Ah, the glory days of Yankee baseball on WPIX. Phil Rizzuto, Bill White and Frank Messer. Great memories. Just need a commercial for Manufacturers Hanover.
With all due respect much of the charm of watching Yankees games back in the day was the interaction between Phil Rizzuto and Bill White. Rizzuto would go on some unrelated tangent and White would need to reel him back in. To a non-Yankee fan it must’ve seemed odd but Yankee fans loved the Scooter.
In those days, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White and Frank Messer called all the games on TV for WPIX channel 11 and WABC AM radio. One of them would do the radio call while two did the TV call, and they'd switch out a guy every 3 innings. In each of these clips, you only hear two of the three guys.
Thanks for posting! Great stuff. I was at the game (at 55:50) where Chris Chambliss cracked a walk-off home run. Wild game. It was on August 16th, the day Elvis Presley died. A very surreal day, to say the least. The pitcher who gave up the home run was Randy Wiles and it would be the last pitch of his very short MLB career.
I attended all those home games. Lots of found memories. Too bad the complete game broadcasts no longer exists. All those wins against Boston were classics. Especially that June weekend sweep.
Now this was baseball and the last stand of it in my opinion. Dirty, dingy, dark old stadiums, small crowds, cheap ticket prices and then there was Yankee Stadium which looked better than any stadium out there after 1976.
There are key plays in several key games between Boston and the Yankees in 1977. In particular an important 3 game sweep by the Yankees in June of 1977 (including a game winning Baltimore chop base hit by Paul Blair with the bases loaded to complete that June sweep of Boston) and another series sweep in September of 1977 (several key plays by Reggie Jackson including his game winning home run). Great segments, I have not seen some of these since going to those games in NY in '77.
This is a true gem of highlights. If you were a 16 year old who lived and breathed Yankee baseball, as I did, then you will watch it many times, over and over. The '78 team gets a lot of praise for coming back from 14 games back in the standings. But the '77 team came off that embarrassing WS sweep by the Reds to capture the Yankees first title since Bobby Richardson caught that line drive off McCovey's bat in 1962. We think of Reggie's 3 Hrs in game 6, but it was everything that led up to that that this video captures. Again, great download.
The Red Sox game that I attended won on the Blair hit (June 25) was between starting pitchers Don Gullett and Reggie Cleveland. Starts at the 19 minute mark and goes to the 22 minute mark. Fabulous. I sat in the bleachers.
I miss the days when Phil Rizzuto was off the mark and Bill White would correct him by saying, "Uh, check that, Scooter..." And then Scooter would call everyone by their last name.
OK, being a Red Sox fan since 1975, I have had my years of despising the Yankees. Now, I have no ill will. I respect their legacy and professionalism. Having written this, this compilation really annoys me. It's as if the Red Sox didn't win one game against the Yankees in 1977. Now, granted, I get it. It's a compilation from WPIX. I should expect it but still!! C'mon!! By the way, Boston had an 8-7 record against NY in 1977 but you would never know it by watching this.
I didn't start following the Yankees until 1978. This 1977 team is like the exact same roster, except for no Gossage. Was that the only roster turnover between those two years?
No Torres was on Yankees 77 n Red Sox 78 , Few others too switched around but all key players yes. In World Series remember Brian Doyle played for Randolph Awesome stuff
I think George Steinbrenner is one of the greatest owners in the history of baseball, and ought to be in the Hall of Fame. Crazy that he isn't. The Yankees were the door mat of the American League when he bought the team from CBS, a pin striped shell of what they once were. He said he would return the Yankees to greatness, and did so. This team, and the 1990s team, capped off by maybe (arguably) the greatest team ever in 1998, are how an owner invests in his team. People either love the Yankees, and George, or hate them. Most people who hate the Yankees are just jealous that their tight wad owner doesn't run their team like how George ran the Yankees. And his sons are/were nothing like him. They do not/did not have the same fire whatsoever.
