Legends Look: Phil Rizzuto, #10

(New York, NY) – Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed “The Scooter”, was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who spent his entire career from 1941 to 1956 with the New York Yankees.

He was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1950 after leading the team to its second consecutive pennant with a .324 batting average; he had been MVP runnerup the previous year.  Rizzuto led the AL in double plays three times and in putouts and fielding percentage twice each. His 1,217 career double plays ranked second in major league history when he retired, trailing only Luke Appling’s total of 1,424, and his .968 career fielding average trailed only Lou Boudreau’s mark of .973 among AL shortstops. He also ranked fifth in AL history in games at shortstop (1,647), eighth in putouts (3,219) and total chances (8,148), and ninth in assists (4,666).

A popular figure on a team dynasty which captured 10 AL titles in his 13 seasons, Rizzuto played in nine World Series, winning seven. At the time of his last game, he had appeared in the most World Series games ever (52), a record soon surpassed by five of his Yankees teammates. Rizzuto still holds numerous World Series records for shortstops, including the most career games played, singles, walks, times on base, stolen bases, at-bats, putouts, assists and double plays.^[1]

Rizzuto later enjoyed a 40-year career as a radio and television sports announcer for the Yankees, becoming known for his popular but idiosyncratic style. He was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994, having been selected by a Veterans Committee vote.

Rizzuto’s rookie season ended in the World Series, and though he hit poorly, the Yankees beat the Dodgers. The following year, Rizzuto led all hitters, for both the Yankees and the opposing St. Louis Cardinals, with 8 hits and a .381 average in the 1942 World Series; the light-hitting shortstop even added a home run after hitting just 4 in the regular season. Like many players of the era, his career was interrupted by a stint in the United States Navy during World War II. From 1943 through 1945, he played on a Navy baseball team alongside Dodgers shortstop Reese; the team was managed by Yankees catcher Bill Dickey.

In 1947 Rizzuto recorded a .969 fielding average, breaking Crosetti’s 1939 team record for shortstops of .968. He broke his own record the following year with a .973 mark.

Rizzuto’s peak as a player was 1949-50, when he was moved into the leadoff spot. In 1950, his MVP season, he hit .324 with 92 walks, and scored 125 runs. Rizzuto also handled 238 consecutive chances without an error that season, setting the record for shortstops. From September 18, 1949 through June 7, 1950, he played 58 games at shortstop without an error, breaking the AL record of 46 set by Eddie Joost in 1947-1948; the record stood until Ed Brinkman played error-free for 72 games in 1972. Rizzuto recorded 123 double plays in 1950, three more than Crosetti’s total from 1938; it remains the Yankee record. Rizzuto’s 1950 fielding percentage of .9817 led the league, and came within less than a point of Lou Boudreau’s league record of .9824, set in 1947. Rizzuto’s mark was a franchise record until 1976, when Yankees shortstop Fred Stanley posted a mark of .983.

Rizzuto was voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player by a large margin in 1950, after having been the runner-up for the award behind Ted Williams in 1949. He became the only MVP in history who lead the league in sacrifice bunts. Rizzuto played in five All-Star Games, in 1942 and each year from 1950 to 1953. In 1950, he also won the Hickok Belt, awarded to the top professional athlete of the year, and was named Major League Player of the Year by The Sporting News. He was voted top major league shortstop by The Sporting News four consecutive years (1949-1952).

Source: Wikipedia