THAT'S RIGHETTI SPAGHETTI TO YOU!

It was another Fourth of July in the New Dorp section of Staten Island.  Affectionately known as the war zone, Jefferson Ave. on July 4th was a mini Macy’s Fireworks Extravaganza in the 80s.   Blazing jumping jacks, streams of firecrackers and cherry bombs, and fiery bottle rockets colored the pavement of the town house covered street.   However, hours before the big party, my family and I listened to Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer and Bill White call a historic game in Yankee history- the first Yankee no-hitter in 27 years featuring fan favorite Dave Righetti.

That amazing July 4, 1983 game against the Red Sox was nothing less than exciting.  It was a scorching hot day and I can only imagine how warm Rags felt that day as we certainly did everything we could to keep cool.  Not only that but he had to put on a show at the stadium on Boss George’s birthday against the Sox.  Since we were in fact at a picnic at a family friend’s house, and there was no such thing as streaming, or cable, or televisions in every corner of the house, we ran an extension cord out to the tent and listened to every pitch through a Panasonic FM transistor radio.  No one ever thought the young Righetti had a shot in hell to pitch a no-no, especially against the Sox on July 4th with the last out a historic strike out to then top major league hitter Wade Boggs, but he did and it was fantastic.

(In Photo: Ron Guidry)
Pitching along side veteran Ron Guidry when Rags made it to the majors in 1981, Righetti always seemed fun- especially from my perspective.  He was always smiling, always laughing and the teams of the 80s, although not spectacular were fun to watch.  I have to say that the current Yankee team takes on a similar persona – although they are not as fun as the early 80s teams.

Soon after his no hit game, endorsement offers starting barreling in to Righetti, who humbly said, “If I don't do well and the Yankees don't do well, it would appear I got too wrapped up in my own success at the expense of the team.” (Read more HERE)

Rags eventually took a memorable television spot, perhaps only to me.  I recall it very well- Dave Righetti smirks his corny signature smile in a pasta commercial and says with a gleam in his eye, “That’s Righetti Spaghetti.”

He, like many of his Yankee teammates, had his own battles with George Steinbrenner.  In those days, George often threatened to “send his players down to Columbus” if they didn’t perform up to par.  I know that Guidry and George fought about his goatee, which was borderline criminal in the Yankee dress code handbook.

Righetti went on to have a very respectable career.  He headed off to the bullpen in his later years and currently he is second only to Mo on the all time Yankee saves list.

Today, Rags is the very successful pitching coach for the World Champion San Francisco Giants, a post he has held for 13 years.  Many believe that the 53-year-old coach would make a great manager one day.

“He has been through everything in this game that you can as a pitcher – starting, relieving, closing.  He’s really good about knowing what to say or not to say. He doesn’t always go right to mechanical things. He’s knows when you need encouragement or reinforcement. He’s just very good at communicating,” said Ryan Vogelsong in an article published in the New York Daily News (HERE) following the World Series last year.

So although the teams of the 80’s carrying the veterans Lou Pinella, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry, Graig Nettles and Goose Gossage seemed like nothing special, they were important to the franchise because they helped mentor up and coming players and new additions like Don Mattingly, Rick Cerone and Dave Winfield.  Like I said earlier, similar to our team this year, but not quite as fun- at least yet- maybe we need an exploding rosin bag like we saw in Pittsburgh this week or some pie in the face to get things rolling this year.  We need the smiles of the 80s to frame our players of 2013.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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