He’s Resigned to the Idea That He’s in Charge

Even though he is only the interim manager of the New York Yankees, Don Zimmer has made it clear that he isn’t going to be intimidated by owner George Steinbrenner.

Zimmer, who is filling in while Joe Torre recovers from prostate surgery, insisted that he wasn’t about to let Steinbrenner dictate a starting assignment for pitcher Hideki Irabu last Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics.

Would Zimmer have resigned rather than comply?

“It wouldn’t be resigning,” Zimmer said, “because I’d quit.”

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A fifth-inning stretch? Zimmer had his way with Steinbrenner, but did allow Irabu to pitch one inning of relief last Wednesday.

Still, his threat to leave shouldn’t be taken lightly. He did it in 1995, when he was a bench coach under then-Manager Don Baylor of the Colorado Rockies.

“I didn’t like the way things were going,” Zimmer told the Associated Press, “so I went to Bob Gebhard, the team president, and told him about a week before that I was retiring on June 6 in the fifth inning. . . . That day, I went to the clubhouse in the fifth inning, showered, took my fungo and my bag and watched the final two innings on television in my living room.”

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Trivia time: What makes Zimmer the ultimate authority on the best and worst in baseball?

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East meets West: Whenever Super Bowl hype gets out of hand, which is basically every year, someone usually tries to put things into perspective by mentioning that a billion Chinese don’t know or care who wins football’s big show.

Not anymore.

When asked what he wanted to do during his visit to Colorado, China’s premier, Zhu Rongji, had only one request: to visit the home of the two-time Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos.

He got his wish, and a Bronco jersey with quarterback John Elway’s No. 7 and his own name, ZHU, printed on the back.

“It’s like what ancient combat warriors would wear,” said Zhu as he declined an offer to try on some pads. “I don’t think I could handle it. I would just fall down.”

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Mom says . . . : Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris, is having her say about her famous son in a book titled “Family First.”

Her book addresses her relationship with her husband, James, their roles as parents, and the fatal shooting of James during a 1993 robbery.

Deloris, at Alabama’s Tuskegee University to speak and sign copies of the book, said Michael’s second retirement is final, and he’s happy with his decision.

“I think it’s fun for him to sit in board rooms at this point in his life,” she said.

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Trivia answer: He was a player with the 1962 New York Mets, losers of 120 games, most in this century, and a bench coach for the 1998 Yankees, winners of an American League-record 114 games.

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And finally: Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribune has a great idea for leveling the playing field in this age of outrageous salaries.

Writes Lincicome: “Make every player play with his game salary on his person. In his pants. In his socks. Somewhere on his body. In quarters.”