Master Index of Archived Threads


RIP Yogi Berra

Gwreck Sep 23 2015 07:10 AM

Age 90.

Zvon Sep 23 2015 10:15 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

:(

Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2015 10:19 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Yogi was the third person to hold the title of oldest living Met. His predecessors were Gil Hodges, who never actually grew old and Warren Spahn. The new title holder is Dave Hillman, whose name is a lot less illustrious than those who came before him.

Mets Guy in Michigan Sep 23 2015 10:31 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Very sad to hear this.

Edgy MD Sep 23 2015 11:15 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

An enormous chunk of baseball dies with him.

d'Kong76 Sep 23 2015 12:05 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Sep 23 2015 12:11 PM

Haven't read this yet, but I'm sure when I do it will be with teary eyes and big old baseball in my throat. RIP, Yogi. Yogi Berra, Master Yankee Catcher With Goofy Wit, Dies at 90

cooby classic Sep 23 2015 12:07 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I think I better wait until I'm alone to read this :(

themetfairy Sep 23 2015 12:12 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

RIP to a true icon.

RealityChuck Sep 23 2015 12:34 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Yogi was everyone's favorite baseball personality. It wasn't just the malapropisms, but he looked so much like a regular guy, and was just so goddamned likable. He played (left field, BTW) in the first baseball game I ever attended. The Las Vegas Sun made a classic typo, listing him as "Yogi Bear" in their obituary (probably fixed by now).

d'Kong76 Sep 23 2015 01:12 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

That just had to be saved for posterity... good find!

Edgy MD Sep 23 2015 01:43 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

[youtube:2wogy8pm]TmENMZFUU_0[/youtube:2wogy8pm]

G-Fafif Sep 23 2015 04:08 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra was legendarily lucky and unquestionably good. If you have that going for you, there’s not much that can go against you. Berra — whose presence as a Met catcher, coach and manager for eleven seasons between 1965 and 1975 was so constant that it barely occurred to a kid reaching baseball consciousness in that period that he’d had anything to do with anybody else — passed away Tuesday night at 90. It was the last night of summer, but fall was already firmly in the air. The first thing I thought of when I heard the news this morning, what with the window open and a soft breeze brushing by, was that this is Yogi’s time of year. When others might be putting a wrap on their baseball seasons, Yogi’s was just getting going. He played, managed or coached in 23 postseasons, from his rookie year with the Yankees in 1947 to 1986, when he was the bench coach for the National League Western Division champion Astros. Nobody came to the plate more often in World Series competition and nobody recorded more hits. Nobody else guided a team from each league to the seventh game of the World Series. As this autumn alights, each of the three franchises for whom Yogi Berra wore a uniform is well positioned to make it to the playoffs. It’s a fairly fitting tribute to how whatever he touched eventually turned to good. Yogi Berra was a fall classic unto himself. And he wasn’t bad the rest of the year, either. Take April, for example. April 1972, to be specific. That was the month Yogi accepted his second managing job, taking the reins of our New York Mets. It was under the worst circumstances imaginable. The man he coached first base for, Gil Hodges, had just died young. It still stands as the most tragic episode in the history of the franchise. Gil was already a legend. Now he was a saint. There could be no tougher act to follow. But Yogi followed it. “I don’t like the way the job came,” he would say later. “But I want to prove I can manage.” Full piece here.

Frayed Knot Sep 23 2015 04:19 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I'm just hoping that those who write pieces over the next few days that are sure to say how much Yogi liked and was liked by everyone also remember the one guy who mistreated him badly enough to make Yogi refuse to talk to him or even mention his name for years when they think about writing their 'Steinbrenner for HoF' columns.

RealityChuck Sep 23 2015 04:24 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

My favorite Yogi Berra story was one where he wasn't actually involved in, but which shows how Yogi's luck worked. It was during the winter meetings in the early 60s -- possibly 1961. Stan Isaacs was a columnist for Newday, and part of a group of young sportswriters nicknamed "The Chipmunks." Bored one afternoon, they decided to Isaacs and the others decided to start their own trade rumor. They decided to spread the story that the Yankees were working on a trade with the Giants: Yogi Berra for Giants catcher Tom Haller. They knew that was preposterous on the face of it, so they threw in a twist: The Giants wanted Berra so he could take over as manager. The Chipmunks laughed at the very idea. They loved Yogi, but the idea of him being considered for a managing position seemed absurd. But the rumor got spread. Isaacs said that it was the first time anyone had ever considered Berra as a manager. Three years later, the Yankees gave him the job.

themetfairy Sep 23 2015 04:37 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

