JZ was the first Nat who was a favorite of mine. I think I started the Extennd Zimmermann thread after his first start back from TJ. I was at his debut, too. It's too bad his career ended up going
after the first month in Detroit. I think it was an injury that was unrelated to TJ that ended up messing him up and he never could recover his motion and stuff.
One of my work colleagues developed what would become a fatal condition late summer 2014 and passed away in early 2015. The Nats was something he bonded with his daughter over. I remember visiting him in his care facility December or so. He could not really speak at that point but could listen and still had a sharp mind. So, trying to talk about stuff he was interested in to pass the time, I brought up some of the moves the Nats might be doing, including possibly dealing JZ going into the last year of his contract (or maybe he was already a FA). At any rate, when I said they might not be bringing JZ back, my friend looked at me and said "Not ... Zimmermann . . . no hitter."
