Rodney has Zimmer looking a little off-center

Fernando Rodney always likes to pitch with the bill of his cap pointing slightly off-center. So this spring with the Rays, 81-year-old Don Zimmer has done the same, every time Rodney takes the mound.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- On Jim Leyland's office wall at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, there's a picture of Fernando Rodney and Don Zimmer.

Rodney, as usual, has the bill of his cap pointed off-center.

As does Zimmer.

Rodney and Zimmer have bonded in Rodney's first spring training with the Rays. Every time Rodney goes to the mound, he said, the 81-year-old Zimmer turns his bill to the side.

"I don't want too many people to see it," Zimmer said Sunday morning.

Rodney, signed by the Rays to be a setup man for Kyle Farnsworth, sees it -- and appreciates it.

Rodney pitched for Leyland's Tigers from 2006-09. Zimmer and Leyland are so close that Leyland calls Zimmer almost daily.