# 90% on skill, half on wit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 25, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451 "2015-09-25T01:46:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/1 "2015-09-25T01:46:09Z")
Headline on the front page of the NY Times: [He] built his stardom 90% on skill, half on wit. I assume any American Doper will know who that was. And the headline is, of course, a takeoff on the wit. The headline didn’t actually name him either. The first word was “Yankee” and of course it was Yogi Berra who died two days ago. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/2 "2015-09-25T07:39:06Z")
Yogi Berra died? 😕 :eek: ☹ Holy crap! It’s always the good ones God takes young, innit? ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/3 "2015-09-25T07:50:46Z")
Sorry. That should have read “It’s _not_ always the good ones…”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/4 "2015-09-25T08:19:27Z")
[Thread in the Game Room.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=769670) I knew who it was about without opening the spoiler. Yogi’s actual quote was “90% of the game is half mental,” which I think is more hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/5 "2015-09-25T14:01:25Z")
He was 90 years old. Not really taken young. > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Headline on the front page of the NY Times: > [He] built his stardom 90% on skill, half on wit. I assume any American Doper will know who that was. And the headline is, of course, a takeoff on the wit. > > The headline didn’t actually name him either. The first word was “Yankee” and of course it was Yogi Berra who died two days ago. You assume incorrectly. Berra retired from playing before the vast majority of Americans were born, and last won a World Series as a manager before the majority of us were born. I knew who you were talking about, but only because he’s been in the news and I heard the quote on _Mike & Mike_ the other day. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/6 "2015-09-25T14:51:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > He was 90 years old. Not really taken young. > > You assume incorrectly. Berra retired from playing before the vast majority of Americans were born, and last won a World Series as a manager before the majority of us were born. I knew who you were talking about, but only because he’s been in the news and I heard the quote on _Mike & Mike_ the other day. Yes, but he was still moderately famous for his “sayings”. “When you see a fork in the read, take it.” “You can observe a lot just by watching.” And finally, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” It’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/7 "2015-09-25T16:07:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > He was 90 years old. Not really taken young. > > You assume incorrectly. Berra retired from playing before the vast majority of Americans were born, and **last won a World Series as a manager before the majority of us were born**. I knew who you were talking about, but only because he’s been in the news and I heard the quote on _Mike & Mike_ the other day. Never won a WS as manager. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/8 "2015-09-25T16:17:50Z")
Sounds like the NY Times is calling Yogi Berra a half wit. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/9 "2015-09-25T17:12:58Z")
It 's a take-off on one of his “Yogi-isms”: “90% of this game is half mental”. But you probably knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/10 "2015-09-25T17:48:51Z")
Of course, you know that Yogi Berra really didn’t say half those things he said. I was really, really surprised to learn he’d lived this long. I assumed he’d been around since forever and died long ago. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/11 "2015-09-25T18:03:52Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It 's a take-off on one of his “Yogi-isms”: “90% of this game is half mental”. > > But you probably knew that. [Yes, I did.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18715804&postcount=4) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/90-on-skill-half-on-wit/732451/12 "2015-09-25T18:16:22Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It 's a take-off on one of his “Yogi-isms”: “90% of this game is half mental”. > > But you probably knew that. I knew, it’s just that he NY Times line is very awkward.