The Tug McGraw Foundation posted this picture, which is all kinds of awesome!

d'Kong76 Sep 23 2015 05:02 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

The Tug McGraw Foundation posted this picture, which is all kinds of awesome! That is a cool one! I borrowed this from somewhere, forget already:

MFS62 Sep 23 2015 05:42 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

No matter what team people rooted for, if there was one Yankee everyone liked, it was Yogi. He will be fondly remembered. Later

Frayed Knot Sep 23 2015 05:50 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

On to Yogi the player for a minute: -- 7 consecutive seasons Top-4 in MVP. From 1950 at age 24: 3rd, 1st, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd And, sure, the team he played on and his personality could have given him a leg up on other players who maybe were as deserving, but still -- 19 years, 414 career strike-outs (or, as it's known to some guys these days, about a season and a half). I know times and the game have changed and all, but that's an average of right around 28 for a 500 AB season and he topped out at just 38 (at age 34 in 472 ABs)

d'Kong76 Sep 23 2015 05:57 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I knew that it was either Yogi or Bench, so I looked in my James' baseball bible and Berra is his best catcher out of one hundred. Kinda surprised that Campanella is third, I'll have read about that when I get a chance.

MFS62 Sep 23 2015 06:10 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

With all the MVP finishes, he never led his league in ANY offensive category (counting stats). Not one in any one year. It will make evaluating him more difficult as time passes, and such evaluations are based solely on numbers. Also - I saw all three catchers Kong mentioned. And Campy was that good. It would have been interesting to see how he would have done, playing half his games in the LA Coliseum with that high screen only 250' away in left field. Later

Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2015 06:24 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I remember when Yogi was the only manager in baseball history who had won a pennant in both leagues. (1964 Yankees and 1973 Mets.) Since then, Dick Williams has done it. (Athletics and Padres.) Anyone else? Or is it still just those two?

dinosaur jesus Sep 23 2015 06:38 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I remember when Yogi was the only manager in baseball history who had won a pennant in both leagues. (1964 Yankees and 1973 Mets.) Since then, Dick Williams has done it. (Athletics and Padres.) Anyone else? Or is it still just those two? Joe McCarthy, Yogi's first manager, did it too: 1929 Cubs and multiple Yankee teams. And Tony La Russa. Joe Maddon has a shot at it this year.

HahnSolo Sep 23 2015 06:46 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Sparky too.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2015 06:58 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Maybe I was misremembering. I guess Yogi wasn't the first; maybe he was the first since Joe McCarthy. I should have remembered Sparky Anderson. He joined the list the same year that Dick Williams did. LaRussa's another story. I try not to think about him.

Lefty Specialist Sep 23 2015 07:40 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

What I loved about Yogi was that he told Steinbrenner to shove it for 14 years. And he only came back to Yankee Stadium after George groveled, kissed his feet, and even apologized.

Frayed Knot Sep 23 2015 07:48 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Lefty Specialist wrote: And he only came back to Yankee Stadium after George groveled, kissed his feet, and even apologized. And probably paid him money. Yogi's big 'return' was right around the time he and his family were getting that museum thing going in Jersey and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if part of that deal involved George making a fat "contribution" to the project.

dgwphotography Sep 23 2015 07:58 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Physical proof of an actual Yogism, courtesy of Johnny Bench on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Johnny_Bench5/statu ... 8796662784

Mets Willets Point Sep 23 2015 09:26 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I remember when Yogi was the only manager in baseball history who had won a pennant in both leagues. (1964 Yankees and 1973 Mets.) Since then, Dick Williams has done it. (Athletics and Padres.) Anyone else? Or is it still just those two? Jim Leyland (1997 Marlins and 2006 Tigers)

Rockin' Doc Sep 24 2015 12:13 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

RIP Yogi. You were truly a great player and a wonderful ambassador for the game of baseball.

SteveJRogers Sep 24 2015 12:32 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Mets – Willets Point wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I remember when Yogi was the only manager in baseball history who had won a pennant in both leagues. (1964 Yankees and 1973 Mets.) Since then, Dick Williams has done it. (Athletics and Padres.) Anyone else? Or is it still just those two? Jim Leyland (1997 Marlins and 2006 Tigers) Sparky Anderson, Reds and Tigers Tony LaRussa, A's and Cardinals Looking it up on B-R.com Alvin Dark Giants, Athletics Replaced Williams in 1974, so Berra's distinction of being the only one lasted one year. Doing more digging, Berra was not the first! Joe McCarthy took the 1929 Cubs to the World Series, losing to the A's, before his run as MFY Skipper.

Zvon Sep 24 2015 12:49 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Methinks you should read page 1.

