We don’t do these often. Great players and characters like Yogi Berra don’t come around often. We try to write about the great parts of the baseball. Yogi Berra was a great part about baseball. We like to celebrate great achievements and call attention to the lesser discussed. Yogi had his great achievements and he was often discussed, but we’ve always got extra internet ink for an all-time great.
He was great and phenomenal and seemingly deserves every great thing that’s being said about him today. Most of what you’ll read today will center on his World Series titles and his “Yogisms.” I won’t do those parts of his life justice in this space, but I do want to share a few of my favorite.
- As a player, manager, or coach, Yogi appeared in 21 World Series, more than any franchise except the Yankees.
- Every year from when he was 22, until he was 36, Yogi received MVP votes.
- “It gets late early out here”
- Yogi caught both games of doubleheaders 117 times.
- “Somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight it. Just try to get better.”
It turns out that my favorite Yogism isn’t actually a Yogism at all. Leo Durocher once said: “You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.” I keep coming back to that saying today. It’s one of my favorite quotes and it hung on my wall as I grew up. I can’t help but think that Yogi lived a life worth saving, but I’m glad that the baseball gods didn’t try to save him for tomorrow. Tomorrow it might rain.
You will be missed, Lawrence Peter Berra.
-Sean Morash
