# To the list of baseball immortals, add the late Yogi Berra. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 23, 2015, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283 "2015-09-23T09:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/41 "2015-09-24T14:46:01Z")
“I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/42 "2015-09-24T15:42:28Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > 7555 life time at bats. Total times he struck out: 414 > > Cite: [The Yogi](http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/berrayo01.shtml) Well, Yogi’s reputation was that of a very talented bad ball hitter. Yogi firmly believed he could hit any pitch in his time zone, let alone in the strike zone. He’d swing at almost everything, and would usually get a piece of it. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/43 "2015-09-24T19:55:30Z")
I heard a former Yankee on a sports talk show say that one time in spring training, he asked Yogi, “What time is it?” Yogi answered, “You mean now?” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/44 "2015-09-24T20:48:59Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, Yogi’s reputation was that of a very talented bad ball hitter. Yogi firmly believed he could hit any pitch in his time zone, let alone in the strike zone. He’d swing at almost everything, and would usually get a piece of it. It is often said he might have been the greatest bad-pitch hitter who ever lived. Which is kind of amazing given he didn’t have a lot of reach. Most bad-pitch hitters are guys with long arms, like Vlad Guerrero. Only two players have ever hit 350 or more homers and struck out fewer than 500 times; Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio. His hand eye coordination was off the charts amazing. He never struck out 40 times in a season. The New York Times headline on his death says he “built his stardom 90 percent on talent and 50 percent on wit,” which is wonderful. Yogisms, you see, seem illogical but are actually true. “It ain’t over 'til it’s over” is a brilliant observation about the sport of baseball, really, and is now far beyond a baseball saying; it’s a fundamental expression for a native English speaker. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/45 "2015-09-24T21:08:53Z")
As you say, a true “Berra-ism” actually makes sense, even if it sounds odd. Everyone who ever saw an afternoon game at the old Yankee Stadium knew that the infield was covered in shadows by about 3:30 PM, which is why we all knew exactly what Yogi meant when he said, “It gets late early out there.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/46 "2015-09-25T14:03:37Z")
But it’s a more useful way to describe a dull town. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/47 "2015-09-26T22:44:37Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > In addition to being a great catcher, Yogi was a better manager than many people thought. He managed the Yankees in 1964, won the pennant, nearly won the World Series… and was fired right after game 7. > > The Yankees had struggled most of the year, and several strange occurrences (including the famous “Harmonica Incident”) had convinced the New York media and the Yankees front office that Yogi had lost the team, couldn’t command respect, and had to be fired. The decision to let him go was made mid-season, when no one imagined Yogi could bring the team back. But bring them back he did. > > Yogi was replaced by Johnny Keane, the very man who’d beaten him in the 1964 World Series. But the Yankees collapsed in 1965, en route to becoming one of the worst teams in the American League. > > In 1964, everyone assumed that > > 1. The Yankees were a powerhouse that should have won the pennant wire to wire, and > > 2. Yogi’s loose managing style was hurting the team, and keeping them from achieving their full potential. > > In reality, the 1964 Yankees were an over-the-hill team headed for a fall. If anything, Yogi kept the dynasty alive, and brought the Yankees one more pennant than they deserved. > > He won one more pennant with the Mets, nine years later. According to the Baseball Hall of Shame, the owners of the Yankees and the Cardinals decided that, regardless of where the teams finished that season, Berra and Keane (who had been named NL Manager of the Year the season before) would be fired. The whole thing was kept secret to the end of the season. As luck would have it, those two teams wound up in the World Series, with the Cardinals winning after a seven-game thriller. Busch came to Keane after the seventh game ended, hat in hand, to ask Keane to come back the next year–and Keane, who knew what the Plan was, told him what he could do with his manager’s job. Berra didn’t do better–since Miller Huggins, no Yankee manager who lost a Series lasted very long afterward. For his dirty work Del Webb wound up with a team that could hardly beat the Angels, despite three good pitchers–Jim Bouton, Al Downing and Mel Stottlemyre. The Yankees went into a total tailspin in 1966 and finished last, with Del “Boy Isn’t He a Stupid Executive” Webb kicking Keene loose in favor of Houk! ---
**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 27, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283/48 "2015-09-27T00:28:11Z")
[Yogi’s back!](http://media.focusonthefamily.com/blogmedia/images/jim-daly/yogiberra4.jpg) 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-list-of-baseball-immortals-add-the-late-yogi-berra/732283.md?page=2)