# 10

While I was out, word was posted that Phil Rizzuto has died at age 89.

I knew the Scooter was sick and his passing was imminent, but I'm still so taken aback and saddened.

Here is Rizzuto's obituary in the New York Times, and the tribute to him on the Yankees' website.

Rizzuto played shortstop for the New York Yankees for 13 years, and helped the team win championships in seven of those. To Yankees fans, his play is legendary; to others, over-rated. I knew the Scooter only as a broadcaster. He was a fixture in the Yankees broadcast booth for 40 years, and was very, shall we say, entertaining.

Among the bizarrely hilarious gems Rizzuto was famous for were a "WW" on his scorecard - "wasn't watching" - and an early exit "to beat the traffic over the bridge". And Holy Cow (his signature) could that man make a non-sequitur. Some of his crazy riffs were collected in a book: O Holy Cow!: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto. People hated him, people loved him. He drove everyone crazy.

I used to like to hear him talk about his wife Cora. It was so obvious how much he loved her. Old-time Yankees fans all felt they knew Cora, and also Yogi Berra's wife Carmen.

Rizzuto is almost the last of his generation of Yankee greats. Now only Yogi remains.