Yogi Berra, Master Yankee Catcher With Goofy Wit, Dies at 90 | Hacker News Reader

Yogi Berra, Master Yankee Catcher With Goofy Wit, Dies at 90

nytimes.com

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The Austrian economist Ludwig Lachmann once walked into the colloquium room at New York University, where the blackboard displayed this quotation: “When it comes to the future, one word says it all: You never know. – Y. Berra.”

Having built much of his economics on the unknowability of the future, Lachmann noticed the quote. However, having lived in South Africa for decades and being unfamiliar with the wit and wisdom of the former New York Yankees catcher, he pondered the chalk inscription for a bit, turned to those assembled, and in his heavy accent said, “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the works of Professor Berra.”

I knew Yogi had something to do with baseball but if all ever did was come up with great sayings, that alone would've justified a lengthy obit in the Times -- I've always found it funny the kind of people who pat themselves on the back for quickly seeing that a Yogi-ism is "dumb", as if they're excited to discover someone in the world dumber than they -- but I had no idea at all that he was so great a player to be considered the best catcher in the history of the sport.

Reminds me of Steve Wozniak, whose antics and pranks and baffling generosity are so amazing that you almost forget that he was also, incidentally, a freakishly outstanding engineer, and a co-founder of Apple.

Yogi was not only a great guy who said funny things but he played for 10 World Series winners in 16 years, a feat no one else has ever done. Plus they named the cartoon character after him, which is amazing by itself.

Yogi Bear was named after this guy?! Oh that makes so much more sense than who I thought it was all my life (the TV inventor, Logi Beard).

His team also reached the World Series in 14 out of 17 years. (All of 1947-1963 except '48, '54, and '59.)

I don't really know the guy since I grew up in England, but from what I've read today I think he must've been some sort of subversive genius. All the quotes I've seen attributed to him suggest a perspective on the world which isn't really congruent with stupidity. For example, "I won't buy my kids an encyclopedia; they can walk to school just like I did." It's brilliant, and really funny. If the only thing he ever said was, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it," you might be forgiven for thinking he was a stereotypical lunkheaded sportsman. Taken as one example from a whole canon of sayings, though, and it's almost profound: 'you need to make a decision.'

As I heard it, the "fork in the road" quote is referring to his house. It had a road leading up to it that split into two roads, then came back together at the house.

So, those were specific instructions. It didn't matter which way you went, you would end up at his house. It was just delivered in a funny way.

Not being American and not being interested in baseball, I never knew that Yogi Berra was a famous baseball player. All I knew was a quote of his that I liked. I thought he really was a yogi. It is this quote:

"You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there."

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Yogi Bear gets his name translated. In Portuguese he's Zé Colmeia (Joe Beehive).

Born, raised in America. Hardly know/seen the Yogi Bear.

As a kid in another country I use to think grownups were referring to the Yogi Bear cartoon character. We used to watch those cartoons all the time and the bear also had funny quotes and remarks. (Baseball isn't really a big sport in my country).

Yogi Bear is named after Yogi Berra. Berra was known for his goofy sense of humor and so the cartoon character is modeled, in someways, after him

Hahaha. I had the exact same reflection. I don't know much about Baseball either. When I was listening people talking about Baseball and referring to Yogi Bear, I thought it was a mascot of one of the teams. Anyway, RIP.

Having only seen him in fortune files I assumed he was some sort of Usenet celebrity of the past until now.

Yogi Berra Quotes:

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

You can observe a lot by just watching.

It ain't over till it's over

It's like déjà vu all over again.

No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.

Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.

Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.

We made too many wrong mistakes.

Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.

He was a living legend. Until he died.

I plan to attend his funeral so he'll attend mine. That's just good manners.

Or perhaps, 'Since his death he's become a living legend.'

I, also, was surprised to learn that he was still alive until recently. So in many ways, this announcement is like déjà vu all over again.

One of those characters who transcended his sport and his nation. Vale.

When I was a kid, I was a baseball nut. Berra was an Astros coach from 1985-1989 and one of my greatest thrills was meeting Berra before a game in 1986. For a 9 year old with an encylopedic (at the time) knowledge of the Yankees and Astros, that was a thrill that resonates even to this day. I met Michael Jordan really briefly in 1996 and it didn't come close to that memory of Berra. An apt quote for today: "Always go to other people's funerals or else they won't come to yours." RIP Yogi. Thanks.

Yogi was in a league of his own in so many ways. He was the greatest catcher in the history of baseball, but he's remembered for his wit and character.

I met Yogi once, when I was a teenager. This man had a thousand accomplishments to his record, and a museum built in his name, and he still took the time to talk to a young man and give him advice on how to achieve his dreams. He was a uniquely good person, and he will truly be missed.

