On the field, Berra was regarded as one of the greatest catchers of all time. Over his 19-year playing career, Berra hit .285/.348/.482, with 358 home runs. He made 15 straight All-Star games and won three MVP awards during his 18 seasons with the Yankees.
10 comments:
Great player. Great guy. One of my favorite baseball players.
Definitely the best bad-ball hitter I've ever seen. I saw him golf a ball barely off the ground into the right field seats at the old Stadium.
Let my highly recommend a book here: Harvey Araton, DRIVING MR. YOGI: YOGI BERRA, RON GUIDRY, AND BASEBALL'S GREATEST GIFT.
RIP
Jeff
PS - When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
I believe he said of George Steinbrenner, "He was born on third base and has gone through life thinking he hit a triple." A phrase I've had multiple reasons to use--and not just in relation to George Steinbrenner!
/RIP Yogi.
I've heard it said of W.
Jeff
W was born on home plate and has gone through his life believing he hit a home run!
Berra's public persona was a combination of comedian and gentleman. I only saw him play (in person) once, at old Comiskey Park in Chicago (1961, Saturday, July 15. (I had to look up the box score on Baseball Reference). Yogi played left field and went 0-3, with a SF (the Yanks played 3 catchers that day, with Elston Howard at first and Johnny Blanchard doing the actual catching). They fell behind 8-2, and then the rains came (and my dad said we had to leave). So of course the Yankees came back to win 9-8. In 10 innings. It's a sign of how things have changed that the two teams combined for 5 strikeouts and 12 walks.
Never saw him play except on the Game of the Week, with Dizzy Dean and Peewee Reese calling the games. I collected his baseball cards, too, and have several of them.
Yogi, Mickey, and Whitey were icons to me when I was a boy living in the South. This is a sad day for me and everyone else who loves the game.
The Yankees were my dad's team. I was a National League kid, but I had to admit that the Yankees had all the stars.
TEN World Series championships, and they say Johnny Bench was the best!?? Played outfield too. Maybe a goofy/funny guy, but he managed in the big leagues, and was a hell of a ball player. I say that as a Red Sox Fan as a kid, and a Giants fan for the last 50 years, but in the 50's and 60's, the Yankees and many of their players like Berra were like gods, arguably bigger than Michael Jordan in his day.
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