Editorial: Goodbye, Scooter

Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

In 1935 Phil Rizzuto tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers. At 5-f eet-6, he was dismissed by Casey Stengel, then the Dodgers manager, because of his size.

As Rizzuto would recount, Stengel told him, "Look, kid, this game's not for you. You're too small. The only way you can make a living is by getting a shoeshine box."

By 1941 he was playing shortstop for the New York Yankees, and the clubhouse attendant at Yankee Stadium was shining his spikes.

Rizzuto died Monday at the age of 89. The Scooter, as he was known because of his speed, was an icon of how good baseball can be. He was regularly overlooked and proved his critics wrong. In 1994 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, after being passed over 26 times.

He was an outstanding shortstop, playing for the Yankees for his full 13-year career, which was put on hold for three years while he served in the Navy during World War II. Rizzuto was an integral part of a baseball dynasty that won 10 American League pennants and eight World Series titles.

In 1956 he took a job broadcasting Yankee games with Mel Allen and Red Barber. He was dismissed by Howard Cosell, who told him, "You look like George Burns and you sound like Groucho Marx."

Once again, Rizzuto defied the critic. Fans took to his quirky humor, candor and love of the game. An atypical announcer, he spent four decades broadcasting games. He told stories, announced listeners' birthdays and offered explanations on everything from his fear of lightning to his thoughts on where to get a good cannoli . All of it, of course, was sprinkled with his catchphrase, "Holy cow!"

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said he was "a unique figure who exemplified the joy of our game to millions of fans."

Indeed. For a guy of small physical stature, he cast a large shadow.