Let Him Sleep on It

Phil Rizzuto is dead at 89. To millions and millions, he was the Yankees' shortstop and announcer. Yet for all the postseason glories he witnessed and World Series victories he worked, Rizzuto's most famous play-by-play call came in a pop song: He was the voice of Meat Loaf's "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," the Bruce Springsteen–meets–Andrew Lloyd Webber opus that, speaking of summer songs, was a mainstay on local album rock stations in the summer of ’78. (Meat's duet partner is Karla DeVito, who went on to become a Clash backup singer and Mrs. Robby Benson.)

Legend holds that the Scooter felt blindsided when he learned that his monologue, full as it was of baseball lingo, would be used to call one of Mr. Loaf's attempted sexual conquests. Holy cow, indeed.

BONUS LINK: A classic Rizzuto commercial for the Money Store