Phil Rizzuto
Ed Varner
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September 12, 2006 New York Post
Rizzuto Fights On In Latest Battle
By Kevin Kernan
September 12, 2006 -- PHIL RIZZUTO always has been a battler, the
little underdog who made it all the way to the Hall of Fame.
The Scooter will turn 89 later this month, and this has been a
difficult year for him and Cora. Rizzuto couldn't make it to Yankee
Stadium for Old-Timer's Day. He is now at a private rehab facility,
trying to overcome muscle atrophy and problems with his esophagus.
Despite all that, the handshake remains firm. So does the devotion to
his old team and the man who plays his position.
"Derek Jeter should win the MVP award," Rizzuto, the last Yankee
shortstop to capture MVP honors, tells me.
"I've always loved the way he plays, he just glides . . . Being around
him and the way he handles himself with people, everything is perfect."
Rizzuto won his MVP award 56 years ago. He is one of the most beloved
Yankees of all time, first as a player and then as a broadcaster. He
watches the Yankees nearly every day.
"That Red Sox series was unbelievable," he says.
Rizzuto goes for daily walks through the hallways, and takes part in
therapy classes. "I feel good right now," he says.
He is friendly to everyone he meets, nurses and staff love to take
their picture with him, and he still possesses the work ethic that made
him a five-time All-Star.
While sitting with him on this day, Rizzuto patiently autographs about
125 poster-size pictures, part of a limited edition 500-photo
collection. "I like to do that," he says.
There are two pictures in the collection. One, from his playing days,
featuring he and Frank Sinatra in the dugout; the second, a wonderful
shot of Jeter and the Scooter together at the Stadium after Phil had
thrown out the first pitch on a cool October night: Hall of Famers
enjoying the moment.
When I mention that shortstops have gotten bigger, the 5-6 Rizzuto
looks at the 6-3 Jeter towering above him and laughs softly.
Yogi and Carmen Berra have come to visit several times and someone from
Rizzuto's family is here every day, either the beautiful Cora - whom
Phil still lovingly refers to as his "bride" - or one of their four
children.
"Derek just broke my father's record for games played as a Yankee
shortstop," explains Rizzuto's eldest daughter, Patricia. "If it had to
be somebody, we're glad it was Derek."
"Absolutely," Phil chimes in softly.
The days are growing Shorter, but Phil is still doing good deeds. The
Phil Rizzuto Collection that features some incredible memorabilia,
closes today at www.gmrs.com. A "large" portion of the money made by
the Rizzutos in the auction will go to St. Joseph's School for the
Blind in Jersey City.
"I can't think of another celebrity where so much has gone to charity,"
says Spencer Lader, VP of acquisitions for Geppi's Memorabilia Road
Show.
Rizzuto also keeps up with the other team in town, the Mets. "I'm happy
for Willie," he says of Willie Randolph.
Included in the auction is Rizzuto's 1950 MVP award, which used to be
in the family's den in Hillside, N.J. The family was not going to part
with it when the auction was announced last February but then it became
a question, which of the four kids gets the hardware? The award may
wind up in the "family" though, because there is talk the Yankees will
be the ones taking it home.
For Phil Rizzuto, it's always been about "coming home." Whether it was
scooting around the bases or scooting out of the broadcast booth to
beat the traffic across the George Washington Bridge. Rizzuto alwaysput
family and cannolis first.
We shake hands one final time and I mention I'll be heading over to my
son's fall league baseball game.
"Really, I think that's great when you got things like that to look
forward to, doing things with family," Rizzuto says to me in a voice
that is trying to stay strong. "That's what it's all about."