Phil Rizzuto has died....

[toon88]

just heard this on the news. I loved listening to him and Bill White in the '80's

R.I.P. Scooter

[shawn306]

RIP...

I spent alot of days listening to Scooter, White and Messer on CH 11 and on the radio as well.

He will be missed.

Should be an interesting Mike and the Mad Dog today as Mike will probably pay tribute to the Scooter.

[TaborJet]

Sad news. He wasn't at the Old-Timer's game this year.

RIP Scooter.

[Maxman]

I learned baseball from him. Growing up listening to him do the Yankees games. His passion and love for the game will not be forgotten.

R.I.P. Phil.

[toon88]

Scooter was the best. Hard to find anyone that didn't like him. Although I've always been a Mets fan, I always loved watching Yankee games on Channell 11 growing up to listen to his stories about italian food, his wife and everything else that had nothing to do with the game. All the while calling everyone a "Huckleberry"

Scooter was one of a kind, he will be missed by everyone.

[nj meadowlands]

Holy cow...

RIP Scooter

[NIGHT STALKER]

Goes to show you how old I am...I remember him playing.

[Scott Dierking]

Sorry to hear that.

Phil Rizzutto and the Money Store.

[Smizzy]

RIP Scooter. You will be missed

HOOOLY COW!!!

[TaborJet]

Here is the AP report.

Wow....7 rings for The Scooter...

Rizzuto dies at 89

Phil Rizzuto, the Hall of Fame shortstop who went on to fame for his unique broadcasting style, died late Monday night. 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.

Rizzuto, nicknamed "The Scooter," was the oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame when he died. He was inducted in 1994 by the Veterans Committee.

Rizzuto, noted as one of the best defensive shortstops in the history of the game, was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1950 and played in five All-Star games. In his MVP season, Rizzuto hit .324 and scored 125 runs.

He played for the New York Yankees from 1941 to 1956. The Yankees won seven World Series titles during Rizzuto's career.

Rizzuto's lifetime batting average was .273. He was second to Boston's Ted Williams in the 1949 MVP balloting.

He went on to be a Yankees broadcaster for more than 40 seasons. His unique style was accented with his famous phrase, "Holy Cow!" when a great play was made.

Rizzuto was on the call when Roger Maris hit his 61st career home run to eclipse the single-season home run record previously held by Babe Ruth.

[ShadowJet35]

I haven't been on this earth long enough to say I experienced "The Scooter" but nonetheless, from what i am hearing about him, It is a sad passing, and R.I.P. to Phil Rizzuto.

Seems by his age that he lived a full and mostly besides as of recently, a healthy life.

[Barton]

My dad ran into him at a restaurant a few years ago, and got me his autograph, personally signed to me.

I have it in a frame, in my room.

RIP Scooter.

BTW, did he invent the "holy cow" phrase?

[JetCane]

Just heard it on the radio.

RIP Scooter.

He played before my time, but i loved him in the WPIX booth with White and Messer.

[faba]

RIP Phil. Your loyalty to your team is rare nowadays.

[NIGHT STALKER]

Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto, who overcame his diminutive size to become a key contributor to numerous New York Yankees championships and followed his playing career with a lengthy and entertaining stint in the team's broadcast booth, died Tuesday. He was 89.

Rizzuto's playing and broadcasting careers were in contrast with each other. As a player, Rizzuto had the reputation for being an alert, heads-up competitor with keen baseball instincts that eventually earned him a place in the Hall of Fame. Behind the microphone, he was at times oblivious to the events on the field, nevertheless his lack of polish as an announcer was ignored by generations of Yankees fans who accepted his eccentricities the way family members do an amusing relative.

In many ways, the Yankees were Rizzuto's family. Excepting a three-year stretch in the United States Navy (1943-45) during World War II, Rizzuto was the Yankees' regular shortstop from 1941 into the 1956 season, when he retired under somewhat disagreeable circumstances. The next year, he began a broadcasting career that would run 40 seasons through 1996, the first year of the Yankees' most recent stretch of success under manager Joe Torre.

In retirement, Rizzuto frequently returned to Yankee Stadium to throw out ceremonial first pitches on special occasions. After Derek Jeter's famous shuttle toss home in the 2001 American League Championship Series, Rizzuto mimicked the play in tribute to the current Yankees shortstop rather than throwing from the mound, to the delight of the Stadium crowd.

