May Phil Rizzuto (1918-2007) rest in peace. He was a Hall of Fame shortstop for the New York Yankees before he became a Hall of Fame broadcaster for the New York Yankees. When I was growing up Phil Rizzuto was the voice of Yankee baseball. Unlike all other broadcasters, he did not concentrate on the game. If you never listened to Rizzuto do a game, you won’t understand why his ramblings were converted to poetry in the 1993 book, O Holy Cow. Some of his poems are excerpted below. Make sure to note the context (game situation) in which Rizzuto composed this poetry. Rizzuto is probably dearer to my heart than any person that I have never met in person. His loss is a personal loss, like some of the happiest times of my childhood have died along with him. Enjoy the wisdom of the Scooter…one of most kind-hearted men to ever walk the Earth.
THE PENGUIN
O THAT’S GONE!
HOLY COW!
WATCH THE–
Look at the Penguin!
It’s not gone.I was watching him run.
Wait a minute.
When he hit it
That was the funniest run I’ve ever seen.
Watch this.[May 31, 1987 / Oakland at New York / Tommy John pitching to Ron Cey / Second inning, no outs, bases empty / Tie score 1-1]
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SQUIRRELS
I.
In the backyard we got a lot of trees.
In our home I’ve watched them leap
From limb to limb.
Unbelievable.II.
Did you ever get one in your attic?
They’re not too cute
When they get in your attic.
I’ll tell you that.III.
I would not harm a squirrel.
I don’t want to get those animal lovers . . .
I got them in my attic.
No, I got,
But I got a squirrel cage
Then took them out in the woods
Over by Yogi’s house
And dropped them off.[June 7, 1991 / Texas at New York / John Habyan pitching to Steve Buechele / Ninth inning, one out, bases empty / Tie score, 4-4]
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BUNS
He has powerful legs and cute buns,
That Henderson.
That was a great shot,
Going to second base there.
There’s nothing wrong with that, White.
That’s a popular expression.
High, and it’s one and one.
His legs were churning.[May 10, 1987 / New York at Minnesota / Charlie Hudson pitching to Al Newman / Third inning, no outs, bases empty / Yankees lead 4-0]
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GO AHEAD, SEAVER
You know,
Some kid wrote me a letter.
You and Murcer,
I know,
Every time Murcer says
I make oh for four and two errors.
Some guy wrote,
Which I haven’t gotten yet,
He wrote it to Yankee Stadium,
But by the way,
You’re doing the play-by-play, Seaver.
So go ahead.
I was gonna tell you something,
But I forgot what it was.
Go ahead.[July 1, 1991 / Cleveland at New York / Lee Guetterman pitching to Chris James / Seventh inning, no outs, bases empty / Yankees lead 6-2]
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THE PRINCE
I.
Last night I was watching TV.
I was watching Arsenio Hall.
And he had Prince on.
I wanna–
What a character he is!
Holy cow!II.
Entertainer.
Singer.
And he can dance.
He’s a little bitty guy.
He had a weird beard.
I tell ya it was–
I couldn’t explain it.III.
It was a real beard.
I mean,
You know how they do it now.
Some of them.
It doesn’t come all the way
Up to the sideburns.
It starts,
Then it goes.
You gotta see it to believe it.[Sept. 10, 1991 / New York at Baltimore / Eric Plunk pitching to Bill Ripken / Second inning, one out, one base runner / Yankees lead 2-1]
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HAIKU
Ice, I can’t stand it.
I cannot stand anything
Cold on my body.[May 31, 1991 / Milwaukee at New York / Julio Machado pitching to Hensley Meulens / Eighth inning, no outs, bases empty / Score tied 2-2]
Some Amazon reviews of O’ Holy Cow:
Here’s the mlb.com tribute page.
Of course who could forget the Money Store ads?
Or that bit in the middle of Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light?
i lost my virginity at the wildwood drive in with that song playing on the 8 track…on repeat.
the movie was north dallas forty which i have never actually “seen”.
I remember St. Louis baseball legend Bob Uekher with Phil, Bill White and Frank Messer in New York wise-cracking that he had gone into one of the Money Store outlets and mentioned he knew Phil Rizzuto and they threw him out bodily.
Listening to, or watching Yankee baseball on the old WPIX with Phil, Bill, and Frank was addictive, for it wasn’t so much a game being announced but more like a family bull session and soap opera. I think it used to drive Frank Messer crazy, as Frank was a very professional broadcaster who had never played the game and Bill White was a great player as Phil was as well and they would talk about resturants, fishing, kids, and grand-kids, do commercials, talk about old players and managers and make cracks about Leo Derocher, Eddie Stankey, and several others, and call balls and strikes too, never missing a beat.
HOLY COW!
