An American original. A WWII veteran of the D-Day assault. Teammate of Dimaggio and Mantle. Winner of 10 World Series. Successful businessman. Purveyor of classic quotes (and so many misquotes that he once said "I didn't say a lot of the things I said"). A baseball superstar with the squatty 5'7" body and a lifetime 358 homers and 1,430 RBIs. His highest ever salary was $65K in 1957, AFTER leading the team to several World Series victories.

He was the best. RIP Yogi.

RIP. Those 10 world series titles was most impressive.

One season hit 28 home runs and had 12 strikeouts!

When asked by his wife where he'd like to be buried. "I don't know. Surprise me."

thanks for the correction! 10 World Series, dang that's a lot of rings.

One of my favorites was when his wife called to tell him she had just gone to see Dr. Zhivago. Yogi freaked and said "You didn't tell me you were sick!"

When you come to the fork in the road, take it. We'll probably never see another like Yogi.

A couple other Yogi gems:

"this is just like déjà vu all over again."

"No one goes to that restaurant any more, it’s too crowded."

"Baseball is ninety percent mental, 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."

another of my favorites when Yogi was a rookie - he was asked by a reporter how his crash course in catching technique was going (he was coached by Ruth-era star Bill Dickey): "Great, just great! Bill is learning me all his experience!"

The man also had a cannon for an arm.

RIP.Good luck,

SZ

I just read that there have been only two major leaguers with more than 300 homers and less than 500 strikeouts. J.P. DiMaggio and L.P. Berra. When I was learning the game, strikeouts were something for a batter to be ashamed of.

RIP Yogi.

He played or coached in 21 World Series. Let that sink in for a moment.

no doubt. And salaries were so much lower back then. Yogi had to find a job during the off season to support his family! Imagine a major leaguer today with a fist full of World Series rings having to sell suits at Macy's in the off season to put food on the table.

Me too. We'd do anything to get a piece of the ball to avoid the shame of whiffing!

There are some interesting comparisons with the way old-school ballplayers worked hard to make contact. A great example is Cobb vs Rose. Never mind that Rose hung on as a part time player until he was 45 specifically so he COULD break Cobb's record. He had over 2,600 MORE at bats than Cobb...that's how insane Cobb's hit record was.

By way of comparison, Ty Cobb had 681 strikeouts, 4,189 hits and 1,933 RBI in 11,434 career at bats over 24 hardscrabble major league seasons.

That's an average of 36 strikeouts PER SEASON. When he was 40, he hit .357 and struck out twelve times over the whole season.

Pete Rose is considered his modern "equal". Rose had 1,143 strikeouts, 4,256 hits and 1,314 RBI in 14,053 at bats over 24 seasons.

That's an average of 52 strikeouts per season, which is out-of-this-world amazing. When he was 40, he hit .325 with 26 strikeouts, which is awesome....but ain't no Cobb level feat.

All this just shows how incredible Yogi and Dimaggio really were. Power and great batting eyes plus plate discipline. Amazing athletes.

One of my favorite Yogi-isms,

Wife of NYC mayor says, you look cool Yogi, Yogi replies you don’t look so hot yourself.

RIP

Yeah, that is the game should be played. Hit the ball, put it in play. On the other side, catch the damn thing. As a pitcher, throw strikes.

Guess times were simpler then.

I've got a baseball signed by Yogi.

RIP,

fp

Sabermetrics puts Yogi as best catcher that ever lived. RIP