RichTAkes! on Yogi Berra

RichTAkes! on Yogi Berra

Rest in peace Yogi, you were a true class-act!

Yogi Berra, Yankee Who Built His Stardom 90 Percent on Skill and Half on Wit, Dies at 90

Yogi-Berra-ObitI was five and turned six during the 1962 season, I was a huge Yankees fan, they were on the Sunday “Game of the Week” nearly every Sunday afternoon. It must have been on CBS. Former Yankee Dizzy Dean was the announcer, and Falstaff beer sponsored the game. (this was before the “Papa Joe Greasydick” campaign in the early 70s which doomed that brand of beer. What were they thinking?)

Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra, what more could anyone at my then tender age ask for? Clete Boyer? Yes! I think his twin brother was named Clint, who played for the Cardinals with Stan “the Man” Musial.

By this time, Yogi was far along in his career and shared catching duties with Elston Howard. Jim Bouton was a pretty good pitcher too.

For me, this was the golden era of the Yankees, they won 14 of 17 World Series during this time.

I was surprised to learn that Yogi has played in more World Series games than any other player, he came up to the majors in 1947 if I recall correctly (it’s in the NY Times piece above). This would put Yogi in the same rookie class as Jackie Robinson with the cross-town Brooklyn Dodgers.

He later managed both the Yankees and the Mets and probably knew more about baseball than anyone, excepting possibly Leo “the Lip” Durocher.

I also learned yesterday that he was a machine-gunner’s mate in the Navy serving at the invasion at Omaha Beach.

Yogi was an American icon, I wish him Godspeed to his next destination. He was truly a class-act.

Here is the 1962 Yankees roster:

1962 New York Yankees Roster by Baseball Almanac

35 of Yogi Berra’s most memorable quotes

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 one to four.”

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.”

(hit the link for more)

The Yogi Book (9780761154433): Yogi Berra

The Yogi book on Amazon

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