Edgy MD Sep 24 2015 12:55 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

MFS62 wrote: With all the MVP finishes, he never led his league in ANY offensive category (counting stats). Not one in any one year. It will make evaluating him more difficult as time passes, and such evaluations are based solely on numbers. Catchers don't tend to lead in much. But sure, he led in games caught. Year after year. No small thing.

Edgy MD Sep 24 2015 08:42 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

On to Yogi the player for a minute: -- 7 consecutive seasons Top-4 in MVP. From 1950 at age 24: 3rd, 1st, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd And, sure, the team he played on and his personality could have given him a leg up on other players who maybe were as deserving, but still -- 19 years, 414 career strike-outs (or, as it's known to some guys these days, about a season and a half). I know times and the game have changed and all, but that's an average of right around 28 for a 500 AB season and he topped out at just 38 (at age 34 in 472 ABs) I love those strikeout numbers. How he managed to accomplish that while maintaining a reputation as a bad-ball hitter is mind-boggling. I've met two reasonably informed adults over the last few days who thought the bear came first and the ballplayer second. Not only was Berra the original, but he had a lawsuit with Hanna-Barbera over the name. He eventually dropped it but most accounts say his case was strong and considering how long a tail the Yogi Bear character has, who knows how much he could have raked them for. Anyhow, I've really come to believe he really earned that nickname. The pitch up at the shoulders looks good, but it's one in fifty players that can make a living swinging at it. He's the guy you let off the leash, because he was so psychologically detached, he could never screw himself up. He refused to believe in slumps. He insisted that if you went hitless for a few games, it was just the numbers evening themselves out. Other players, of course, believed something had gone wrong in their approach. They'd make adjustments, and as often as not, something would go wrong in their approach. Yogi kept it cool, and so never beat himself. He said he once went 0-24. Asked how he got out of it, he said, "I hit a home run." The other cool thing is that Yankee recruits from the 30s to the 50s were typically lowballed — offered lower bonuses than other teams were perhaps offering, telling prospects, "Sure, you could sign with the Cubs or the Indians or the Browns, but we're the YANKEES. And anything you lose in your bonus will be small compared to what you get back in post-season money." Of course, they never mentioned that they were signing two more top prospects at the same position, and that reaching the post-season with the Yankees was hardly guaranteed. But the rap worked on most every player. But it didn't work on Yogi. He knew how much the Cardinals had offered Garagiola. He had grown up across the street from Garagiola, and knew he had been a better player since he was seven. And he wasn't going to sign with anybody until somebody offered him more. In and age when poor teenage boys didn't have agents, and bonuses across the country weren't reported, he didn't get bamboozled, because he knew enough to bank on a single comparable.

Frayed Knot Sep 28 2015 03:32 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

25-and-under current stars who already have more career strikeouts than Berra: Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rizzo Number of times Berra K'd three times in a game: three, and one of those was the final game of his career when he came back as a player/coach after not playing for more than a year because he was managing.

Edgy MD Sep 28 2015 12:15 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

But not striking out should mean more double plays. Except he grounded into 146, which is fewer than David Wright (for comparison's sake) in 25% more career plate appearances, while striking out one fourth as often. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

dgwphotography Sep 28 2015 03:29 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Edgy MD wrote: They don't make 'em like that anymore. No, they don't. http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/201 ... _reme.html On Saturday, Berra received the first Bob Feller Act of Valor Award, one of baseball’s ways to pay homage to the military. Feller, who died three years ago, was a star pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. The day after Pearl Harbor, he walked away from a $100,000 contract to join the Navy and served aboard the USS Alabama as a gunner. “He didn’t like me,” Berra said. “One day I asked why. He said, ‘I don’t respect people who didn’t serve their country.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about? I was at D-Day.’ After that, we became best friends.”

Zvon Oct 03 2015 04:46 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

This had to be taken at a Mayors Trophy Game, right? [fimg=400:2h46ip9x]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Yw_ct1zTMQ8/Vg2L6FmNtEI/AAAAAAAAgmY/krTXfsWI9qU/s640-Ic42/YogiLinz.png[/fimg:2h46ip9x]

Frayed Knot Mar 23 2016 07:58 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 26 2016 01:08 AM

Only fitting that, six months to the day after Yogi, Joe Garagiola dies at age 90. [fimg=700:1j0so5cg]http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.com/ItemImages/000040/488b6c31-4ac5-49dd-b1f1-e70cf7d5d98f_lg.jpeg[/fimg:1j0so5cg] Berra with striped shirt in the middle (and the ears, always the ears). Joe G is lower left in the white tee.