"If you can't imitate him, don't copy him."

Class and ability in a 5'7" package. A lot of current players in a lot of sports could learn a lesson or two from him.

He had the ability. He had a year where he hit more home runs than strikeouts as a regular player. Like a lot of good catchers, he went on to manage.

A friend related a story on Facebook this morning: this friend was at a baseball camp in Houston when Berra was coaching there and Berra came to coach the kids one day. His advice to my friend "you can't hit and think at the same time". 9 words to summarize the importance of developing an intuition.

Coincidentally on Sunday I was trying to figure out a word for "yogiism" - "malapropism" comes close but it's not it. I was googling around and ran into a story about Berra. Apparently at age 16 Berra tried out for the St. Louis Cardinals and Branch Rickey (legendary coach of the Cards) told him that he'd never make it in baseball.

There's a scholarship at Columbia in his name that he established because he regretted that he dropped out of school in 8th grade and never completed his formal education.

Link possibly paywalled, but here goes: http://www.wsj.com/articles/yogi-berras-best-yogi-ism-was-a-...

A select, semi-official list of his yogisms at his museum's website: http://yogiberramuseum.org/just-for-fun/yogisms/

More here: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra

Sad day.

My wife found the Yogi Berra book in our bookshelf lately and I needed to explain that

a.) Yogi is no Yogi

b.) He's genius and sounds like a mix of Zen master and Yogi.

NPR did a little retrospective this morning. This is great:

"Yogi, what do want done for your funeral arrangements?"

"I don't know... surprise me!"

As a Bostonian I hated the Yankees. But I loved Yogi.

As a New York, I hate the Red Sox but can return the admiration for Ted Williams. Healthy competition doesn't have to stop admiration.

Respect the player, hate the laundry.

"It ain't over till it's over." -- Yogi Berra

It was tough to see this news pop up after enjoying a big Yankees win. Yogi was one of the greatest catchers and Yankees in history, and he was part of more World Series teams than any other player (10!). Sad day for baseball fans.

Played in 14 WS, won 10. Even more remarkable.

Amazing. As a Brit, I knew of him but assumed he had died some time in the 50's or 60's. An interesting man.

After retiring he was a local fixture in North Jersey. He will be missed.

Some good "Yogi-isms" listed here - http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13722210/yogi-berra-quotes...

Honest question, what's the deal here? Are these all weird little slips of the tongue people find amusing, like that person in your life who is unintentionally funny, or are these purposeful little zen koans he comes up with to make you think and laugh?

Or is Berra's appeal that you'll never know if its the former or the latter?

It's a bit of both and neither at the same time.

Some quotes were taken out of context: "when you come to a fork in the road take it" - both forks lead to his house.

He never graduated high school which created interesting dialog and attributed to some of his quotes.

Regardless, he played for 17 years in the majors, and managed several more. He went to the championship something like 75% of the time. He was a good player, said interesting things, and had high baseball IQ.

You can observe a lot by watching a guy like that.

I always took them as intentional and think Yogi's humor has a lot in common with Groucho's [1]. Compare:

"I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT PEOPLE LIKE ME AS A MEMBER"

"Nobody goes there anymore it's too crowded"

But the charm is, you're not quite sure.

[1]: https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Groucho_Marx#Quotes

> Or is Berra's appeal that you'll never know if its the former or the latter?

That's how I take it (the latter) -- you hear something that on the surface sounds dumb, but on second thought, makes sense.

For those that don't know baseball, the catcher position is arguably the most cerebral in the game. Many good managers were once catchers (as they understand hitting and pitching).

According to Berra it was the former.

I am so popular that no one will believe that I am still alive.

Next year's Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium will be rough.

I hope they find his World Series rings that were stolen last year. RIP Yogi.

I always loved his whimsical one-liners. Thankfully, Jean-Claude Van Damme is still alive.

And for a longer collection of quotes: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/79014.Yogi_Berra

There's a little tavern on "the Hill", an Italian neighborhood here in St. Louis, down the street from where Yogi and Joe Garagiola grew up. My, then girlfriend, lived near there and we'd occasionally go to the tavern with her grandfather. Once in a while, Yogi would show up, even just 10 years ago, to say hi to old friends who would think nothing of him as a hall-of-famer but everything as a dear friend who had been gone a while.

Can I ask the name of the tavern? As a huge Yankees fan living in St. Louis I might stop by some time I'm in the neighborhood.

Milo's Tavern. Not far from Ruggeri's where you can get something to eat but, as Yogi said, no one goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

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