Hi Tony
Back in the 1980's, I had several conversations with Ted while meeting him in Cooperstown. He was one of the friendliest BB players I ever met. These
were not short conversations, either. Ted loved to talk BB with you.
I'm a Yankees fan, too. My nearby (2 blocks away) neighbor when I young was Phil Rizzuto. A really great guy, everyone in the neighborhood loved him.
I will never forget Ted's response to me when I told him...."I would root for you to hit a HR into the upper Right Field stands at Yankee Stadium".
He replied…."I don't understand, you say you're a Yankees fan."
I responded with...."I knew your HR's wouldn't really matter, because at the end of the season, I knew the Yankees would win".
Ted cracked up laughing. Then he turned serious, and said...."If Rizzuto played for the Red Sox back then, we would have been the A.L. Champions".
Ted was quite serious when he said that to me. What I understood from that was that Rizzuto was a great Lead-Off batter who would Hit, Bunt, Walk,
etc. to get on base. Then he would eventually score 3 times at of 4.
TED Z
T206 Reference
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