TVSquad

Today's a sad day for any Yankee fan over the age of 30 or so, as Phil Rizzuto, a Hall of Fame shortstop for the team during the '40s and '50s, died today at 89. Of course, most Yankee fans remember "The Scooter" as a broadcaster; he did play-by-play on TV and radio from 1956 to 1996.

During that time, fans can fondly tell you chapter and and verse about how unconventional he was; he'd send out birthday wishes in the hopes that the Yanks would get a hit, he often talked about the great Italian meal he ate the night before with his wife Cora, and he'd joke around with his various broadcast partners, usually laughing and saying "you huckleberry!"

(S03E20) I know this episode was produced over fourteen years ago, but it was still hard for me to recognize Catherine Keener in this episode. I'm usually pretty good at recognizing younger versions of now well-known actors, but even when I watched this episode the other day, I was surprised when the "Notes on Nothing" mentioned that Nina, Jerry's jealous artist girlfriend, was played by Keener. Maybe it was because she was younger, or it could have been her hair or something. Either way, she did a great job in this episode, foreshadowing how she'd do in movies like Being John Malkovich and The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Anyway, if you're a fan of Neil Simon, you probably loved that episode. If not, then it was still pretty damned good.

This post is probably super-specific to Yankees fans who get the YES Network, but I just wanted to bitch anyway; for all I know, this is happening on your local cable sports network, too.

Time was, when you tuned into the local TV coverage of your favorite team's games, there were two, maybe three, announcers, shuffling in and out to accomodate bathroom and hot dog breaks. Many times, the displaced announcer would work the radio side for a few innings. Either way, the team remained stable and familiar, like the warm summer days that are perfect for watching baseball.

But the YES Network doesn't seem to realize people like stability in the booth. Today, former Yankee backup catcher John Flaherty makes his debut in the YES booth, making him the (pauses to count on fingers and toes) eighth booth announcer the network has used this year.