What can Phil Rizzuto teach us about acting?

“Heaven must have needed a shortstop.” -George Steinbrenner

I had prepared a very different column for you this week, but I just couldn’t let these seven days go by without paying tribute to one of the great Yankees players.

Phil Rizzuto was so short that when he was coming up through the minor leagues a teammate observed that he didn’t so much run as scoot along. He earned the nickname “Scooter” and it stuck for the rest of his life.

Rizzuto’s diminutive size earned him a rebuff from the legendary Casey Stengel, then with the Dodgers organizations, during an open try-out for the major leagues in 1937. “The Ol’ Perfessor,” as Stengel was known, told the dimunitive 5’6” Rizzuto, “’Listen, kid, you better go and get yourself a shoeshine box. That is the only way you’ll make a living.”

Not only did Rizzuto break into the majors and eventually earn induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he played under Stengel’s management!

After Rizzuto’s playing days were done he began what would eventually be a 40-year career as a Yankees broadcaster. Although his analysis and commentary often had absolutely nothing to do with what was happening on the field, his good-hearted nature and infectious enthusiasm became a beloved staple of the game for Yankees fans everywhere.

People ask me all the time if they have what it takes to be an actor. Usually they’re concerned about physical appearances—height, weight, beauty, age, etc. What I tell them is to turn on the television, go to the movies, and go to the theatre, and what do you see? This industry is populated by people of all shapes, sizes, ages, colors and looks. Whether or not you “have what it takes” is entirely up to you to decide, because it is completely a matter of what lies within.

I imagine it must have been devastating to the 21-year-old Rizzuto to hear a major-league manager the likes of the legendary Casey Stengel tell him he had no future in baseball.

Just about every professional actor has at least one similar story.

For a truly wonderful tribute to the career and life of Phil Rizzuto, follow this link.