[Deathwatch] Phil Rizzuto, Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop, 89

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Rizzuto dies at 89
Yankees announce death of Hall of Fame shortstop
Posted: Tuesday August 14, 2007 11:21AM; Updated: Tuesday August 14,
2007 11:58AM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/08/14/phil.rizzuto/i
ndex.html

 NEW YORK (AP) -- Phil Rizzuto, the Hall of Fame shortstop during the
Yankees' dynasty years and beloved by a generation of fans for
exclaiming "Holy cow!" as a broadcaster, died Tuesday. He was 89.

His death was confirmed by the Yankees. Rizzuto had been in declining
health for several years and was living at a nursing home in West
Orange, N.J.
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Rizzuto, known as "The Scooter," was the oldest living Hall of Famer.
He played for the Yankees throughout the 1940s and '50s, won seven
World Series titles and played in five All-star games.

Rizzuto was a flashy, diminutive player who could always be counted on
for a perfect bunt, a nice slide or a diving catch in a lineup better
known for its cornerstone sluggers. He played for 13 seasons alongside
the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.

He stood just 5-foot-6 but was equipped with a productive bat, sure
hands and quick feet that earned him his nickname. A leadoff man,
Rizzuto was a superb bunter, used to good advantage by the Yankee teams
that won 11 pennants and nine World Series between 1941 and 1956.

Rizzuto tried out with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants when he
was 16, but because of his size was dismissed by Dodgers manager Casey
Stengel, who told him to "Go get a shoeshine box." He went on to become
one of Stengel's most dependable players.

A Rizzuto bunt, a steal and a DiMaggio hit made up the scoring
trademark of the Yankees' golden era, and he played errorless ball in
21 consecutive World Series games. DiMaggio said the shortstop "held
the team together."

Rizzuto came to the Yankees in 1941 and batted .307 as a rookie, and
his career was interrupted by a stint in the Navy during World War II.
He returned in 1946 and four years later became the American League
MVP. He batted .324 that season with a slugging percentage of .439 and
200 hits, second most in the league. He also went 58 games without an
error, making 288 straight plays.

He led all AL shortstops in double plays three times and had a career
batting average of .273 with at least a .930 fielding percentage. He
played in five All-Star games.

After the Yankees released him in 1956, Rizzuto began a second career
as a broadcaster, one for which he became at least equally well known.

In his decades on the radio and TV, Rizzuto's favorite phrase was "Holy
cow!" It became so common, the team presented him with a cow wearing a
halo when they held a day in his honor in 1985. The cow knocked Rizzuto
over and, of course, he shouted, "Holy cow!"

"That thing really hurt," he said. "That big thing stepped right on my
shoe and pushed me backwards, like a karate move."

Yankee fans also loved his unusual commentary. In an age of
broadcasters who spout statistics and repeat the obvious, Rizzuto
delighted in talking about things like his fear of lightning, the style
of an umpire's shoes or even the prospect of outfielder Dave Winfield
as a candidate for president.

He liked to acknowledge birthdays and anniversaries, read notes from
fans, praised the baked delicacies at his favorite restaurant and send
messages to old cronies. And if he missed a play, he would scribble
"ww" in his scorecard box score. That, he said, meant "wasn't
watching."

Despite his qualifications, Rizzuto was passed over for the Hall of
Fame 15 times by the writers and 11 times by the old-timers committee.
Finally, a persuasive speech by Ted Williams pushed Rizzuto into
Cooperstown in 1994.

Williams, a member of the committee, argued that Rizzuto was the man
who made the difference between the Yankees and his Red Sox. He was
fond of saying, "If we'd had Rizzuto in Boston, we'd have won all those
pennants instead of New York."

As in his playing days, Rizzuto was overshadowed by the headliners,
teammates like DiMaggio, Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra. All of
them reached the Hall of Fame before he did.

"I never thought I deserved to be in the Hall of Fame," Rizzuto would
say. "The Hall of Fame is for the big guys, pitchers with 100 mph
fastballs and hitters who sock homers and drive in a lot of runs.
That's the way it always has been and the way it should be."

Old-timers still talk about his suicide squeeze in the ninth inning
during the 1951 pennant race to score DiMaggio, beating Cleveland 2-1
and putting the Yankees in first place for the rest of the season.

Rizzuto remembers Aug. 25, 1956, as a day he thought was the "end of
the world," the day Stengel released him to make room for
clutch-hitting Enos Slaughter in the pennant drive.

"It was Old-Timers Day, and I was out taking pictures, as I did every
year," Rizzuto remembered. "The bat boy came over and told me that
Casey Stengel and George Weiss wanted to see me in Stengel's office. It
was the last day to add a player to the roster and have him eligible
for the World Series. We were trading for Enos Slaughter because
Stengel said we needed another outfielder, so we had to send someone
down to make room on the roster.

"They asked me to read through the list of players and to check each
player's eligibility, to see who we could let go," he said. "I sat
there thinking that I was a veteran and they wanted my opinion. As we
read through the list I pointed out a few players who I thought could
be sent down, a pitcher we had hardly used and a catcher who had been
in only nine games. But each time they said, 'No, we might need him.'
We started to go through the list a second time, and then half way
through it dawned on me."

"The Scooter" was done.

Rizzuto is survived by his wife, the former Cora Anne Esselborn, whom
he married in 1943; daughters Cindy Rizzuto, Patricia Rizzuto and Penny
Rizzuto Yetto; son Phil Rizzuto Jr.; and two granddaughters.

Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary