Yogi Berra

[Chicat]

He may be remembered most for his quirky sayings and funny personality, but in baseball terms we may never see a winner of his caliber again. He played 19 seasons and was an all-star in 15 of them. He won 3 MVP awards and played/coached in 21 World Series, winning 13 of them. He will forever be one of the all time greatest baseball players...

Rest in Peace Yogi.

[catgrad97]

It's over, Yog. RIP.

[UAEebs86]

I bet nobody goes to his funeral. It will be too crowded.

RIP

[azgreg]

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

[pc in NM]

It's over.

RIP Yogi

[BearDown89]

A legend and an all time favorite.

Rest in peace Yogi.

[Merkin]

Very cool dude. Didn't realize he was still alive, he seemed old when I was a kid.

[ghostwhitehorse]

From last year: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... -1.1820342

Seventy years ago, a 19-year-old from St. Louis was on a small attack boat launching rockets at the Germans during the Allied invasion of Normandy.

[rgdeuce]

Yogi was a great ball player. If you are called the "heart and soul" of a Yankees team that featured Mickey Mantle, that is saying a lot. Pound for pound, one of the best "pure" ballplayers to ever play the game. THREE mvp awards. Finished second twice and third once.

Can't remember who said it, probably Stengal, but it was something along the lines of so and so is the best player in baseball, but yogi is the best "baseballl player." He wasn't the muscle bound guy who could hit 475 foot homeruns, not the freak athlete with God-given talent, he was a midget with a dad bod but pure baseball skills and fundamentals and smarts. Some people aren't aware that he also played a decent chunk of time in left and right field, and later in his career for those late 50s and early 60s Yankees teams, he was probably 50/50 catcher and outfield. He also played a few games at first and third.

[Merkin]

Hold the bus, it was Yogi Bear.




http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/sep/23 ... i-bear-ha/

[Chicat]

When Yogi came to the Yankees minor league team for spring training his first year a scout told the Yankees GM that Berra "doesn't look like a Yankee" and advised they cut him then and there. Glad no one listened to that moron.

[catgrad97]

That scout should've been fired. Yogi and Lou Gehrig were the only two reasons I've ever liked the Yankees.

[rgdeuce]

When Yogi came to the Yankees minor league team for spring training his first year a scout told the Yankees GM that Berra "doesn't look like a Yankee" and advised they cut him then and there. Glad no one listened to that moron.

Baseball is the toughest sport to scout and project talent by far.

Somewhat related and relevant: Former NY Governor Mario Cuomo and Mickey Mantle signed pro contracts the same year. Mantle got a $1,000 signing bonus, Cuomo got a $2,000 bonus. Mantle was quoted as saying, “He (Cuomo) couldn’t hit a barn with a paddle.”

[Chicat]

When Yogi came to the Yankees minor league team for spring training his first year a scout told the Yankees GM that Berra "doesn't look like a Yankee" and advised they cut him then and there. Glad no one listened to that moron.

Baseball is the toughest sport to scout and project talent by far.

Somewhat related and relevant: Former NY Governor Mario Cuomo and Mickey Mantle signed pro contracts the same year. Mantle got a $1,000 signing bonus, Cuomo got a $2,000 bonus. Mantle was quoted as saying, “He (Cuomo) couldn’t hit a barn with a paddle.”

Yogi wasn't even the first catcher that was signed from his neighborhood. Joe Garagiola was signed by the home town Cardinals and then it wasn't until almost a year later that Yogi got signed by the Yankees. Not taking anything away from Joe G., but give me Berra all day and twice on Sundays in October.

[rgdeuce]

I did not know that, pretty damn cool.

But yea, that's the nature of scouting in baseball. You can break this forum with all of the names of the "sure thing" players (injuries not included) who completely bombed out in the minors, or severely under performed in the Majors and didn't last. So many variables, and you cant measure heart, determination, if someone will lose focus in favor of things outside the game, etc. Same applies for other sports, but sheer athleticism or size or both can still get u in the NBA and NFL and keep you there.

Pujols was taken in the teen rounds, Buehrle was around a 40th round pick if I recall, Piazza was in the 60s (and only as a favor thanks to Lasorda), Jose Bautista was a low pick. I played in that whole 1998-2002 Tucson high school era that was loaded with talent and has had to have put at least 10-12 guys in the bigs, some pretty big names too. Ian Kinsler is one of the best second basemen of his generation. At no point in his little league through high school career would I have said he was one of the ten best players in Tucson. He was at one point probably the 4th or 5th best prospect on his own (LOADED) CDO high school team. Played against him in college too, and while he started to leapfrog some guys, he certainly wasn't even in the top 5-10 prospects in our conference. He never looked like a guy who would sniff the majors. Think he was a 17th round pick, which for a middle infielder with his bat and skills, shows everyone was wrong on him. It wasn't until he started performing in the minors when people started jumping on the bandwagon and calling him a top prospect.

[BearDown89]

Heard this on the air driving to work today. Brought a tear to my eye. Very sweet.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:13723470

[RichardCranium]

I hate the damn Yankees.

But darn it all, I LOVED Yogi.

When its over, its over, I guess. So it goes.

RIP Yog.