"He must have made that before he died." -- Referring to a Steve McQueen movie.
"I want to thank you for making this day necessary." -- On Yogi Berra Appreciation Day in St. Louis in 1947.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
"I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."
"If you can't imitate him, don't copy him."
"You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."
"Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical."
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"A nickel isn't worth a dime today."
"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."
"It gets late early out there." -- Referring to the bad sun conditions in left field at the stadium.
Once, Yogi's wife Carmen asked, "Yogi, you are from St. Louis, we live in New Jersey, and you played ball in New York. If you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?" Yogi replied, "Surprise me."
"Do you mean now?" -- When asked for the time.
"90% of the putts that are short don't go in."
"I made a wrong mistake."
"Thanks, you don't look so hot yourself." -- After being told he looked cool.
"Yeah, but we're making great time!" -- In reply to "Hey Yogi, I think we're lost."
"If the fans don't come out to the ball park, you can't stop them."
(another version of "they stayed away in droves")
"How long have you known me, Jack? And you still don't know how to spell my name." -- Upon receiving a check from Jack Buck made out to "bearer."
"It ain't the heat; it's the humility."
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours."
"I didn't really say everything I said."
Oh, the man can mangle language. It hurts my heart. Thanks for the chuckles over my coffee!
ReplyDeletemy personal favorite:
ReplyDeletein theory there is no difference between theory and practice. in practice there is.
and:
when you arrive at a fork in the road, take it.
i love that man. he knew stuff.
My favorite Berraism is actually by Yogi's son, Dale Berra. When asked about the similarities between himself and Yogi, he said "Our similarities are different."
ReplyDelete