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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Watchdog: Best: Phil Rizzuto predicts trouble for Mike Torrez (Video)

Phil Rizzuto cannoli be described as a racist!

Here is a YouTube clip for no apparent reason - upcoming 30th anniversary, I guess? - of Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer setting up the Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in 1978.

Scooter dishes some cliches, laments Willie Randolph’s unavailability for the big game . . . and calls Mike Torrez “a very excitable Latin type.”

Yikes! Can you say that on TV? I guess you could in 1978.

Repoz Posted: June 11, 2008 at 08:18 PM | 14 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
  Related News: GeneralHistoryNY YankeesMediaAnnouncersTelevision

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   1. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: June 11, 2008 at 08:29 PM (#2815806)
He also describes Mickey Rivers as "a big man." I can only assume that's based on the racial stereotype. I hope Rizzuto gets fired for this.
   2. rlc Posted: June 11, 2008 at 08:47 PM (#2815825)
He should have his huckleberries taken away.
   3. Charter Member of the Jesus Melendez Fanclub Posted: June 11, 2008 at 08:50 PM (#2815832)
He also describes Mickey Rivers as "a big man."

So's your mom.
   4. StHendu Posted: June 11, 2008 at 08:58 PM (#2815842)
That huckleberry! Did anyone else try yelling 'Pix!' at the screen, or just me?
Oh, and happy 80th birthday to Isabella Baglio (am I pronouncing that right, White?) Holy cow, she also sent us some cannoli. Thank you, dear.
   5. Crispix Attacks Posted: June 11, 2008 at 09:02 PM (#2815847)
   6. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry Posted: June 11, 2008 at 09:30 PM (#2815865)
Did anyone else try yelling 'Pix!' at the screen, or just me?


I don't know what scares me more: that I got that reference or that there's somebody else on planet Earth whose brain is (mis-)wired in such a way that they remember the "Pix!" thing too.
   7. Rough Carrigan Posted: June 12, 2008 at 12:41 AM (#2816265)
I ask this not just as a rhetorical question. I don't think I ever saw or heard a broadcast with Rizzuto. Was he any good as an announcer?
   8. rLr Is King Of The Romans And Above Grammar Posted: June 12, 2008 at 12:47 AM (#2816287)
Scooter was great as a personality. He was pretty confused as an announcer.

At least by the time I encountered him in the late 80s.
   9. TerpNats Posted: June 12, 2008 at 03:35 AM (#2816548)
Phil was the slightly daffy uncle every family has, and that's why he was so beloved. And he never took himself seriously. In short, his personality was the anti-Sterling.
   10. Justin T contains indigenous nudity Posted: June 12, 2008 at 04:09 AM (#2816564)
He said he sure was glad to be up in the booth. All those years of covering second on every steal attempt really wore him out.
   11. The Good Face Posted: June 12, 2008 at 12:42 PM (#2816712)
Phil was the slightly daffy uncle every family has, and that's why he was so beloved. And he never took himself seriously. In short, his personality was the anti-Sterling.


Good description. When I was a kid in the 80s, I used to love watching Yankee games largely for Rizzuto. It really did feel like you were watching the game with your daffy uncle. Rizzuto had all kinds of flaws... he was a homer, it felt like he made several mistaken home run calls every game (the balls were invariably caught in shallow CF), and he'd ramble on in strange and sometimes downright bizarre directions. I'll never forget the time he was discussing Ricky Henderson's speed, and said that it came from Ricky's powerfully muscled butt. Long pause, and then Rizzuto added, "Nice butt." But he was charming and genuine in ways that modern broadcasters can't hope to approach. He loved baseball, he loved the Yankees, he loved people and he didn't care who knew it. I miss him.
   12. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: June 12, 2008 at 01:20 PM (#2816741)
a very excitable Latin type

It'd say he was probably thinking of Times Roman.
   13. Big Train Posted: June 12, 2008 at 01:26 PM (#2816749)
I miss Scooter too. He is one of the major reason I am a baseball fan, and a Yankee fan.
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