A tribute to The Scooter
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Aug 15, 2007 
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LoHud.com and The Journal News has put together a tribute page for Phil Rizzuto with some stories we did, his statistics and other features.
Please check it out for more on the passing of the Hall of Famer. The column by Rick Carpiniello is excellent.
It’s truly amazing when you think of it. The Yankees signed Rizzuto in 1937 and he was part of the team as a player or broadcaster for nearly 60 years. To have played with Joe DiMaggio and been a friend to Derek Jeter … people like that can’t be replaced.
I read a wire story today that described Yankee Stadium having profound sadness. I didn’t sense that. Standing next to Yogi Berra and hearing other people talk, I got a sense that they were celebrating a life well-lived, not mourning.
Rizzuto left nothing but friends, had a loving family and died in his sleep a few weeks short of 90. Who wouldn’t sign up for that?
Cheers Peter…well said…a sad day but also a happy one as well, thinking about all the great memories Scooter left us with.
i grew up listening to the scooter and bill white on channel 11, wpix.
some of my fondest memories are those of him bantering away, cracking jokes, giving white a hard time and occationally calling a game. sometimes he’d talk right through a play or fumble over a call. but it never mattered. we were listening to ‘the scooter’ and he always entertained. always made you feel good…
he has such a wonderful spirit about him; always reminding us that a good laugh in life (and regularly) was critical, as is the love of friends and family. and of course, his love of our boys was unmatched. we talk about ‘so and so now being a ‘true yankee’. you never had to say that of scooter. he was born one.
hope they bring it home all the more this year. not to be overly sentimental, but that’d be a great tribute, to a great yankee. he’d love it. i can hear his reaction to us taking this crown this year too: ‘hoo-ly coo-ow. i don’t beleive it!’
Phil Rizzuto was a wonderful human being, an American original. I loved listening to him and Bill White on the Yankee radio broadcasts. They were a unique combination of informative and hilarious that cannot be duplicated. The Scooter was SO genuine …. he’ll be missed, but fondly remembered.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=2974702
There’s a picture of Jeter in this article that illustrates where their hearts and minds were tonight.
Nice find, Mel! Obviously, Scooter befriended many people over his lifetime. Human beings that kind don’t come around all the time.
I guess changes to the team will be made tomorrow. I suspect it’s for the bullpen. Jose Veras, Chris Britton, and Edwar are the likely candidates.
If Rizzuto were broadcasting today, would people be ripping him constantly in the media or on internet message boards?
Jim Clark –
I may be being naive, but I don’t think so. I think people can smell a phony a mile away, and Phil Rizzuto was anything but. They accepted his style because it was who he was. It was genuine.
Listening to Mike Francesa yesterday, he made what I think is a very astute observation – losing the Scooter is to most people losing a piece of their own history, kind of like chipping away at our memories. His voice was so much a part of growing up here in NY, his natural way of making people feel like they knew him well. I agree, Pete, he had a life very well lived and leaves behind a legacy that is unmatched. But I’m still so sad every time I think of him it makes me cry.
Everyone will miss the Scooter.
I grew up watching Yankee baseball on WPIX channel 11, and I learned the wonderful game of baseball via Mel Allen, Red Barber and of course Phil Rizzuto…I remember him giving out recipes during the broadcast and my Italian mother making those dishes a few days later……He was a treasure to generations of Yankee fans……HOLY COW…..
What was Joe’s excuse for using Viz instead of Farnsworth for the 9th?
Marc wrong blog thread. This is for Phil.
Sorry, I just need to vent
My father told me a story about when he was broadcasting that on a foul out, he was openly rooting for the guy to fall down so he couldn’t catch it.
Total classic,
Last night, my best friend (another rabid Yankee fan, who is visiting this week) and I ate cannolis, had some sausage with broccoli rabe and finished it off with a shot (well, a couple since Karstens and Brower drove us to drink) of Sambuca in honor of the Scooter.
He was the reason many of us who are of Italian-American decent became Yankee fans. Our parents used guys like DiMaggio, Scooter and Yogi as examples of Italian-Americans who became successful in an effort to keep us on the right path in life.
He made the game fun for all of us who had the pleasure of watching/listening to him over the years.
Just like Scooter made everybody feel like part of the “family”, his passing definitely makes me feel like I lost a family member.
RIP Scooter.
6 runs and 3 innings is he way karstens honored the scooter’s memory . nice job .
“If Rizzuto were broadcasting today, would people be ripping him constantly in the media or on internet message boards?”
maybe, but i think the current incarnation of Rizzuto is someone like Murcer. Murcer’s “analysis” isn’t always spot on, but it’s delivered without any of the smarmy arrogance of a Michael Kay or John Sterling, or delivered in a voice that could wake the dead like Suzyn Waldman.
Murcer doesn’t get ripped. Singleton either, for the same reasons. even Kaat was starting to repeat his stories over and over towards the end, but i don’t think people ripped him either.
“6 runs and 3 innings is he way karstens honored the scooter’s memory . nice job .”
yes, Karstens decided he isn’t talented enough to pitch a good game because he didn’t WANT to honor Scooter.
this comment is pointless.
Karstens just isn’t very good. it’s not his fault.
I know it was just a staged publicity shot, but it’s curious that Scooter is wearing a Yankees’ road uniform in Yankee Stadium in the Journal News photo.
“He was the reason many of us who are of Italian-American decent became Yankee fans. Our parents used guys like DiMaggio, Scooter and Yogi as examples of Italian-Americans who became successful in an effort to keep us on the right path in life.”
agreed. i am sure this was a significant part of the reason my father grew up a Yankee fan in Newark, when his part of Newark was all pre-dominantly Italian.
the way rizzuto played the game was the way i grew up playing organized ball. guys names were angelica, tallarita, maggio,ragno,ravenola. their dads were always there and they were all yankee fans. i never connected it before but the way rizzuto played the game was the way i learned it. we could all bunt , steal ,and field and it didn’t matter how big you were, you stood up to anyone.
rizzuto epitimized that time and anyone connected to it should be thankful for the style of play he passed down to them. he’ll be long remembered, and it’s great he passed on the torch to jeter.
ditto hmmm, except replace Newark with Bayonne…
My greatest Rizzuto memory was from 1977. Yanks vs Angels, Rivers steals 2nd and Rizzuto says, “Randolf steal second, way to go Wilie”. Bill White says “Phil, thats Mickey not Willie”. Rizzuto says…and I remember it like it was yesterday, “come on White, they look the same to me”!!!!
I fell of my couch, the phone in my house started ringing off the wall with friends of mine calling me to see if I heard what Phil just said!!
White says to Phil, “what did you say? did you say they look alike?” ( I know Bill was egging Phil on), Phil right away says “NO NO NO White, I didnt mean what I said, I mean I thought, well, I mean they dont “look” alike, they run the same way…dont start with me White, you know I didnt say what you think I said.”
It went on for the rest of the inning in what was the most memorable Rizzuto moment of my life. Absolutely hilarious and the way Bill White handled it was simply brilliant.
Of course, had that been said today, well… you know.
RIP Scooter.
“Of course, had that been said today, well… you know.”
what do you mean? David Ortiz said all Japanese people look alike earlier in the season and everyone just chuckled b/c he’s so fat and jolly.
Forever I shall remember Rizzuto’s grateful and generous heart. And I’ll remember his quirks, too. When he engaged his mouth, he may not have always begun by engaging his best judgment, but somehow everything I heard him say (and I do mean “everything” — no exaggeration) certainly engaged me.
Maybe I’ll start a shrine somewhere in my house. Amen.