Where’s Yogi?
One of My Best Friends gave me a cool T-shirt from the Baseball Hall of Fame that has the names of Hall of Fame greats who wore an Astros uniform and the years they wore it. Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell of course. Those no longer with us like Leo Durocher, our manager at one point, Nellie Fox, Eddie Mathews, Joe Morgan, Robin Roberts, and Don Sutton. It also has Randy Johnson, Pudge Rodriguez, and Nolan Ryan.
I always wondered why Yogi Berra isn’t on the T-shirt. He was a coach for us in the 1980s and wore the number 8, the number he wore as a Yankee.
Yogi Berra was born on this day 97 years ago.
I am fortunate to have a photo of him in his Yankee uniform with his autograph. The photo was a gift to me. I never met him. I saw him play once in Chicago when I was a kid.
He was a great player. 358 career dingers. 1,430 RBIs. .285 career average. Holds the World Series record for most plate appearances – 295. Most World Series at-bats – 259. Most World Series base hits – 71. Most World Series doubles – 10. Most World Series singles – 49. He also has 10 World Series rings as a player. Not bad at all.
He played from 1946 to 1965. He was also voted into the MLB All-Century team in 1999.
He was also known for his outrageous quotes. Here are some of the lesser known:
“Steve McQueen looks good in this movie. He must have made it before he died.”
“Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.”
He told his players in Spring Training to “pair up in threes.”
“We made too many wrong mistakes.”
On his wife, Carmen:
“We have a good time together, even when we’re not together.”
“You can observe a lot by watching.”
And:
“I really didn’t say everything I said.”
He was born in St. Louis to immigrant parents. His name was Lorenzo Pietro or Lawrence Peter. He got the “Yogi” nickname playing American Legion ball.
He went into the Hall of Fame in 1972 on his second ballot with close to 86% of the vote. Second ballot?
Hanna-Barbera introduced “Yogi Bear” in 1958. It was a given back then that Yogi Berra was the inspiration for the name of the cartoon bear, but no one admitted as such.
Yogi left us in 2015.
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The game was suspended last night in the top of the fourth with us leading 5-1. I rained a lot. The game will resume at noon today with the regularly scheduled game to follow.
