Same Friend, Same Deck of Cards

The Yankees of the late 1940s and '50s produced a lot of legends. The friendship between Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra might be the most lasting thing to come out of that clubhouse.

They were teammates for 11 seasons and won six World Series together. They bowled on the same team, went into business together with a bowling alley in Clifton, and both settled in New Jersey. There's even a photo from 1950 of the two of them playing cards on a Yankees charter flight.

Decades later, Rizzuto's health was failing, and he spent his final years in a nursing home in West Orange. Yogi kept showing up. Same friend, same deck of cards, half a century after the last game they played side by side.

When Phil died in August 2007, Yogi called him a gem, one of the greatest people he ever knew.

Sports love to talk about loyalty to a team. This was something rarer. The box scores ended in 1956. The friendship never did.