The passing of Phil Rizzuto this week was very sad. Though I am not a Yankee fan I grew up watching the games and listening to the “Scooter” on a fairly consistent basis. His huckleberries and holy cow’s will forever be entrenched in my mind. His spirit for the game, pride in being part of the Yankee family and tradition is something he carried with him every day. I think many, myself included, took Rizzuto for granted as a broadcaster but not on purpose. You just never thought he would not be there come game night. He made the broadcast different from any other, simply because he was himself. In today’s media world you have so many of these clowns with their broadcast voices or tones, trying to sound a certain way. While it may work for a few, Phil was Phil. That is what made him so enjoyable. Last week after his passing many stories and thoughts were shared about Rizzuto. He was referred to as a wonderful teammate, his winning percentage in games that he started for the Yankees was a whopping .620. He was also the AL MVP in 1950. What really put a smile on my face when hearing about Rizzuto was the following: Rizzuto would always keep score during the game in the booth. When he would leave the booth to grab something to drink, go to the men’s room or to say hello to someone in the media room he would miss some action on the diamond. Instead of finding out what he had missed and marking it on his score card he simply would mark down WW, "Wasn’t Watching". Humorous and honest two qualities of many that will be missed from one Phil Rizzuto. Rest in peace Scooter, you will be missed by many.
Jose Offerman had quite the week. This guy is 38 years old, was in the big leagues for 15 years. He was an all-star on the ’99 Red Sox who went to the ALCS before falling to the Yankees (Yes, the same Red Sox team that came back from 2-0 down against the Tribe, which included Pedro’s 6 innings of no hit ball in relief, I swear I am not bitter at all, thanks dad.) You figure a guy still playing at this age for the Long Island Ducks of all teams would still be doing it for two simple reasons. He loves the game and he needs the check. So what about an 0-1 breaking ball that catches you in the calf is gonna make you go Juan Marcial on a pitcher and a catcher with a bat? Right now I don’t have those answers but what I do know is that an example is going to made out of Offerman. With all the negative shit going on right now he picked a bad time to go batty. Ha, batty, that is fucken funny. The owner of the Bridgeport team whom Offerman and the Ducks were playing is already calling for his life time suspension from the league and he has been charged with assault. For a guy with over 1,500 career hits and 15 years in the majors it is unfortunate he went off the deep end. But assault is assault and this is what he will be associated with for quite a while despite the quality years of service.
Final Thoughts...After being at the Madden Launch party last week I am already hooked on the new game. Besides the Eagle cheerleaders lighting up the room, Warren Moon, Eric Dickerson and Jamal Anderson were all in attendance as the ex player contingent. Hats off to BD at ESPN and PC at Lunar for hooking up their boys...I saw Rescue Dawn last night, directed by Werner Herzog starring Christian Bale. If you are a film lover try to catch it before it disappears from theatres. It is beautifully shot and Bale's performance again proves he is entering the upper echelon of actors...A special welcome back to my man the DOC who was out of the city for a bit, we all missed his musky scent...I am out like the New York bullpens...
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