Zvon Mar 23 2016 09:53 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

What a fantastic photo. I didn't know the two went that far back. RIP Joe.

cooby classic Mar 24 2016 12:31 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Truly hurting. :(

Frayed Knot Mar 24 2016 12:40 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Zvon wrote: I didn't know the two went that far back. Born within 9 months of each other to Italian immigrants living on the same street, they both started in the major leagues in the same year before, as noted above, dying exactly six months apart. What I remember him most for obviously was as his time as an announcer. He was derided by some as a bit of an "establishment" type in the 60's when being such was anything but cool -- something he'd go on to help prove by arguing in favor of the reserve clause in a preliminary hearing in the Curt Flood case (to his later regret) -- but it's unlikely that anyone who wasn't was going to get a network job in those days and he was one of the first ex-jocks to make the move to TV when his career ended in the mid-50's. In addition to baseball announcing his TV stuff including hosting 'The Today Show', game shows, and guest-hosting for Johnny Carson, pretty much setting the template for the later ex-jocks who branched out to entertainment TV like Tarketon, or say Michael Strahan today (or even O.J. for that matter). He went on to be the major backer of the BAT charity to help older, indigent players and worked to rid baseball of smokeless tobacco. Nice career spring-boarded from a mediocre nine-year/part-timer's career.

Edgy MD Mar 24 2016 03:00 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

And this short-lived swinging game show. [youtube]8JdeRwTAI1M[/youtube] Sorta Tattletales meets The Newlywed Game meets Boring.

MFS62 Mar 24 2016 03:18 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Frayed Knot wrote: Born within 9 months of each other to Italian immigrants living on the same street, they both started in the major leagues in the same year before, as noted above, dying exactly six months apart. He often spoke about growing up with Yogi in the "Dago Hill" section of St. Louis. I read his book "Baseball is a Funny Game" many years ago. It was my dad's. I guess it was lost when he moved, because I would have wanted to keep it. There are may stories in it that I still remember. It wasn't a "kiss and tell" book like the Jim Brosnan and Jim Bouton books years later, but still showed a side of baseball we hadn't read in the papers. It is still available on Amazon and I would highly recommend it. RIP, Joe. Later

d'Kong76 Mar 24 2016 04:05 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I don't think I have it now, but I remember that book. Maybe I got it through that Scholastic school book thing that was big in the 70's. I'm in a personal feud with Amazon, but there's a bunch of them on eBay in various conditions/editions.

cooby classic Mar 24 2016 11:54 AM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Scholastic is still big and fantastic!

Lefty Specialist Mar 24 2016 01:10 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

cooby wrote: Scholastic is still big and fantastic! I like to think so- I've worked for them for 16 years. It's a place where you can be in a meeting and suddenly stop and say, "Hey, you realize we're arguing about Captain Underpants!" Harry Potter helped pay my mortgage. (New book coming out July 31st, kids)

d'Kong76 Mar 24 2016 02:37 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I used to love when the books came in, it was like christmas. I pretty much only ordered sports related books.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 24 2016 02:39 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I remember ordering this book. I probably still have it somewhere. I have some old boxes in my basement that have moved with me through the years and haven't been opened in decades.

d'Kong76 Mar 24 2016 02:42 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Yep, that's a very familiar cover.

dgwphotography Mar 24 2016 02:52 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I remember ordering this book. I probably still have it somewhere. I have some old boxes in my basement that have moved with me through the years and haven't been opened in decades. I used to love getting that catalog. I still have this one:

Benjamin Grimm Mar 24 2016 02:59 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Oh yeah, I definitely had that Seaver book. I think I had one for Willie Mays, too, although I can't remember the title. And I also ordered a Joe Namath book, during a brief period when I thought it might be possible that I'd like football as much as I did baseball, but that never really worked out.

d'Kong76 Mar 24 2016 03:10 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I still have the Seaver book, because my Mets library is on it's own bookshelf in my computer room/office.

themetfairy Mar 24 2016 03:32 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

I remember Joe hosting Sale of the Century and emceeing the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. Always a positive presence on the air. RIP Joe - you'll be missed!

Lefty Specialist Mar 24 2016 05:00 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

We've cut way back on sports books in the past few years. The reason being, today's superstar could be tomorrow's rapist/wife-beater/nightclub shooter. Nothing like having a book on the NFL with Ray Rice on the cover. We also have a library of every book we've ever published. I'm sure Hammerin' Hank is in there somewhere.....

d'Kong76 Mar 24 2016 05:46 PM Re: RIP Yogi Berra

Something like that would never occur to me. Sad that that's where we are.