When that is the only kind of baseball broadcasting you know, it can very disappointing when it goes away.
I could never listen to the Mets and McCarver…what?!! was he doing talking about the GAME? The Phillies and Richie Ashburn were even worse. A constant droning monotone.
But, the Yanks? Bill White and Phil Rizzuto? It was magic every night. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
That’s the way I thought sportscasting was supposed to be too. Never could understand the folks who liked McCarver.
You know I stopped seriously following the yankees in the nineties, I think it was sometime after Rizzuto stopped broadcasting.
I forgot the wisecracks Phil and Bill would do about Earl Weaver and his tomato patch in the old Baltimore stadium. Phil could be really tough on Earl.
I remember this one pitcher the O’s had, he was a big relief pitcher with this mop of fuzzy hair who took FOREVER between pitches, and apparently drove Weaver nuts. Oh God they had fun heckling Weaver over that guy!-but they were so smooth about it it was hilarious.
Now for sheer put you to sleep announcing, I think the crown goes to the team of announcers from the Boston Red Socks in the late 70’s and 80’s. Those guys were like Sominex pills.
Further, I wonder what ever happened to Dulio Cruz the cameraman from WPIX as Phil and the guys were always telling us about Dulio’s birthday and his children and his wife.
I think they really relied on Dulio’s camerawork to carry the TV show end of the broadcast.
I wonder if he still works covering the Yankees?
A poet and a sufi teacher named Yogi. Named Yogi by his high school New Jersey asshole buddies. JEEZ!!!( Google “Mullah Nasrudin” for Yogi’s only historical equivalent.Really. I dare ya.),
Both of them on the same amazingly successful American baseball team.
Named The Yankees.
Who is WRITING this stuff ???!!!
And y’all wonder why this country was great?
Who we got now?
Bonds?
Please.
The U.S. is in trouble on every level.
Every level.
Bet on it.
AG
P.S. One of thousands of Nasrudin stories. (You say Nasrudin. I say Nasreddin. Let’s NOT call the whole thing off.)
Nasreddin sat on a river bank when someone shouted to him from the opposite side:
– “Hey! how do I get across?”
– “You are across!” Nasreddin shouted back.
Yup.
Yogi.
Nasrudin reincarnate.
Yoges was from St. Louis, grew up with Joe Garagiola.
Arrr…St. Louis, New Joisey…everywhere west of the Hudson that has (or had) a substantial Italian population is New Joisey, really.
INCLUDING Long Island and Bay Ridge.
Yup.
AG
I was exit 9. Later I was Exit 7A, and after that Exit 8.
Didn’t feel much like Missouri, however.
Well…ever been to The Hill in St. Louis? If I dropped you there blindfolded you’d think you had landed in a Jersey Italian neighborhood.
Ever been to East St. Louis?
A Newark clone. The BAD old Newark, last I was there.
Of course…Newark is still pretty nasty.
The WORSER old Newark, I guess.
Later…
AG
And of course his play by play commentary in Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light. Classic.
Scooter always brought back memories of me watching the Yankees with my grandpa. Now they’re both gone.
A generation passes….
One of my favorites was from the early ’80s when Rizzuto and, I think, Bill White (maybe Frank Messer) spent an entire inning discussing the wonder that is seedless watermelons.
yes, I remember that one! It was a classic!
I remember the Scooter as shortstop for the dreaded (but RESPECTED Yankees) when I was a kid. Great Glove man (hall of famer). Nearly everybody they had was great! But he was more than a short stop; he seemed to personify the Yankee mystique. To me anyway. Then in later years his broadcasting thing. Now and then the Detroit station would put Scooter’s broadcast on for a couple of at bats when the Yankees were in town. So I have some (limited) understanding of his unique appeal as a broadcaster. Holy Cow!!
My two favorites here in Detroit Tiger land were George Kell and Ernie Harwell. Kell for playing a mean third base and bringing an easy going Southern style to play by play. Ernie for being Ernie. One of a kind in the booth…it’s loong gone! Both are up in years now. We still here from Ernie through the local media. George has faded away. I understand and feel your loss. Scooter…may he rest in peace.
The speech he gave on being inducted into the Hall of Fame is here, and it’s something not to miss.
I never caught his broadcasts, but I think this speech alone gave me a very good idea of why he was so loved.
Can only repeat it: RIP Phil. And thanks for the exciting years of Yankee baseball covering the area next to second.
I grew up in Trumbull, CT in the 1940 & 50s watching the Yankees on WPIX Ch. 11 out of New York. (Also watched the Dodgers on WOR Ch. 9.) Any way, Rizzuto was one of many stars on teams that won consecutive world championships.
I never had the opportunity to listen to his play-by-play, as I was traveling around the globe during those years.
You can watch his Hall of Fame acceptance speech here. Pure Phil.