Rizzuto was part of the Yankees' dynastic years of the 1940s and '50s that included a record five straight World Series championships from 1949 through 1953. It was during that period that Rizzuto was an American League Most Valuable Player, in 1950, a year after he finished second in the voting to Ted Williams. In his 13 seasons with the Yankees, Rizzuto played in nine World Series and was on the winning side seven times. He was a rookie on the Yankees' 1941 championship team that beat the Brooklyn Dodgers for the first of five times in the Series before losing to their Flatbush rivals in 1955, Rizzuto's last postseason appearance.

Among the highest compliments paid Rizzuto came from Williams, who frequently said the Boston Red Sox might have been in all those World Series had Rizzuto been on their side. As a member of the Hall's Veterans Committee, Williams lobbied hard for Rizzuto's enshrinement in Cooperstown, N.Y., which became reality in 1994. Rizzuto had been the oldest living Hall of Famer. That distinction now belongs to former American League president Lee MacPhail, with former second baseman Bobby Doerr the oldest living Hall of Fame player.

Friends said that Rizzuto felt a personal wound 10 years earlier when his Dodgers counterpart, Pee Wee Reese, who was also a good friend, was elected by the Veterans Committee to the Hall, believing that they should have gone in together. Rizzuto simply refused to talk about the Hall after than until the day of his induction, when no one could shut him up -- thankfully. Rizzuto's speech was a delightful ramble without a shred of pretense, filled with recollections of his well-known superstitions and phobias, all the while fanning the air with his hands to shoo away annoying flies.

Yankees fans over the years learned about Rizzuto's love of golf and Italian food, especially pastry, and his fear of snakes, rodents, insects and lightning. He also hated traffic and bolted to the press elevator as if running out a base hit to get to the parking lot for a hasty exit out of the Stadium lot and over the George Washington Bridge to his longtime home in Hillsdale, N.J.

Rizzuto broke away from his play-by-play or analysis to wish happy birthday to fans and friends, many of whom ran restaurants and bakeries and often sent him treats, notably boxes of canolis which he shared with writers and others in the press box. If he missed a play, he'd write in his scorecard "WW," for "wasn't watching." He spoke fondly of his devoted wife, Cora, perhaps the only person he never described as a "huckleberry."

Both as a player and broadcaster, Rizzuto seldom referred to teammates or colleagues by their first name, with the exceptions of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. For them, Rizzuto used no last name. He once opened a Yankees telecast by announcing himself as Bill White, Rizzuto's partner at the time. White, who later was the president of the National League, said, "That was the only time in 18 years I heard him mention my first name."

Rizzuto received the nickname "Scooter" while in the minor leagues, from fellow infielder Billy Hitch****, who later managed in the Majors. Hitch**** took note of Rizzuto's short legs and said, "You ain't runnin', you're scootin.'"

Another nickname Rizzuto had in the politically incorrect past was "Little Dago," a derogatory term for men of Italian descent, but in a way it, too, was a compliment, since it was a play on "Big Dago," which was what many opponents called Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.

One of the more poignant stories about how much of a loner DiMaggio was came from Rizzuto. On the day Joe D.'s 56-game hitting streak ended in 1941, Rizzuto offered to take DiMaggio out because he knew his teammate was upset. DiMaggio asked Rizzuto to loan him $20 and then went into the night alone.

Being little was something Rizzuto could not deny. Even in an era when many players were not six feet tall, Rizzuto was spare of build at 5-foot-6 and less than 160 pounds. He was athletic, however, and carved out a career as one of baseball's best defensive shortstops and base runners and mastered the lost art of bunting. The five-time All-Star's .273 career batting average was well-earned.

Fiero Francis Rizzuto was born Sept. 25, 1916 in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of a streetcar conductor. His birth year had been listed as 1917, but Rizzuto told New York Daily News baseball columnist Bill Madden that he had lied about his age after some players told him it would add a year to his career. Scooter played both baseball and football at Richmond Hill High School in Queens and had dreams of playing baseball for a living, which was nearly shattered when he failed to impress the Dodgers, his favorite team, in a 1937 tryout.

"I just got out of high school, and Casey Stengel was managing the Dodgers," Rizzuto recalled in 2000 for the Hall of Fame's Legend Series. "He took one look at me, and I will never forget this -- I would never let him forget this, either -- he said, 'Listen, kid, you better go and get yourself a shoeshine box. That is the only way you'll make a living.' I was going out to Ebbets Field to try to impress someone. I was crushed. And then the Yankees called me. They had a one-week tryout camp. It was a little bit of what they could see, what you could do. And you could play a game every day. It was a good thing I knew how to bunt and steal, although I did hit one in the seats. I hit a home run down the left field line, it hit the foul pole, and so the Yankees signed me to a contract."

