Posted on 08/14/2007 8:08:15 AM PDT by uxbridge
Just a headline yet
RIP Scooter. Great Player, Great Announcer, great person.
agreed...his performance in the Meat loaf song was good
and these days if you mention Rizzuto to someone (esp. fairly young) and they don’t know who he is, say “oh, the sportscaster in “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and
they’ll prob. go, “oh yeah, THAT guy.”
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!
Quotes from Wikipedia:
*"Uh-oh, deep to left-center, nobody's gonna get that one! Holy cow, somebody got it!"
* "Bouncer to third, they'll never get him! No, why don't I just shut up!"
* "All right! Stay fair! No, it won't stay fair. Good thing it didn't stay fair, or I think he would've caught it!"
* "Oh, these Yankees can get the clutch hits, Murcer. I might have to go home early, I just got a cramp in my leg."
* "Well, that kind of puts the damper on even a Yankee win." (He was still on the air, just after a game, when he heard that Pope Paul VI had just died. Esquire Magazine called that the "Holiest Cow of 1978."
Used to love to hear Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin telling tales of pranks they used to play on Scooter.
He was the brunt of their jokes and took it pretty well.
God Bless Scooter
Will always be on my “cool” list for his cameo on Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell.”
Those ads for the Money Store were classic, usually followed by ads for Garden State Brickface & Stucco, Coronet, Apex Tech, and Crazy Eddie.
Great minds think alike. “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is how I will always remember Phil.
All was forgiven when they gave Scooter his platinum record though.
I commented about this on another thread. At times, White could scarcely get a word out because he was laughing so hard. What a different time! The game was almost background noise for being with friends, sharing stories, coming together.
I went to a game at Yankee stadium about 3 years ago with my 6 year old son. There was non-stop noise from the PA system, I couldn’t hear myself think and my son and I were constantly distracted by something going on on the jumbo-tron scoreboard. Thinking about Phil Rizzuto just now brings me back to when I could hear the sounds of the game, the vendors, the conversations of fathers and sons as they talked about baseball and family and, in so doing, bonded together by the glue called baseball.
I miss his voice...or, maybe I just miss the times of life that included his voice.
Man...that's so well put...ditto...I will always associate Rizzuto with my childhood and watching Yankee games with my brother on our black and white TV
Man does that bring back the memories! Also don’t forget: “If you have a normal speaking voice and average intelligence you too can enroll in the Columbia School of Broadcasting...(Not affiliated with CBS Inc....)
I used to get a kick out of listening to Rizzuto announce the games.
(This is gonna make it more difficult to root against the Yanks...)
Ditto. I, too, can remember my Dad taking me to games at Yankee Stadium (way back, when you could walk on the field after the game)or watching on TV. I was a Mantle fan.
Then ‘it was about the game’and the team, seemed more sportsman like. Today, I just can’t get into baseball like I used to....I’m still a Yankee fan even tho (sometimes sadly) I no longer live in NY. Now seems, like most other stuff, ‘what’s in it for me’.
Yep, I, too, have great memories of the Scooter, Bobby Richardson, Clete Boyer and ‘the good ‘ole days’. LOL.
...you mean the song isn’t about a ballgame, Mr. Loaf? :)
I dated an avid Yankee fan in the mid-70s. Phil and Bill White will forever be the voice of the Yankees for me.
I imagine my old flame is taking this hard too.
RIP.
“Our prices are IN-SANE!”
Real blasts from the past. I remember the Garden State Brickface & Stucco too.
Did you see in the obit that he married his wife in the 40’s? They don’t make them like that any more.
God rest your soul, Phil.
I posted this on another thread, but I feel it bears repeating, as Phil was a wonderful guy...
Phil was good friends with my in-laws. I had the honor and privilege of having him as a part of my life over the past few years. Needless to say, he was true class, a wonderfully generous human being and a lover of the game of baseball.
On October 11, 2003, I was having an early dinner with Phil and my in-laws in Atlantic Highlands, and the Yankees/Red Sox playoff game was on the bar tv. As many of you will recall, that was the night Don Zimmer charged Pedro. Let us just say that Phil was very “animated” regarding the fight. I will never forget that. He was also very accepting of me, even though I am a devout Phillies fan. He and my in-laws were always willing to remind me of the 1950 world series, but Phil always talked with much respect of the wiz kids.
I ask that you all pray for Cora Rizzuto as this obviously will be a difficult time for her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.