“I NEVER SAID MOST OF THE THINGS I SAID”
My Tribute to Yogi Berra
“Yogi Berra is synonymous with the Yankees….as he played, coached, managed and spewed famous quotes for the better part of four decades like no other in the storied history of the Yankees.”
La Diabla, Sportsphile and Raconteur
Bone Daddy really liked Yogi…..first, because he was the catcher….cuz anyone that knows baseball knows that the catcher is typically the field general on every team. Yogi was an awesome field general and tremendous player….but BD really liked what Yogi accomplished after his playing days….and the way he accomplished it.
So, we’ll let the stats of the pitching staff for the 1957 Yankees prove my point that Yogi Berra was an awesome field general as follows:
1957 Pitchers Wins / Losses ERA 1957 Pitchers Wins / Losses
Tom Sturdivant 16 – 6 / 2.54
Johnny Kucks 8 – 10 / 3.56
Bob Turley 13 – 6 / 2.71
Bobby Shantz 11 – 5 / 2.45
Don Larsen 10 – 4 / 3.74
Whitey Ford 11 – 5 / 2.57
Bob Grim 12 – 8 / 2.63
Art Ditmar 8 – 3 / 3.25
Tommy Byrnes 4 – 6 / 4.36
Al Cicotte 2 – 2 / 3.03
Ralph Terry 1 – 1 / 3.05
Sal Maglie 2 – 0 / 1.73
Folks, in 1957 at age 32….Yogi caught all but 18 games in the entire season. Can you imagine what it would be like on your knees and legs to catch 132 (MLB played 150 games in 1957) professional baseball games in one season at age 32.…a season in which his pitching staff maintained a winning percentage of 63.6%….along with a team pitching staff ERA of 3.00….which is unquestionable proof of what a great field general that he was. Then add into that equation that he had season offensive numbers of a .251 BA in 545 PA….with only 24 SO….meaning simply that the Yogi could put the bat on the ball. He scored 74 runs….hit 24 home runs….andhad 82 RBI….all the while he was directing each game and each pitch from behind home plate.
Actually though, the real truth of why BD liked Yogi so much wasn’t just as a result of his long tenure of being the Yankees field general….but rather…it was what came out of his mouth throughout his entire MLB career….as Yogi has been and will always be one of the most quotable sports figures of all time….even rivaling The Greatest – Muhammad Ali.
Like Ali, more than just a few real pearls came out of Yogi’s mouth..…so, I just have to share some of his best as follows:
“It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.”
“It’s like deja vu all over again.”
“We made too many wrong mistakes.”
“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”
“You can observe a lot just by watching.”
“All pitchers are liars or crybabies.”
“He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.”
“It gets late early out there.”
“I don’t know if they were men or women running naked across the field…..they had bags over their heads.”
“I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia…..let them walk to school like I did.”
“So I’m ugly. So what? I never saw anyone hit with his face.”
“90% of the game is half mental.”
“”If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up some place else.”
“We have deep depth.”
“The future ain’t what it used to be.”
“I really didn’t say everything I said.”
“It ain’t over till it’s over.”
On being the guest of honor at an awards banquet: “Thank you for making this day necessary.” When giving directions to Joe Garagiola to his New Jersey home….which was accessible by two routes: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Carmen Berra, Yogi’s wife asked: “Yogi, you are from St. Louis…we live in New Jersey…and you played ball in New York. If you go before I do….where would you like me to have you buried?” Yogi’s answer: “Surprise me.”
“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”
“The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.”
“How can you hit and think at the same time?”
“Never answer anonymous letters.”
“Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.”
“If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.”
On why he no longer went to Ruggeri’s, a St. Louis restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.”
“I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.”
“I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.”
I will end this tribute to Yogi Berra with the best assessment of the character that Yogi was with a quote from his long time Hall of Fame Yankee Manager Casey Stengal….“Yogi could fall in a sewer and come up with a gold watch”….cuz ya see….we dogs know about sewers and their smells….cuz we just love to roll in anything that has a real good stench….be it dead for a few days or in the final stinky stages of biodegradable….you know the really smelly stuff. Anyway, the way Yogi chose to walk on this Earth was just being the best Yogi he could be….as he seemed to always get the gold watch….no matter what he might have fallen into or rolled in he seemed to always leave us all with lasting memories of a man who knew the game of baseball inside and out. That is why this salute to a a Hall of Fame Player and a Hall of Fame Manager was written. Hail to Yogi….and his truly lasting impression left to the ages where his mouth is always turned upwards in a smile.