Rizzuto would be reunited with Stengel when Casey became the Yankees' manager in 1949, by which time Scooter had established himself as one of the AL's most reliable players. Joe McCarthy was the manager when Rizzuto joined the team in 1941 and hit .307 in 133 games. The only other time Scooter batted over .300 was in his MVP season of 1950, when he hit .324 with 200 hits and 125 runs.

Stengel moved Rizzuto from the bottom of the lineup to the top, where he usually batted second and occasionally led off. Rizzuto's bunting ability helped him lead the AL in sacrifices for four consecutive seasons, He was among the top five basestealers seven times. Gold Gloves for fielding were not given out until 1957, ther year after Rizzuto retired as a player, but he likely would have won several. He led the AL in double plays and chances three times each, in fielding percentage and putout twice apiece and in assists once.

"My best pitch is anything the batter grounds, lines or pops in the direction of Rizzuto," teammate Vic Raschi once said.

Rizzuto lost his hold on the position in 1954 when he hit only .195 with 15 RBI in 307 at-bats, and Stengel used Willie Miranda and Jerry Coleman often at shortstop. Billy Hunter actually played more games at shortstop than Rizzuto in 1955, but Scooter started all seven games of that World Series, although he was removed for a pinch-hitter in three games.

The end of the line for Rizzuto as a player came on Old-Timers Day at the Stadium Aug. 25, 1956, the same day the Yankees claimed outfielder Enos Slaughter off waivers from the Kansas City Athletics. Rizzuto met with club officials, who were discussing ways to get Slaughter on the 25-man roster that had to be cemented within the week for his eligibility for a possible World Series.

Rizzuto realized that he was the player the Yankees intended to release, which they did. He maintained that Stengel and general manager George Weiss reneged on a promise that if the Yankees made the Series, Rizzuto would be put on the roster as the backup for Gil McDougald, the regular shortstop, but Hunter was kept instead.

Little did Rizzuto realize at the time that his years with the Yankees were not over. Rizzuto toyed with the idea of joining the Giants' broadcast team but decided against it when he heard the club intended to move from New York to San Francisco after the 1957 season. Instead, at the urging of the Ballantine Brewing Company, which sponsored the Yankees' games on radio and TV, Rizzuto was added to the booth with legendary announcers Mel Allen and Red Barber.

Although Rizzuto occasionally came into the booth when he was out of the lineup due to injury, he was not welcomed warmly as a colleague by the two veteran broadcasters -- even Allen, who had witnessed nearly every game of Scooter's career. Rizzuto believed Allen and Barber resented him because of his inexperience. Former players such as Harry Heilman and Dizzy Dean found success in the broadcast booth, but Rizzuto was a first in the media capital of New York.

Yet it was precisely his unsophisticated manner and nasally Brooklyn accent endeared him to Yankees fans over the years. He refused to give up his "Holy Cow!" call that had been used first by another broadcasting legend, Harry Caray, because it was a phrase Rizzuto had used since childhood to avoid swearing. Anthing that was part of Phil Rizzuto was part of his broadcast.

Rizzuto's first media appearance occurred on Feb. 2, 1950, when he was the initial mystery guest on "What's My Line?" Rizzuto appeared several more times as a panelist on the popular game show that ran on CBS every Sunday night for 17 years. He did commercials for various products, and for a number of years was spokesman for a loan company known as The Money Store.

Among Rizzuto's most famous calls were Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961 and Chris Chambliss' pennant-clinching homer in the 1976 AL Championship Series. Scooter became so identified with the Yankees that the singer Meat Loaf used with permission his play-by-play of a game as background in the 1977 song, "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."

His uniform No. 10 was retired by the Yankees Aug. 4, 1985 on Phil Rizzuto Day, but he ended up being upstaged by Tom Seaver, who pitched his 300th career victory that afternoon for the Chicago White Sox. Rizzuto never failed to bring that up to Seaver during their eight years as partners on Yankees telecasts from 1989 to 1996.

In 1993, a book edited by Tom Peyer and Hart Seely, "Holy Cow!: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto," featured portions of Scooter's stream of conscience broadcasts in the form of poetry.

Rizzuto once said on the air upon learning of the death of Pope Paul VI, "Well, that kind of puts a damper on even a Yankee win."

So does the passing of Phil Rizzuto.

[Garb]

Rest in Peace, Sir. You have earned it.

[Bob]

I met him a few times. Great guy. I still have my press pin from the year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. I'll have to get that out and wear it in his honor.

