Phil Linz, Harmonica Master, RIP

[jazztrain]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/10/sports/baseball/phil-linz-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

[JSngry]

I became aware of him as a Phillie, had no idea about the early harmonica incident until just now. Wow!

[sgcim]

When I was a real little kid, I was a NY Yankee fan. I knew the whole line-up- Moose, Richardson,Kubek Boyer, Howard, Mantle, Maris,Tresh and Whitey Ford.

I was aware of Linz as a utility infielder. One time my uncle Paul, who owned a liquor store in Brooklyn, took me and my cousin Raymond to a Yankee game. He said he had a special surprise for us at the end of the game. When the game was over, we went out to the parking lot, and there was Phil Linz waiting for us. Being a second baseman in Little League, it was a big deal to me. He acted very friendly, and gave me his autograph, which thrilled me to no end. Right next to us was Phil Rizzuto, wearing sunglasses, talking to a big crowd of people. It struck me as strange that my fave announcer had a big crowd of people, and Phil Linz had just me.

I don't remember the harmonica incident, but looked it up, and came up with this:

I remember Phil opened up a bunch of bars and restaurants, so maybe he met my uncle buying booze for one of his clubs. RIP, Phil...

Another one of my Yankee heroes died recently, Whitey Ford. I used to see him when I was in the house band for a country club that Whitey was a member of. He imbibed a great deal when we were playing there, and you could hear that cackling laugh above the music that we were playing.

I finally got up the courage to talk to him at the water fountain once, and I told him that I tried to copy his wind-up and overhand delivery when I was a kid. He just laughed his head off at me., because he was completely wasted. RIP, Whitey.