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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 10:30 am 
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Remembering the great American life of Yankees legend Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra, the 10-time World Series champion and former New York Yankees catcher full of iconic phrases, passed away on Tuesday at age 90.

Sports Illustrated | By Tom Verducci | September 23, 2015


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At 4:33 in the morning on June 6, 1944, under overcast skies just before dawn broke over Omaha Beach, a 36-foot steel boat was lowered from an American battleship into the dark waters of the Atlantic. Inside this boat--in Naval terms, a Landing Craft, Support (Small) boat; in relative terms, a bathtub--hunkered a commanding officer and six sailors. One of those sailors was a first-generation American teenager from St. Louis named Lorenzo Pietro Berra, or Lawrence Peter Berra, or, better still, to you, me and posterity, Yogi Berra.

The essential job of the LCS was to run interference for the waves of troops that would, across all of Normandy’s shores, account for the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world. When the battle commenced at 6:30 a.m., the LCS sprayed bullets and rockets across the heavily fortified beachfronts before the troops landed. Berra, then 19, manned a machine gun mounted on a ball turret in his LCS and stood tall with a boy’s wonder--too busy marveling at the tremendous explosions of lights and sound to consider the danger that would end the lives of 2,500 of his fellow Americans. In an LCS, only the steel walls of the boat and the grace of God stood between a sailor and death.

"You better get your head down in here," his officer barked at Berra, "if you want it on."

Seaman Second Class Yogi Berra fought at D-Day from one of the smallest crafts in the world’s biggest assault. He was hit by a bullet from a German machine gun (he earned a Purple Heart, though as not to cause concern to his mother, never applied for it), and came through the war with a Distinguished Unit Citation, two battle stars, a European Theatre of Operations ribbon and the beginnings of what was nothing less than the quintessential, if not the outlandishly charmed, Great American Life.

Carmen, the Latin word for incantation, gave us charme, the Middle English word for magic spell, which gave us charmed, which gave us Yogi, who was married from 1949 to her death in 2014 to the third girl he ever dated--a woman named...Carmen.

Berra would go on to become, in most arguments, the greatest catcher in baseball history and, without argument, the greatest winner the game ever has known. Berra saw baseball and America grow up. He entered the sport when it was an all-white game and left it when indoor baseball arrived. In that spot between integration (1947) and expansion (1961), when baseball was the unchallenged great American pastime, nobody but Stan Musial drove in more runs than Berra and no one was more beloved. Berra played in 14 World Series, winning a record 10 of them, and participated in seven more as a coach or manager--putting him in 21 of the 34 World Series played between 1947 and 1981.

More at link: http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/09/23/yogi-berra-new-york-yankees-catcher-dies-90-obituary


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 10:36 am 
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The 50 greatest Yogi Berra quotes

For the Win, USA Today
By: Nate Scott | September 23, 2015 7:30AM


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Yankees legend Yogi Berra passed away on Tuesday at the age of 90. An 18-time All-Star, Berra appeared in 14 World Series as a member of the Yankees and won 10 of them.

Berra’s contributions to MLB history are incalculable, but his legacy might be even better remembered for what he contributed to American language. A sportswriters’ favorite, Berra had countless expressions and turns of phrase that were memorable because most of them didn’t make any sense. (At the same time, every one had some truth to it.)

Berra-isms (colloquial expressions that lack logic) are now countless, and many of them are just attributed to Berra, even if he never actually said them. As he so perfectly put it: “I never said most of the things I said.” Here are 50 of our favorites.

1. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

2. You can observe a lot by just watching.

3. It ain’t over till it’s over.

4. It’s like déjà vu all over again.

5. No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.

6. Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.

7. A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.

8. Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.

9. We made too many wrong mistakes.

10. Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.

More at link: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/09/the-50-greatest-yogi-berra-quotes


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 11:24 am 
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Clockwise from top left: Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Vic Raschi, Allie Reynolds.
(Bob Olen)

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Yogi Berra is embraced by pitcher Don Larsen as he leaps into Larsen’s arms at the end
of Game 5 of baseball’s World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers at New York’s Yankee Stadium. (AP)

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Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra in 1955.

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From left: Joe Girardi, David Cone, Don Larsen, Yogi Berra, David Wells and Jorge Posada.
Charles Wenzelberg

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Yogi with wife Carmen (WireImage)

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Yogi waves to the crowd before the final game played at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21, 2008.
Photo: Anthony J. Causi

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Yogi throws out the first pitch in 2010. (EPA)

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Yogi Berra with Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson at Old Timers’ Day in 2011.
Photo: Paul J. Bereswill

Source for photos: http://nypost.com/2015/09/23/yogi-berras-legacy-the-most-beloved-man-in-baseball/


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