‘Seinfeld’ fans mourn Jerry Stiller’s death by sharing classic Steinbrenner scene
Google Trends showed a spike in the number of people searching for Jay Buhner on Monday morning.
That’s a testament to actor Jerry Stiller, who died Monday at age 92. Stiller was the scene-stealing Frank Costanza, the father of George, in the iconic television show “Seinfeld.”
In one episode, Frank Costanza, never one to hide his emotions, berated former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who had come to (erroneously) inform Frank and his wife that their son had died.
Despite the stunning news of George’s demise, Frank Costanza took the opportunity to confront Steinbrenner about the 1988 trade that sent Jay Buhner to the Mariners for Ken Phelps. It was a terrible deal for the Yankees, but who could have expected it would make for such a funny moment years later?
Fans were sharing this hilarious interaction:
Buhner, who hit 310 home runs in 15 seasons, loved that he made it on Seinfeld, even if it was in name only.
“That probably made me more famous than my antics on the field,” Buhner told the Seattle Times in 2010. “Probably one of the greatest shows ever. Ever. My only regret was that I never got the chance to make a cameo. A buddy of mine called me on the phone and said, ‘Dude. You were just mentioned on Seinfeld.’ And I was like ‘What?’ I actually get more questions about that than anything else.
“Jerry Stiller, Ken Phelps and myself — we were on XM radio and we did a 30-minute deal where we talked about how it was one of the most talked about shows ever. It was awesome to hear Jerry talk about it, the behind the scenes. They didn’t really talk about sports on the show and for them to break the mold and do it was really cool.”
Stiller’s work clearly resonated with fans and not just on “Seinfeld.” He also was a star on “The King of Queens,” playing Arthur Spooner.
But Stiller’s influence on pop culture could been seen Monday as these “Seinfeld” references were trending nationally on Twitter: Jerry Stiller, Jay Buhner, Serenity Now, Festivus and Del Boca Vista.
The last three were all terms made popular by Stiller as Costanza. Frank would try to calm himself by yelling “Serenity Now!” in anything but a relaxing manner:
Festivus was the holiday Frank created:
And Del Boca Vista was a fictional place in Florida:
Stiller was a baseball fan, and he talked with MLB Network Radio about the influence the game has on people:
