- Born
- Died
- Birth nameFiero Francis Rizzuto
- Nicknames
- (The) Scooter
- The Scooter
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Phil Rizzuto was the NY Yankees star shortstop for 13 seasons between 1941 and 1956. A Hall of Famer, Rizzuto was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1950. After his playing career, Rizzuto was a popular long-time TV/radio announcer for the Yankees. He called the action for 40 seasons from 1957 to 1996, and was known for his "Holy Cow". Career peaked during the years with partners Bill White and Frank Messer. Non-Baseball fans remember him for his years as spokesperson for The Money Store.- IMDb Mini Biography By: JP
- SpouseCora Esselborn(June 24, 1943 - August 13, 2007) (his death, 4 children)
- RelativesLelia Goldoni(Cousin)
- As a broadcaster for the Yankees for 40 years, he would exclaim "Holy cow!" when describing a great play.
- Legally changed his name to "Philip Francis Rizzuto."
- Rizzuto had long given his birth year as 1917, but he admitted to sportswriter Bill Madden - for the 2003 book "Pride of October" - that he had chopped a year off when signing with the Yankees, after other ballplayers told him it would give him an extra year at the end of his career. His true birth year was actually 1916.
- On 23 October 1941, Joe DiMaggio asked Rizzuto to fill in for him at the last minute at a Newark, New Jersey testimonial because his wife had just given birth to their son. After the dinner, the Chief of the Fire Deptartment took Rizzuto home, where he met his future wife, Cora.
- He was elected into the 2008 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his services and contributions to Sports.
- Played 1661 regular season games with the New York Yankees, 1647 at shortstop, in 1941 and 1942, then from 1946 to 1956. Spent his entire playing career with the Yankees.
- "Holy cow!" Whenever something astonished him - especially on the baseball field - which was often.
- "That huckleberry!" A humorous putdown, often directed at a player who had just made a bonehead play.
- They've got so many Latin players we're going to have to get a Latin instructor up here.
- Well that kind of puts the damper on even a Yankee win. - on the news of Pope Paul VI's death
- I'll never forget September 6th, 1950. I got a letter threatening me, Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra and Johnny Mize. It said if I showed up in uniform against the Red Sox I'd be shot. I turned the letter over to the FBI and told my manager Casey Stengel about it. You know what Casey did? He gave me a different uniform and gave mine to Billy Martin. Can you imagine that! Guess Casey thought it'd be better if Billy got shot.
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