Thursday, October 14, 1999

Windham woman roots for dad . . . Don Zimmer 

By Chris Markuns 
Eagle-Tribune Writer 

WINDHAM, N.H. -- Technically she was an adult in the late 1970s when she would go to Fenway Park to watch her dad manage the Boston Red Sox through some of their most exciting seasons.

Donna Mollica's allegiance belongs to daddy, Don Zimmer, and whichever baseball team he's coaching -- now the Yankees.

But 21 years old or not, it could be awfully difficult to be the daughter of Don Zimmer sitting among 35,000 fans. Donna remembers one particular painted bedsheet. It suggested the Red Sox ''Trade Zimmer for Hostages.''

 And on some days she couldn't hold back the tears on the ride home, leaving her dad to offer the same piece of advice every time.

 ''Hey,'' he would snap, ''if you can't take the heat, then don't come.''

 Now 46, Donna Mollica can take the heat. And with her famous dad returning as a coach for the hated New York Yankees as they play the Red Sox in the two teams' first ever playoff series, you can bet the longtime Windham resident is taking it every day.

 ''You don't know the heat I'm taking in this small New England town,'' laughed Mrs. Mollica, now married with a 13-year-old daughter, Whitney. ''I'm hearing it seven days a week. And poor Winny, she's hearing it seven days a week, too.''

 That is because both daughter and granddaughter always have been and always will be loyal to the teams that employ Poppy or Zim as he is known to many. That makes her the biggest Yankee fan in New England right now.

 ''Believe me,'' she said, listing several of the eight teams he has managed or coached in his career. ''I can switch my allegiance on a dime.''

 Her allegiance to the Red Sox ended when he was fired not long after the 1978 Boston Massacre. The Red Sox blew a large lead with only two weeks to go that year and lost the division crown to New York in a dramatic one-game playoff. Many Boston fans still blame Zimmer.

 It is just one reason she finds it so funny he has found such happiness with the Yankees, ''since they're the ones that got him fired.''

 As a full-time volunteer with the Windham school system and the town's youth baseball and softball program, she deals with a long list of parents, students and teachers who look for some hint of Sox loyalty under her New York pinstripes. But she explains it with a question.

 ''There isn't anybody who knows more than me what winning this would mean (to Red Sox fans),'' she said. ''But suppose you had a son pitching for the Cleveland Indians (against the Red Sox in the playoffs last week.) Who would you root for: Your Boston Red Sox or the Cleveland Indians?''

 It is an easy question to answer for the Mollica family, and gets easier with every World Series ring the Yankees add to Poppy's growing collection.

 But she does have a request of fans on both sides of the rivalry as the series to end all series gets under way this week.

 ''I hope everyone can be professional about this,'' she said. ''This series is so exciting. It would be so good for the game to not have anything ugly happen.''

 And after all, one of the coaches will have a granddaughter at Fenway this weekend.

 This report was prepared by Chris Markuns. If you have questions, comments or material to add on this subject, please feel free to contact him by phone at (603) 434-9450, by mail at 46 W. Broadway, Derry, NH 03038 or by e-mail at cmarkuns@eagletribune.com.

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