Rizzuto's spirit carries on in Cubs' infield

Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot, meet Phil Rizzuto.

Not literally, of course. Not anymore. Not after Rizzuto died early Tuesday at 89.

But the former Yankees shortstop's spirit lives on in baseball, where players don't have to be giants among men.

All they have to be is men among men.

That's a killer for boys like me, who can't use their lack of size as an excuse for not getting to the major leagues.

We can say we weren't beefy enough to make the NFL or elongated enough to make the NBA. That copout won't make it in baseball.

I know, I know, Garrett Wolfe is trying to make the Bears at 5-feet-7 and Muggsy Bogues played in the NBA at 5-3.

But those are exceptions, and extreme ones at that. Conversely, average humans always have populated baseball rosters.

Walking through big-league clubhouses, it's cool to see how short some of the great home run hitters, strikeout pitchers and many other players are.

Apparently, regardless of what performance-enhancers can do for an athlete, they still can't make anybody taller. Trust me, I call BALCO every day to see whether they have concocted talloids.

Anyway, few current fans and players remember Rizzuto, so Theriot is compared as a starting shortstop mostly to the Cardinals' David Eckstein.

All Eckstein has done at 5-7 (stretching it) and an alleged 177 pounds is play everyday shortstop for Angels (2002) and Cardinals (2006) world-championship teams.

Yet even that pales next to Rizzuto's career.

Heck, the guy finished nine of his 13 Yankees seasons in the World Series. It might have been 12 of 16 if he hadn't lost three years to military service during World War II.

On those great Yankees teams, Rizzuto played as critical a role as the taller Mickey Mantle and heavier Yogi Berra. Today the three of them are together in baseball's Hall of Fame.

Rizzuto, listed at 5-feet-6 and 150 pounds in the "Baseball Encyclopedia," was nicknamed "Scooter" for the way he moved around the field.

Sound familiar? That's the way Theriot and Fontenot are contributing to the Cubs' attempt to make the playoffs.

The two of them look shorter than I am, though both are listed as taller. They weigh a little more, but not much more. If they walked down the street on your block, you might not notice them.

A couple of months ago I asked Cubs manager Lou Piniella whether Fontenot reminded him of anyone he played with or against.

He thought a moment before saying, "Freddie Patek."

Astonished I said, "Fontenot's bigger than that."

To which Piniella said, "Is he?"

Maybe, maybe not. Patek is listed in the "Baseball Encyclopedia" at 5-5, 148 pounds. Fontenot has to be bigger than that … doesn't he?

The Cubs' official Web site has Fontenot at 5-8 and Theriot at 5-11. If those are accurate, I'm thrilled to learn I finally have cracked the 6-foot-tall mark.

Er, where was I?

Oh, yeah, baseball players can overcome a lack of size by working and grinding and thinking and, yes, scooting.

Rizzuto set the standard for size-challenged championship shortstops. Later, Larry Bowa was only a little bigger while winning a World Series. Now there's Eckstein.

Wouldn't it be something if Ryan Theriot were the next to join them … for the Cubs, of all teams?