It was the same for me, JetCane - I never knew him as a player, but I grew up listening to him on WPIX and on the radio.

While not a shock, this is very sad news.

[TaborJet]

My dad ran into him at a restaurant a few years ago, and got me his autograph, personally signed to me.

I have it in a frame, in my room.

RIP Scooter.

BTW, did he invent the "holy cow" phrase?

Did he address it as "Dear Dooshey?"

[JonEJet]

Sad sad day

I grew up listening to Scooter and the guys

A true Yankee

[RSJ]

RIP

[AFJF]

Like a lot of you guys I learned the game listening to Rizzuto. I loved listening to him and Bill White. Cannolis, getting on the GW to beat traffic, and him flipping out every time there was lightning. I'll never forget that stuff.

RIP Scooter

[DonCorleone]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08142007/sports/yankees/yankees_legend_rizzuto_dies_at_89_yankees_.htm?page=1

[BP]

I grew up listening to him do the Yankee games when he was sharp. him and Bill White were a great duo.

RIP Scooter

[SoFlaJets]

Just heard it on the radio.

RIP Scooter.

He played before my time, but i loved him in the WPIX booth with White and Messer.

I was just in this thread at JI-you guys remember him with Jerry Coleman and Joe Garigiola?

[GimmeShelter]

Like a lot of you guys I learned the game listening to Rizzuto. I loved listening to him and Bill White. Cannolis, getting on the GW to beat traffic, and him flipping out every time there was lightning. I'll never forget that stuff.

RIP Scooter

The best was at the end of his broadcast career.....he would leave games and go home anytime he wanted. If he didn't like a particular road trip, he'd simply skip it.

One of the few Yankee employees in that time period who payed Big George no mind.

[toon88]

The best was at the end of his broadcast career.....he would leave games and go home anytime he wanted. If he didn't like a particular road trip, he'd simply skip it.

One of the few Yankee employees in that time period who payed Big George no mind.

hahaha...I remember he would leave in like the 6th or 7th inning alot, saying he had to beat the traffic back to jersey.

he was the best.

[PFSIKH]

R.I.P.

[Bugg]

He lived a full and happy life. Not bad for a scrawny Italian kid from Brooklyn. Also, was a Marine in WWII and two great careers. We should all be so lucky to have 89 years that full.

And part of a great rock song,that he claimed he had no idea had something to do with, well...Claimed he had a bunch of nuns and old ladies at mass all over his back after the song came out, but always kept a good sense of humor about it.

I. Paradise

Boy:

I remember every little thing

As if it happened only yesterday

Parking by the lake

And there was not another car in sight

And I never had a girl

Looking any better than you did

And all the kids at school

They were wishing they were me that night

And now our bodies are oh so close and tight

It never felt so good, it never felt so right

And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife

C'mon! Hold on tight!

C'mon! Hold on tight!

Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night

I can see paradise by the dashboard light

Girl:

Ain't no doubt about it

We were doubly blessed

Cause we were barely seventeen

And we were barely dressed

Ain't no doubt about it

Baby got to go and shout it

Ain't no doubt about it

We were doubly blessed

Boy:

Cause we were barely seventeen

And we were barely dressed

Baby doncha hear my heart

You got it drowning out the radio

I've been waiting so long

For you to come along and have some fun

And I gotta let ya know

No you're never gonna regret it

So open up your eyes I got a big surprise

It'll feel all right

Well I wanna make your motor run

And now our bodies are oh so close and tight

It never felt so good, it never felt so right

And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife

C'mon! Hold on tight!

C'mon! Hold on tight!

Though it's cold and lonley in the deep dark night

I can see paradise by the dashboard light

Paradise by the dashboard light

You got to do what you can

And let Mother Nature do the rest

Ain't no doubt about it

We were doubly blessed

Cause we were barely seventeen

And we were barely--

We're gonna go all the way tonight

We're gonna go allt he way

An tonight's the night...

Radio Broadcast:

Ok, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker

going here, two down, nobody on, no score,

bottom of the ninth, there's the wind-up and

there it is, a line shot up the middle, look

at him go. This boy can really fly!

He's rounding first and really turning it on

now, he's not letting up at all, he's gonna

try for second; the ball is bobbled out in center,

and here comes the throw, and what a throw!

He's gonna slide in head first, here he comes, he's out!

No, wait, safe--safe at second base, this kid really

makes things happen out there.

Batter steps up to the plate, here's the pitch--

he's going, and what a jump he's got, he's trying

for third, here's the throw, it's in the dirt--

safe at third! Holy cow, stolen base!

