Tag Archives: Phil Rizzuto

Jump, Scooter, Jump! Phil Rizzuto In Action

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Phil Rizzuto – 1950

New York – Bob Dillinger of the Athletics slides safely back to 2nd in the first inning of game with Yanks here, 7/5 as Phil Rizzuto leaps for throw from catcher Yogi Berra. The ball went over Rizzuto’s head . Yanks won 12-8. credit: Acme Telephoto July 5, 1950

As Red Sox great Ted Williams once said the margin of difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox was very slim, but that the Yankees had Phil Rizzuto. “If Rizzuto had been in Boston we’d have won all those pennants instead of New York,” Williams said. Continue reading →

Yogi Berra Remembered In Photos

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Yogi Berra Dies At 90 – A Remembrance In Rarely Seen Photos Of The Yankee Great

Yogi Berra during the 1960 World Series - photo Marvin E. Newman

Yogi Berra during the 1960 World Series – photo Marvin E. Newman

Lawrence Peter “Yog”i Berra died Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at the age of 90 in West Caldwell, New Jersey where he had been living in an assisted-living facility.

While countless obituaries will appear over the next few days recounting Berra’s storied baseball career, business acumen and quotable life, we thought it best not to dwell on Berra’s passing or try and tell all about his amazing life in just a few paragraphs. Yogi’s life story will be be well covered by his former teammates, friends, journalists and colleagues.

We will tell you that Yogi was not a great catcher when he first arrived in the majors. Yogi worked hard with former Yankee catcher Bill Dickey to make himself into a great defensive catcher. Also three American League MVP awards tell you that Yogi was extremely valuable to the Yankees. What those awards will not tell you was that Yogi was one of the best bad ball hitters ever – whether the ball was up by his eyes or literally in the dirt – Yogi could do massive damage on a pitch that most batters would not be able to do anything with.

We decided the best way to remember this Hall of Famer was with some old press photos that appeared long ago in magazines and newspapers and mostly have not been seen since.

Spec Shea Yogi Berra 1947 first start in World SeriesFrank “Spec” Shea and Yogi Berra before game 1 of the 1947 World Series at Yankee Stadium. 1947 marked the first of a record 10 world championships for Berra.

Berra Rizzuto 5 15 50 photo AcmeYogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto enjoy playing cards on a Yankees charter flight from New York to St. Louis, May 15, 1950 – photo Acme

clockwise - Yogi Berra (without cap), Mickey Mantle, Vic Raschi and Allie Reynolds celebrate 3-2 World Series game 6 victory over Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field - October 6, 1952

Clockwise – Yogi Berra (without cap), Mickey Mantle, Vic Raschi and Allie Reynolds celebrate 3-2 World Series game 6 victory over Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field – October 6, 1952. Berra homered in the seventh inning, Mantle homered in the eighth, Raschi got the victory and Reynolds the save.

Yogi Berra Batting sequence 1955 9 6September 6, 1955 – Yogi’s Off And Running – Yogi Berra the New York Yankees formidable catcher, shows the wrist action that provides the power that makes him one of the club’s long ball hitters. Berra currently hitting .273 has pounded out 23 homers and driven in 94 runs. He has hit 18 doubles and two triples. – AP wirephoto  Continue reading →

World Series Photos Delivered Instantly

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Before The Internet, The Quickest Way To Get Photos Back To The Newspaper- Via Pigeon

Walker Cooper Phil Rizzuto pigeon delivers negatives 1942 world series

Walker Cooper, Phil Rizzuto and Private Harry Myers and carrier pigeons, October 4, 1942 photo: New York Journal-American

You would have thought by 1942 there was a quicker way for a newspaper to get photos from one place to another than using a carrier pigeon. Apparently not.

Before game four of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, Private Harry Myers, the Journal-American’s pigeon specialist, shows the Cardinal’s Walker Cooper and the Yankee’s Phil Rizzuto how photographic negatives of the World Series game are sent by pigeon from the ballpark to the newspaper’s offices for same-day publication of the photos.

Amazing.

Maybe it was just the New York Journal-American’s method, as I cannot imagine all the newspapers releasing pigeons during a baseball game.

Jerry Coleman Baseball Legend Dies At 89

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Ballplayer, Broadcaster, World War II and Korean War Combat Hero, Jerry Coleman Passes Away

Jerry Coleman Phil Rizutto 1949

Vaudeville Tactics

New York: Jerry Coleman, second baseman for the Yanks does a nip-up like a vaudevillian to get the ball down to first after putting out Bobby Dillinger of the Browns in the first inning of the game at Yankee Stadium on August 6. The throw was not fast enough to get to first before George Elder who had grounded out to Bobby Brown at third. Yankees won, 9-8. That’s Phil Rizzuto, Yankees shortstop lurking in the background. Credit: (ACME) 8-6-49

Jerry Coleman died at Scripps Hospital in San Diego, CA January 5, 2014 of complications from head injuries he suffered in a fall last month.

In his major league baseball career he hit only 16 home runs and batted just .263, but the slick fielding Jerry Coleman was a beloved baseball legend by fans on both coasts.

Coleman played his entire career for the New York Yankees from 1949 -1957. He appeared in six World Series, was the MVP of the 1950 World Series and appeared in one All Star game.

After his playing career ended Coleman worked in the Yankees front office. In 1960 he became an announcer, first with CBS television on the Game of the Week, then in 1963 he rejoined the Yankees and stayed with their broadcast team for the next seven years. Continue reading →

Nellie Fox, Eddie Robinson and Phil Rizzuto

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Before The Game -1951

Nellie Fox Eddie Robinson Phil Rizzuto 1951

Chicago, June 10, 1951 – Scooter Makes Them Laugh — Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto (right), diminutive New York Yankees shortstop, draws a laugh from Chicago White Sox infielders Nelson Fox (left) and Ed Robinson before game in Comiskey Park yesterday. Fox is batting at a healthy .360 clip while Robinson leads the American League in the runs batted in department with 48 and is tied with Ted Williams in homers with 11. Rizzuto drew the laugh when he told Fox not to stand on his toes in an attempt to look taller than he. (AP Wirephoto)