"It ain't over till it's over." Sadly, it's over. 18× All-Star (1948-1961, 1962) 13× World Series champion (1947, 1949-1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1969, 1977, 1978) 3× AL MVP (1951, 1954, 1955) New York Yankees #8 retired (along with Bill Dickey) Major League Baseball All-Century Team Never struck out more than 38 times in a season.
So sad at this news. It's like Groucho going. Some dudes just get life in all it's living colors and then spit it out to us in ways that are so funny we have to get it too.
When asked about a restaurant the team used to frequent yogi said" no one goes there anymore its too crowded" love that line. for his character to dwarf what a great player he was says alot about him. r.i.p. yogi
We forget that Berra was the greatest catcher of all time at the time he retired. Since then there's been a wave of two-way catchers that excelled both at the plate and behind it but when Berra retired he was way ahead in terms of all time value. If you look at Baseball References WAR (Wins Above Replacement) at the time Berra retired he was at 59.5 for his career. Bill Dickey was at 55.8 and Mickey Cochrane was at 52.1. That was the Catcher pecking order at that point. Berra's 358 home runs was 156 above the next all-time Catcher. Yogi played some OF also at times because the Yankees never wanted to take his bat out of the lineup but he needed rest on double-header days and when the Yanks played 6 or 7 days in a row as they often did on home stands. His last season in 1963 he played 64 games, all at Catcher.
Might as well list the top 35 Yogi-isms: 1. “It ain’t over till it’s over.” 2. “It’s deja vu all over again.” 3. “I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4.” 4. “Never answer an anonymous letter.” 5. “We made too many wrong mistakes.” 6. “You can observe a lot by watching.” 7. “The future ain’t what it used to be.” 8. “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” 9. “It gets late early out here.” 10. “If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.” 11. “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” 12. “Pair up in threes.” 13. “Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.” 14. “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” 15. “All pitchers are liars or crybabies.” 16. “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.” 17. “Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.” 18. “He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.” 19. “I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.” 20. “I can see how he (Sandy Koufax) won 25 games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.” Modal Trigger Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra in 1955. 21. “I don’t know (if they were men or women fans running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads.” 22. “I’m a lucky guy and I’m happy to be with the Yankees. And I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary.” 23. “I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.” 24. “In baseball, you don’t know nothing.” 25. “I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?” 26. “I never said most of the things I said.” 27. “It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.” 28. “I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.” 29. “I wish everybody had the drive he (Joe DiMaggio) had. He never did anything wrong on the field. I’d never seen him dive for a ball, everything was a chest-high catch, and he never walked off the field.” 30. “So I’m ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face.” 31. “Take it with a grin of salt.” 32. (On the 1973 Mets) “We were overwhelming underdogs.” 33. “The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.” 34. “You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.” 35. “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Sources: Los Angeles Times, Baseball Almanac, Baseball Digest, Catcher in the Wry (Bob Uecker), Sports Illustrated _
Gut wrenching...To me he is soooo overlooked by casual Yankees fans compared to other guys. Yogi is the heart and soul of the Yankees franchise and he is the greatest baseball champion of all time. To me I am a collector of HOF Yankees signed postcards and I know alot about baseball greats. Yogi was the prime-Dustin Pedroia of his time literally for over 12 years. He played so long and was one of the toughest outs in the history of the game. Every year his whole long career he never struck out more then 38 times...THAT IS INCREDIBLE. He won 3 MVP's and the dude kept defining #winning and was doing it at every level (player and coach taking teams to the pennant) His way was different and his quotes were so philosophical. The man if he played in this era would be a rock star with the success he had. People hype up Jeter and I love Jeter as a pro, shortstop, and captain but he was never in the same ballpark as Yogi Berra to me. (Never saw him play but man he was pesky and called great games as a catcher) As a individual, most guys would dream to live the life he did...A family man, a good and honest man. His wife died last year and he was close to her from what I read. His time came and now he is gone at 90. Defines being a BASEBALL LEGEND.
While, it's probably more urban legend, I've heard this one more than once - check it out: After catching both games of a doubleheader on a particularly hot day, Yogi stopped to shake hands with fans. He was introduced to NY Mayor Filorello La Guardia and his wife. Mrs. La Guardia commented that Yogi looked very cool on such a hot day. Yogi replied, "Well you don't look so hot yourself."
RIP Yogi. It is also worth mentioning he had a feud with Steinbrenner, which was one of the things that was very much to Steinbrenner's discredit. A feud with the soul of your team??? Anyway, great player.
