‘Magic Pizza Man’ reflects on Arizona D-backs World Series win
Something Good is sponsored by Papa Murphy’s
SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — Who doesn’t love a good pizza? One local man is celebrating 30 years of making pizzas here in the Valley, and his pizzas tie into a magical and exciting time when our Arizona Diamondbacks won the World Series. For Andy Sidell, making pizza is much more than a job.
“It’s a passion for me,” he says. For the past three decades, Andy’s been making pies at Rosati’s Pizza on Shea Boulevard and Scottsdale Road in north Scottsdale.
“We’re (passionate) about our pizza,” he says. “We want every pizza to be loaded with toppings so people get their money’s worth. They’re great looking pizzas. They have to be great before they get out the door.”
Sidell has made thousands of pizzas over the years. “It makes me feel good when I get all the feedback from the customer,” he says. “’Oh, I love your pizza,’ It’s a heartwarming feeling, it really is.”
Among the regulars who ordered from this Rosati’s was Arizona Diamondback great Luis “Gonzo” Gonzalez. Sidell says when Gonzo played for the D-backs and didn’t have a good day, he’d often call to order his regular pizza with pepperoni and green olives. “One time I said, ‘Want me to throw some extra pepperoni on there?’ and he said, ‘Yea, would you please?’ So then it turned into a double pepperoni and green olives. That was his pizza,” Sidell says.
And it’s this very pizza that hit a home run with Gonzo, as he’d eat it for every home game during the 2001 playoffs. The streak started when the D-backs happened to order pizza from Sidell during the first game of the playoffs against the Atlanta Braves. “They ordered 13 pizzas,” Sidell says. “And I made one special for Luis. They won. Obviously, eight baseball players are very superstitious. So the following day, they ordered pizzas again. The exact same order.”
Well, you know the story. The Diamondbacks kept winning and so Sidell kept delivering pizzas. And that’s how he became known as the “Magic Pizza Guy.” Sidell was there for the ride, all the way up until Game 7 at the bottom of the 9th inning when Gonzo hit the game-winning single into left field for the D-backs’ first World Series title!
“As soon as he got that hit,” Sidell says. “My friend and I ran to the front row. Stadium was going crazy, and the security recognized me, and he said, ‘Magic Pizza Guy, get down on the field!’ So, he let me go down on the field. I’m with the players, hugging them and stuff.”
It’s Something Good when Sidell looks back on these great memories. However you slice it, he can say his pizzas were a part of the road to Arizona’s World Series win.
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