Just a few months before his passing in 2007, I had the opportunity to sit down with the great Phil Rizzuto to talk with him about his days playing and broadcasting for the New York Yankees.
I am so grateful for the memories I got to make over the years with Phil, and the successes we shared at Steiner Sports thanks to his loyalty, and him giving me a chance.
In our discussion he brought up a story I never heard before, and it was truly remarkable.
It was from the night Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak came to an end.
After the game ended, Joe decided to stay back in the locker room until everyone else left (all 67,000 people), and asked Phil to stay behind with him. He just wanted to be himself with someone he trusted.
As they left the locker room and began walking back to their hotel, Joe saw a place to get something to eat. He decided he wanted to eat by himself and told Phil he could go back to the hotel. But, Joe realized he forgot to get his money when he let the locker room. So, he shouted up to Phil saying:
“Scooter, come here. I forgot to take the money. Give me all your money.”
They were on a two week road trip, and Phil only had $21 on him (which back then was A LOT of money). But, he decided to help a friend when he was down and gave him everything he had in his wallet.
For years Joe tried to pay him back, and although Phil claimed, “It would ruin the story."
When the people we care about are hurting, or disappointed, the only thing we can do is be there for them. All that matters is showing them that they matter to you. If you truly care about someone, you would give them the shirt off your back at any time, in any place.
Take some time today to do something for someone you love because one day you won’t be able to do it for them.
Joe may have lost the hitting streak, but that night he was able to realize the friendship he had with Phil was true and nothing could ever compare to that.
Glad you brought up Mr. Rizzuto again. I’ll refrain from telling the whole story again, but Phil made the last few months of my grandfather’s (more of a father to me) life wonderful by sending him an 8X10 signed 8X10 picture inscribed with “Thanks for remembering the good old days!” with a perfect autograph as my grandpa and Phil both spent time as kids in Glendale, NY. So I wrote Phil asking for an autograph for my grandfather in 1989. We got a large envelope just weeks later!
He even sent me an autograph that I did not ask for & signed it “HOLY COW! Best Wishes” Phil Rizzuto to me. What a perfect gentleman he was. I put a picture of that autograph and full story on Facebook. My exact name is the only one on Facebook especially if you add NY.
Thanks Brandon for bringing up this true baseball icon again…