the 1979 campaign and went 1-for-11 in 9 games with Chicago. Following the season, he was acquired by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule V draft. He saw regular playing time behind the plate for the Sox in 1980, hitting .243 in 100 games but retired as a player the next spring.

After his playing days, Kimm managed in the minors for a couple of seasons. He then was a coach for the Cincinnati Reds from 1984 to 1988, the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989, and the San Diego Padres in 1991 and 1992. He spent several more summers as a minor league manager, and then was a Florida Marlins coach in 1997 and 1998, and the Colorado Rockies bench coach in 1999. He managed the Iowa Cubs in 2001 and part of 2002. In early July of the latter year, he came to the big leagues and served as the Chicago Cubs manager for the second half of the season. He was then a member of the White Sox staff in 2003.

Preceded by Don Baylor

Chicago Cubs Manager 2002

Succeeded by Dusty Baker

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1982	Lakeland Tigers	Florida State League	65-68	7th	Detroit Tigers
1983	Cedar Rapids Reds	Midwest League	76-64	3rd (t)	Cincinnati Reds
1993	Greenville Braves	Southern League	75-67	2nd	Atlanta Braves	Lost in 1st round
1995	Orlando Cubs	Southern League	76-67	4th	Chicago Cubs	Lost in 1st round
1996	Orlando Cubs	Southern League	60-78	8th	Chicago Cubs
2001	Iowa Cubs	Pacific Coast League	83-60	3rd	Chicago Cubs	Lost in 1st round
2002	Iowa Cubs	Pacific Coast League	44-45	--	Chicago Cubs		replaced by Pat Listach on July 5
	Chicago Cubs	National League	33-45	5th	Chicago Cubs		replaced Don Baylor (34-49) and Rene Lachemann (0-1) on July 6

Related Sites

• Bruce Kimm at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Manager page