He's taking a pretty big lead out there, almost

daring him to try and pick him off. The pitcher

glance over, winds up, and it's bunted, bunted

down the third base line, the suicide squeeze in on!

Here he comes, squeeze play, it's gonna be close,

here's the throw, there's the play at the plate,

holy cow, I think he's gonna make it!

II. Let Me Sleep On It

Girl:

Stop right there!

I gotta know right now!

Before we go any further--!

Do you love me?

Will you love me forever?

Do you need me?

Will you never leave me?

Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?

Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?

Do you love me!?

Will you love me forever!?

Do you need me!?

Will you never leave me!?

Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life!?

Will you take me away and will you make me your wife!?

I gotta know right now

Before we go any further

Do you love me!!!?

Will you love me forever!!!?

Boy:

Let me sleep on it

Baby, baby let me sleep on it

Let me sleep on it

And I'll give you my answer in the morning

Let me sleep on it

Baby, baby let me sleep on it

Let me sleep on it

And I'll give you my answer in the morning

Let me sleep on it

Baby, baby let me sleep on it

Let me sleep on it

And I'll give you my answer in the morning

Girl:

I gotta know right now!

Do you love me?

Will you love me forever?

Do you need me?

Will you never leave me?

Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?

Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?

I gotta know right now!

Before we go any further

Do you love me?

And will you love me forever?

Boy:

Let me sleep on it

Baby, baby let me sleep on it

Let me sleep on it

And I'll give you my answer in the morning

Let me sleep on it!!!

Girl:

Will you love me forever?

Boy:

Let me sleep on it!!!

Girl:

Will you love me forever!!!

III. Praying for the End of Time

Boy:

I couldn't take it any longer

Lord I was crazed

And when the feeling came upon me

Like a tidal wave

I started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave

That I would love you to the end of time

I swore that I would love you to the end of time!

So now I'm praying for the end of time

To hurry up and arrive

Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you

I don't think that I can really survive

I'll never break my promise or forget my vow

But God only knows what I can do right now

I'm praying for the end of time

It's all that I can do

Praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you!!!

Boy:

It was long ago and it was far away

and it was so much better than it is today

Girl:

It never felt so good

It never felt so right

And we were glowing like

A metal on the edge of a knife

Vocals: Meat Loaf

Written By: Jim Steinman

Featurend Female Vocal: Ellen Foley

Guitar: Todd Rundgren

Piano: Roy Bittan

Bass: Kasim Sultan

Drums: Max Weinberg

Saxophone: Edgar Winter

Keyboards: Jim Steinman, Roy Bittan

Synthesizer: Roger Powell

Background Vocals: Rory Dodd, Todd Rundgren, Ellen Foley, Marvin Lee

Lascivious Effects: Jim Steinman

Baseball Play-by-Play: Phil (Scotter) Rizzuto (All-star Yankee shortstop and voice of the New York Yankees)

[Panzer Division Marduk]

RIP Phil.

[Kidhuman]

Sad passing, RIP Phil

I also grew up watching WPIX with him and White in the Booth. A classic Duo of broadcasting.

Whats funny is about 2 months ago me and another guy at work were discussing if he had died yet. I googled him and found he was still alive.

Again, RIP.

[Bob]

Just last month, I had my brother snap a pic of me and my nephew next to Scooter's plaque in Monument Park at the stadium. All my earliest baseball memories have Scooter, making the call.

Damn, this bums me out.

[Kidhuman]

I was at work when my supervisor pointed to the TV and it said Phil had passed. I turned around and jokingly said I am going home to mourn.

On the way home from work, I was listening to Michael Kay and Steve Phillips. Phillips said something along these lines:

You shared so many emotional moments with the broadcasters back in the day. Some grew up to them. It feels as a family member has passed on.

It does, a long distant family member whom I have not seen in years. A 15th cousin 4 times removed or whatever, but it still feels as if a piece of my childhood has left.

[floridajet]

As an old Bklyn Dodger fan can say I never liked him. But one had to respect him and his play. RIP

Hope your having a great time in Heaven playing with the greats....

[SoFlaJets]

watching all this stuff today on WFAN, SNY and YES it almost feels like you lost an uncle,the one you really liked a lot when you were a kid ya know?

[haggis]

I'll confess to not knowing too much about the guy, but from I have heard and seen it is clear this guy was what is everything good about baseball. I was listening to the Red Sox game earlier on the radio and Joe Castiglione had some very nice words to say about him and shared some pretty funny stories. So this loss is felt the hardest in the yankee family, but the ripples are felt league-wide.