Yankee Great, Phil Rizzuto Dies at Age 89
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by Awrigh01
According to WFAN in New York, Yankee great, Phil Rizzuto has died at the age of 89. The details of his death are, at this time, unknown. Nicknamed "Scooter," Rizzuto is the oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1994 by a Veterans Committee vote.
Rizzuto was selected by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1937. He played his first major-league game on April 14, 1941. He played for the Yankees for his entire 13-year career, almost exclusively as a shortstop. Like many baseball players, his career was interrupted by a stint in the Navy during World War II. From 1943 through 1945, he played on the Navy's baseball team.
Rizzuto was voted Most Valuable Player by a large margin in the American League in 1950, and was the runner-up for the award in 1949. He played in five All-Star Games, in 1942 and each year from 1950 to 1953. In 1950, he won the Hickok Belt, awarded to the top professional athlete of the year.
Rizzuto's 1953 Topps baseball card read in part: Ty Cobb named the "Scooter" as one of the few modern ball players who could hold his own among old timers.
Broadcast Career
Beginning the year after his retirement, Rizzuto joined the Yankees broadcast team. Rizzuto broadcast Yankee games on radio and television for the next 40 years. His popular catchphrase was "Holy cow." Although Harry Caray was punctuating his broadcasts with the phrase even while Rizzuto was still playing, Rizzuto once claimed he'd been saying it his whole life, instead of using profanity.
Rizzuto also became known for saying "Unbelievable!" "Holy Cow!" or "Did you see that?" to describe a great play, and would call somebody a "huckleberry" if he did something Rizzuto didn't like. He would frequently wish listeners a happy birthday or anniversary, send get-well wishes to fans in hospitals, and speak well of restaurants he liked, or of the cannoli he would eat between innings. He would also joke about leaving the game early, saying to his wife, "I'll be home soon, Cora!" and "I gotta get over that bridge", referring to the nearby George Washington Bridge, which he would use to get back to his home in Hillside, New Jersey. In later years, Rizzuto would announce the first six innings of Yankee games; the TV director would sometimes puckishly show a shot of the bridge after Rizzuto had departed. Rizzuto was also very phobic about lightning, and would leave games with violent thunderclaps.
