Hey Scott
Ole buddy....you cannot talk like that about my neighbor, Rizzuto. I grew up living only two blocks away from him in Hillside, NJ.
I personally knew him for many years, and you couldn't meet a nicer, friendlier person. OK, all that does not get him in the HOF.
But, another
Ted said it the best. In 1984, I met Ted Williams up in Cooperstown. We had a tremendous conversation for about
an hour (actually, I did most of the listening). I told him when I was a kid, I rooted for him to hit HR's in the upper RF stands at
Yankee Stadium. He was somewhat confused, since earlier I had told Ted I was a YANKEES fan, because Rizzuto was my nearby
neighbor.
Why did I root for Ted, because as a 10-year old kid, I liked him since his name was "Theodore". Furthermore, I told him that....
"at the end of the season I knew the YANKEES would be the Champions".
Ted cracked up laughing....but then he got real serious and told me...."if Rizzuto was playing for the Red Sox in those days, they
would have been the Champions". He went on to explain this......Rizzuto was the best Lead-Off player he had ever seen. Rizzuto
would get a Hit, or Bunt, or Walk (or even get hit by a pitch). Then Steal 2nd Base, and eventually score. Ted emphasized an old
axiom in BB which says if a Lead-Off batter gets on 1st base, he will score a Run 3 out of every 4 times.
When Ted Williams was on the HOF Veterans Committee he was very instrumental in getting Rizzuto into the HOF.
Take care, my friend.
TED Z
T206 Reference
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12-16-2019, 09:43 PM
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