R.I.P. Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra

[OSJ]

I didn't see a thread for this and after three days that's a shame. Maybe I'm the only guy on the board old enough to remember seeing him play...  As a Braves fan, I hated the Yankees, but how could you not like Yogi? What a phenomenal hitter! In five different seasons he had more HRs than Strikeouts, think about that, Barry Bonds and George Brett each accomplished that feat only once. The strike zone meant nothing to Yogi, if he could see it, he could hit it. I recall one game in 1964 that has stuck with me since I was 7 years old, Yogi got a pitch on a 2-2 count that was up around eye level. A lesser man would have settled for Ball Three, not Yogi, he tomahawked the damn thing off the wall in center for a standing double. Just one hell of a player.

I also recall an interview with long time Yankees manager Casey Stengel that was so funny I still remember it pretty much word for word. (Only Tommy Lasorda's tirade after Dave Kingman hit four home runs against the Dodgers tops it). Stengel said he'd never start a game without Berra in the line up, of course he said it in his own inimitable fashion, something like this:

 

Reporter: "You have the club on a good winning streak, what's the secret?"

Stengel: "Well it won't be a secret then, when I tell you, but it's not really a secret, I just never start a game without my man in the line-up."

Reporter: "Do you mean Mantle or Maris?"

Stengel: "No, those guys need days off, I mean my man over there."

Reporter: "I'm not sure who you mean?"

Stengel: "Well, I mean the guy that I have play every day, wouldn't start a game without him."

Reporter: Yes, but which man is that?"

Stengel: "Well, I thought I told you, the one that plays every day, the little guy over there, that's my man."

Reporter: "You mean the catcher, Yogi Berra?"

Stengel: "Is that his name, I knew it was something funny like that, no, he's not just the catcher, I told you that, I make sure he plays every day."

Reporter: Yes, he's very versatile.

Stengel: I don't know that I'd say that, but he can play several positions..."

 

A great player, fine manager and by all accounts a pretty wonderful human being, he will be missed. I think he may have been the last survivor of the great Yankees teams from the 1950s.

[RIPPA]

Yogi didnt play in 64 (and only 4 games in 65) so I am assuming this was 63

 

And we talked about Yogi in the main thread

[Pete]

 

The Harmonica Incident.

[Ryan]

I figured OSJ was old enough to have seen Honus Wagner in his prime.

[OSJ]

Yogi didnt play in 64 (and only 4 games in 65) so I am assuming this was 63

 

And we talked about Yogi in the main thread

 

Doh! It was summer after 1st grade, so yeah, 1963 and I would have just turned seven (I know it was late in the season and my b-day is mid-July). I recall that, but I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday...

[Hamhock]

Well, Casey didn't manage the Yankees after 1960, so....

[OSJ]

Oh the interview wasn't live, that was a clip on Wide World of Sports or something like that. It wouldn't have been Wide World, but it was something like that. Some sort of throwaway Saturday or Sunday afternoon sports show, I'm surprised I remember it at all, let alone so clearly. It's funny what sticks with you, I was really little during the Mantle/Maris chase, but I was told that even at four I would "watch" baseball when it was on. And I do remember my parents being really excited when Mantle hit his 51st HR, but I recall nothing of Maris breaking the record though I'm sure it would have been a hot topic at home. My parents were pretty big baseball fans during the sixties and then sort of lost interest, but we went to a ton of Seattle Rainiers games. I do remember not really caring about finally getting a MLB team, as I was programmed to think of the Rainiers as Seattle's team. In retrospect it was probably wise to not get too invested in the Seattle Pilots...

Well, Casey didn't manage the Yankees after 1960, so....

[grilledcheese]

(Only Tommy Lasorda's tirade after Dave Kingman hit four home runs against the Dodgers tops it). 

 

 

 

Kingman never hit 4 in game, the Lasorda freakout was after Kingman took them yard 3 times in May 1978.

 

I loved Kong, and as a matter of fact, he hit a GS in the first big league game I ever went to. 

[OSJ]

 

(Only Tommy Lasorda's tirade after Dave Kingman hit four home runs against the Dodgers tops it). 

 

 

 

Kingman never hit 4 in game, the Lasorda freakout was after Kingman took them yard 3 times in May 1978.

 

I loved Kong, and as a matter of fact, he hit a GS in the first big league game I ever went to. 

 

 

You're right, it was "only" three, can't imagine why Tommy was so upset. ;-) 

 

I did see Kong hit one at the Kingdome that never came down, he actually managed to get a ball stuck in one of the ceiling light fixtures... Yes, the Kingdome, in the fucking ceiling, you know how high that is? How fast would the ball have to be traveling to get wedged in a metal light fixture? Damn.

[grilledcheese]

 

 

(Only Tommy Lasorda's tirade after Dave Kingman hit four home runs against the Dodgers tops it). 

 

 

 

Kingman never hit 4 in game, the Lasorda freakout was after Kingman took them yard 3 times in May 1978.

 

I loved Kong, and as a matter of fact, he hit a GS in the first big league game I ever went to. 

 

 

You're right, it was "only" three, can't imagine why Tommy was so upset. ;-) 

 

I did see Kong hit one at the Kingdome that never came down, he actually managed to get a ball stuck in one of the ceiling light fixtures... Yes, the Kingdome, in the fucking ceiling, you know how high that is? How fast would the ball have to be traveling to get wedged in a metal light fixture? Damn.

 

 

I think he hit one in the Metrodome that stuck as well, although I may be misremembering that. 

 

He was a goddamn animal. I got to see a pretty decent chunk of him in his last few years in OAK. For whatever reason, he, Dwayne Murphy and Carney Lansford were my favorite ballplayers when I was little.

[Pete]

 

 

(Only Tommy Lasorda's tirade after Dave Kingman hit four home runs against the Dodgers tops it). 

 

 

 

Kingman never hit 4 in game, the Lasorda freakout was after Kingman took them yard 3 times in May 1978.

 

I loved Kong, and as a matter of fact, he hit a GS in the first big league game I ever went to. 

 

 

You're right, it was "only" three, can't imagine why Tommy was so upset. ;-) 

 

I did see Kong hit one at the Kingdome that never came down, he actually managed to get a ball stuck in one of the ceiling light fixtures... Yes, the Kingdome, in the fucking ceiling, you know how high that is? How fast would the ball have to be traveling to get wedged in a metal light fixture? Damn.

 

 

That's some escape velocity shit right there.