Baseball Legand Passes

One of the greatest characters to ever step foot on a baseball diamond has left us. Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra, known for his on the field play and off field quotes, died Tuesday at his home in New Jersey. He was 90 when he passed, death coming via natural causes. There was no denying his off the field quirks, he had quite a few. Some of his quotes have made their way into public lexicon over the years. More people today remember Yogi just for that. Its what he did on a baseball field that truly made him a legend, both as a player and a manager.

Nobody in the history of the sport was more of a winner than Yogi. Ten world series titles during his playing days, all with the New York Yankees. TEN. He was part of teams that won a third of every championship that the Yankees organization has ever won. Yogi was the backbone of those ten titles, which were won in 1947, 1949–1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1969, 1977, and finally 1978. Due to the longevity of his career, and the fact that he played in so many World Series, he was able to establish a few records. During his ten titles, Yogi established Series records for the most games (75), at-bats (259), hits (71), doubles (10), singles (49), games caught (63), and catcher putouts (457). He was also behind the plate for the perfect game Don Larson threw in game five of the 1956 World Series. The pictures of Berra leaping into Larsen's arms following the 27th out are among the sport's most memorable images.

Not only did Yogi have an impact during the playoffs, he came up big in the regular season as well. During a playing career that lasted from 146 to `965, he was an 18 time all star (1948–1961², 1962²). Yogi was a three time AL MVP 1951, 1954 and 1955). In fact he is one of only two catchers in history (Roy Campanella being the other) to win multiple MVP awards. Berra was excellent at hitting poor pitches, covering all areas of the strike zone (as well as beyond) with great extension. In addition to this wide plate coverage, he also had great bat control. He was able to both swing the bat like a golf club to hit low pitches for deep home runs, and chop at high pitches for line drives.

Five times, Berra had more home runs than strikeouts in a season, striking out just twelve times in 597 at-bats in 1950. As a catcher, Berra was truly outstanding. Quick, mobile, and a great handler of pitchers, Berra led all American League catchers eight times in games caught and in chances accepted, six times in double plays (a major league record), eight times in putouts, three times in assists, and once in fielding percentage. Berra left the game with the AL records for catcher putouts (8,723) and chances accepted (9,520). He was also one of only four catchers to ever field 1.000 for a season, playing 88 errorless games in 1958. He was the first catcher to leave a finger outside his glove, a style most other catchers eventually emulated. According to the win shares formula developed by sabermetrician Bill James, Berra is the greatest catcher of all time and the 52nd greatest non-pitching player in major-league history. Later in his career, Berra became a good defensive outfielder in Yankee Stadium's notoriously difficult left field.

Once his playing career ended, Yogi kept in baseball as a manager. He was able to lead both New York teams to pennants. First, he took the Yankees, in his only year as Yankee skipper, to the series in 1964, a seven game series loos to the Cardinals. Then from 1972-1975 he managed the Mets, leading them to the 1973 World Series, a six game series loss to Oakland. He finished his coaching career from 1988-89 with the Houston Astros. Yogi was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, his 2nd year on the ballot.

Most people, when they think of Yogi Berra, know him more for his catchphrases. Those "Yogisms"  where just his wacky way with words. Here's just a few of the quotes that Yogi was known for:

"It ain't over till it's over."
"It's déjà vu all over again."
"When you come to a fork in the road ... take it."
"Never answer an anonymous letter."
"I didn't really say everything I said."
"I want to thank you for making this day necessary."
"We made too many wrong mistakes."
"You can observe a lot by watching."
"The future ain't what it used to be."
"It gets late early out here."
"If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."
"If the people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's going to stop them." 
"Pair up in threes."
"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."

Yogi Berra, one of if not the greatest catcher to ever step behind the plate. He will be forever missed!