Phil Rizzuto Was Cora’s Prince
By Joe Guzzardi
When New York Yankees’ Hall of Famer and long-time broadcaster died at age 90, his wife Cora said, “I’ve lost my beautiful prince.” The Rizzutos had been married for 64 gloriously happy years.
Rizzuto married Cora Anne Ellenborn on June 23, 1943; the two first met the previous year when Rizzuto substituted for Joe DiMaggio as a speaker at a Newark Holy Communion breakfast. “I fell in love so hard I didn’t go home”, Rizzuto recalled. “Scooter,” as Rizzuto was universally referred to, rented a nearby hotel room for a month to be as close as possible to his beloved Cora.
Cora was often part of Rizzuto’s patter. He often left the game early, and said over the air, “I’ll be home soon, Cora!” or “Cora, I gotta get over that bridge!” referring to the congested George Washington Bridge that Yankee fans had to cross to get to New Jersey.
In later years, Rizzuto would announce the first six innings of Yankee games; the TV director would often playfully show a shot of the bridge, which can be seen from the top of Yankee Stadium, after Rizzuto had departed. Rizzuto was also very phobic about lightning, and sometimes left the booth following violent thunderclaps.
During his post-playing career, Rizzuto broadcasted Yankees’ games for 40 years. Listeners heard not only about the on field action but assorted other subjects. His popular catchphrase was “Holy cow.” Rizzuto also became known for saying “Unbelievable!” or “Did you see that?” to describe a great play and would call somebody a “huckleberry” if he did something Rizzuto did not like. During game broadcasts, “Scooter” would frequently wish listeners a happy birthday or anniversary, give cooking lessons, send get-well wishes to fans in hospitals, and give good reviews to restaurants he liked, or hype the cannoli he ate between innings. His chatter sometimes distracted the speaker himself; Rizzuto devised the unique scoring notation “WW” for his scorecard; it stood for “Wasn’t Watching.”
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 200 hits and 92 walks and scored 125 runs. While leading the league in fielding percentage, Rizzuto handled 238 consecutive chances without an error, setting the single-season record for shortstops. In all, Rizzuto played in five All-Star games, on 10 AL championship teams that appeared in seven World Series. Rizzuto ended up among the top 10 in World Series games played, at bats, runs scored and steals.
His broadcasting partners were Frank Messer and Bill White, a former St. Louis Cardinals first baseman and baseball’s first black play-by-play announcer. Rizzuto, who broke in with broadcasting legends Red Barber and Mel Allen, and later worked with Tom Seaver, Bobby Mercer, Joe Garagiola, and Whitey Ford, said that in 18 years working with White, a cross word was never exchanged between them. Their rain delay chatter was classic, analytic free, baseball-exclusive talk.
In 1995, at age 77, Rizzuto decided to retire to spend more time with the love of his life, Cora. He said, “I hadn’t been fair to my family. Fifty-seven, 58 years, I missed half of every year. All the things had accumulated. The Mantle thing [Mantle’s death that year] brought it to a head. I could see myself in the same position. I’m lucky to be as old as I am without anything happening to me.”
At the end of Rizzuto’s life, he was in an assisted living facility. Every day, his teammate Yogi Berra drove over to play cards and to hold Rizzuto’s hand until his friend fell asleep. Yogi and Cora sat by Scooter’s bed to comfort the dying Rizzuto until he passed. Both Hall of Famers played their entire careers with the Yankees. Cora died in 2010; Berra, in 2015. White, who served as National League president from 1989 to 1994, was instrumental in Rizzuto’s Hall of Fame election. Age 92, White lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Joe Guzzardi is a Society for American Baseball Research member. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com