Jerry Summers
When you read the crazy (and funny) quotations attributed to Larry “Yogi” Berra it is sometimes overlooked that he is in baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
His career as a member of the New York Yankees (and Mets) as both a player and manager includes 18 times as an All-Star appearance in 14 World Series and champion in 10 of them.
His career is memorialized at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center (YBM + LC) in Little Falls, New Jersey.
“The mission of the YBM + LC is to sustain and promote the values of respect, perseverance, sportsmanship, and excellence through inclusive culture sports-based educational exhibits and programs.”
The museum opened on December 4, 1998 adjacent to Yogi Berra Stadium which was used by a minor league and Montclair State baseball teams.
In addition to his baseball career Yogi is remembered for his “Berra-isms”, which are colloquial expressions that lack logic but nevertheless are humorous and part of American history language.
Many of them were not actually said by the former Yankee catcher, but in his typical unique fashion he was often quoted as saying:
“I never said most of the things I said.”
Below are a few of his popular quotes:
1. “It ain’t over till it’s over”;
2. “Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical”;
3. “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours”;
4. “Slump? I ain’t in no slump…I just ain’t hitting”;
5. “Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel”;
6. “You’ve got to be very careful when you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there”;
7. “Even Napoleon had his Watergate”;
8. “It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much”;
9. “I don’t know (if they were men or women fans running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads”;
10. “So I’m ugly. I never saw anyone hit with their face”;
11. “Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets”;
12. “If I didn’t make it in baseball, I won’t have made it workin’. I didn’t like to work”;
13. “A lot of the guys go, ‘Hey, Yog, say a Yogi-ism.’ I tell ‘em, ‘I don’t know any.’ They want me to make one up. I don’t make ‘em up. I don’t even know when I say it. They’re the truth. And it is the truth. I don’t know.”
(Most are still irreverent in today’s world!)
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You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com