Holy cow, one of the most lovable Yankees, if not the most lovable of all time, Who didn't love the Scooter. Born Phillip Frances Rizzuto in sept 25,1916 in Queens New York, he was the Son of a streetcar motorman.
Scooter played baseball as well as football for Richmond High School in Queens. He got his nickname from Yankee teammate Billy Hitchcock who called him that because of the way he ran the bases.
At five feet six inches and 150 pounds, life was an uphill battle for Rizzuto, but that was alright because Phil carried a step ladder with him every where he went, his heart. It made him as big and strong as any man that has ever been born.
A classic example of the battle he had with his stature was in 1935, Rizzuto recieved a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was to be thrown 5 pitches from the mound, well the first one hits him right square in the back. " I guess I tightened up after that " he said " I didn't hit any of the next four pitches out of the infield".
The Dodger manager at the time was Casey Stengal who walked over to phil and said the most brutal thing a baseball player can hear." Look fella, this game is not for you. Your too short, the only way you'll make a living is shining shoes". How is that for sensitivity. The irony is that two years later in 1937 Phil gets signed by the Yankees, and three years after that so does Casey. They never got along, I wonder why?
When he did sign with the Yankees in 1937, his father put a $20 bill and a note pinned to his shirt that read " son please don't talk to strangers and watch out for those guys in the trains."
The Yankees won 10 pennants in the 13 years that phil played played in New York. He went on to win the American League mvp in 1950 when he batted .324 with 200 hits and a .439 slugging percentage. He was a starter for the all star team 5 times in his career. led the league in double plays 3 years, and most importantly he played his best ball in the post season, like all great Yankees do (you hear that A-rod).
Rizzuto was let go by the Yankees on august 25, 1956 in a very peculiar way. He was called to the managers office to discuss the post season roster .The brass asked Phil to look over the roster and to suggest which Yankee should be cut to make room for Enos Slaughter.
Phil starts to call out names from the list of Yankees, but the brass would find a reason for each one of the names that rizzuto would call. to stay. That when on until Phil reached his own name, and then he knew that his baseball career was over. Little did he know then that 38 years later he would be elected into the hall of fame in 1994.
Scooter went directly from playing short stop in Yankee stadium to the broadcasters booth practically over night. He was not your average broadcaster that's for sure, he had this to offer fans in a one to one tie in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. " You know White ( Bill White broadcaster for the Yanks) I got a lot of trees in the back of my house and the squirrels, they jump from limb to limb it's UNBELIEVABLE ."
And there were plenty of these, " oh they'll never get him, no they won't, they got him " and how about the " holy cow thats gone, thats outa here, he's out."
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about 1 month ago
How did you feel about the late Phil Rizzuto ?
from about 1 month ago
I thought you'd never ask.
Personally, I thought that as a player, ...his induction into the Hall of Fame was a mockery of the game and an insult to all the truly great players who actually deserved to make it to the Hall. Anyone would be hard pressed to find a worse player in the Hall than that little sh*t-heel Rizzuto, who couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag. He was a .273 career hitter with 38 career home runs, 563 rbi's and just over 1500 hits. The stats get even more embarrassing after that. Him being in the Hall of Fame is an ABSOLUTE JOKE (something that even the most rabid Yankee fan should agree with).
And as an announcer he was probably the most annoying and uninformed human being that ever stepped into a broadcast booth. He used to call home runs on shallow pop-up's that barely made it out of the infield. And that voice (No mother in-law could be half as annoying).
Other than that, ...I guess he was okay.
from about 1 month ago
YOUR RIGHT MR BUTTOCKS, YOUR ALWAYS RIGHT.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENT.
from about 1 month ago
Your welcome.
You better recognize!
from about 1 month ago
Hey buttocks, I tried to give you a message on your profile but the system would not allow me to, weird.
This is what I wrote, " I enjoy a spirited conversation about sports, politics and just about anything.
The only thing I need is for the person to be intellectually sincere, if there not then there is no way I can learn anything from you. Hence , I would just be wasting my time.
I have to say sometimes I'm a little disappointed when I don't hear from you. I know I'm going to regret writing that I am sure.
OK, back to before the wishy washy crap, I HATE YOU!!!!!
from about 1 month ago
Typical,
just when you're on the verge of gaining an ounce of respect...
...you blow it with talk of petty hatred.
At least you've managed to humanize yourself a bit (an iota ...is more like it).
Now get off the Yankee crack and there might just be hope for you yet.
from about 1 month ago
LOL ooooppss HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. now drop dead.
from about 1 month ago
I'm already dead, ...I'm Dracula's buttocks, ...remember?
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