'Monster' Billy Crystal looks back on life's fastballs, curveballs and Joe DiMaggio

Billy Crystal’s Wikipedia page reads like an entry for four award-winning performers: Stand-up comedian. Movie and TV actor. Author. Nine-time Oscars host.

So when asked to pick which means the most to him, Crystal, 76, answers easily: None of them.

“You mention the Oscars, the movies, all these other things, and they’re great and I’m so fortunate,” he says. “But being the lead-off man for the New York Yankees was something where I said, ‘Whoa, that is ... it.’”

More on that Yankee experience later, including a rare sour memory of a jarring encounter with an idol, the Yankee Clipper himself, Joe DiMaggio.

In fact, despite nursing a pulled back, Crystal is full of stories in a wide-ranging chat with USA TODAY about his entertainment journey, occasioned by the return of “Monsters at Work,” Pixar’s “Monsters Inc.” TV spinoff, which premiered April 5 on Disney Channel (all episode now streaming on Disney+).

One could argue it all started for Crystal on “Soap,” the groundbreaking 1977-81 ABC sitcom in which he played Jodie Dallas, the son of Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon) and one of the first regular gay characters on primetime TV.

“At first the character was a little stereotypical, but I could see where we could go with him. I was proud of it and still am,” says Crystal, chuckling. “Someone said recently, when we started ‘Soap,’ the cast of ‘Will & Grace’ was in middle school.”

“Soap” led Crystal to a memorable mid-‘80s stint on "Saturday Night Live" (his Ricardo Montalban catchphrase “You look mah-velous” zipped into the zeitgeist) and a small but indelible role as a mime in Rob Reiner’s “This Is Spinal Tap” rock mockumentary (“Mime is money,” Crystal deadpanned).

All that goofing had its roots in Crystal's third grade epiphany.

“I was in the school cafeteria,” recalls Crystal, who was raised on Long Island, N.Y., “and my tray of food fell and everybody laughed. But I didn’t feel bad. I liked it. So the next time I came in, I threw my tray down. I’m 76 now and I’m still dropping trays. And it’s wonderful.”

When Billy (Crystal) met Mike (Wazowski): 'Wow, it's the walking CBS eye!'

If Crystal has a secret, it is his wide-eyed likability.

Whether appearing with his pals Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams to raise money for the homeless (Comic Relief), starring in rom-coms (“When Harry Met Sally”) or fish-out-of-water flicks (“City Slickers”) or waxing nostalgic in a 2013 autobiography (“Still Foolin’ Em”), there’s a funny-neighbor-who-did-really-well quality to him that endears.

Think less pompous star, more good-hearted mensch. The guy who (of course) is still married to his high school sweetheart, Janice, and whose two daughters have made them doting grandparents.

Crystal brought his sunny, hardworking personality to Mike Wazowski, the one-eyed green sidekick to Yeti-like creature Sulley (John Goodman) in 2001’s animated film “Monsters Inc.”

“When John (Lasseter, director-turned-Pixar boss) showed me Mike, I said, ‘Wow, John, it’s a walking CBS eye!’” he says, joking about the network’s logo. “But I came to love him. He’s feisty, he’s the runt of the monsters group, but he’s a dreamer. I love that he thinks he’s funny when he’s really not.”

The new season of the TV spinoff features guest voices including Mindy Kaling, Henry Winkler, Bowen Yang and Aubrey Plaza. “Mike is honestly up there with my favorite characters,” Crystal says.

The comedian’s nice-guy nature perhaps explains why he hosted the Academy Awards telecast so many times, a job that rewards those with the rare ability to skewer without offending. Does he miss the gig? Crystal laughs.

“I’m glad I’m in sweats eating Chinese food and not in a tuxedo,” he cracks, before praising his pal and go-to host of late, Jimmy Kimmel. “He does a terrific job. But sure, you can’t help but watch and see your mind jump to, ‘Oh, say this!’ It’s like you’re on stage again.”

For comedian Billy Crystal, life highlights and lowlights all revolve around sports

Speaking of big stages, a few moments crystallize. One was back in 1979, when Crystal was asked to celebrate the retiring boxing legend Muhammad Ali with a bit called “15 Rounds,” in which Crystal played both Ali and ABC announcer Howard Cosell.

“There’s 20,000 people at the L.A. Forum, and Ali is 20 feet from me,” he says, reeling in the years. “I do my thing, playing Ali as he’s aging, and then it’s over and I’m backstage. (Comedian) Richard (Pryor) is back there, and he says to me, “You’re a bad mother