Yogi

“It ain’t over till it’s over.” Yogi Berra’s physical life may have ended this past Tuesday, but for him, a person who was in a very select group of people who have ever lived, it might not really, actually be over.

For the impact a man has on the world during his lifetime can create a footprint on the world that can be seen, felt and remembered for about as long as people keep track of such things.

To this day, names like Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, etc. made such an impact during their lifetimes that they are are still about as alive in our world’s consciousness as anyone “alive” now and on this earth now still living. What they did while they were alive years ago still resonates amongst the people living and breathing in the world of NOW.

Babe Ruth was the most famous baseball player who ever lived. He has been dead now for longer than he was alive. His life AFTER he has been gone as a mythological figure has kept his alive in the world’s memory in a way that you can now figure will go on indefinitely.

Yogi Berra might not have been as famous as Babe Ruth, but he might have made just as much of an impact on the memories (due to being from the more modern early years of television age) of millions and millions of people during his lifetime.

It can be said that to the amount of people you have an impact on during your lifetime (usually family and friends), those people will probably remember you for the rest of their lives. You may have died physically for them, but they will likely carry the memories of you to the point that at least the memory of you will live on after you die.

Besides his family and friends, there were SO MANY reasons and so many other people that Yogi Berra affected, that you can easily see how he will be remembered and remembered fondly by millions.

Amongst the things that he did, and the reasons to remember him —

He was a member of the United States Navy that served in World War II and was actually a member of the forces that stormed Normandy Beach on D-Day. EVERY person that was there that day experienced a moment that they would remember for their entire lives, and the people of the United States would admire each and all of them for the rest of their lives.

He played in New York during the absolute Golden Era of baseball, when the sport was centered around the battles between the New York Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants, and he was one of the central figures during all of the key games, including “being right there” when Jackie Robinson stole home and being the catcher when Don Larsen struck the last man out in the World series’ only perfect game. He always seemed to be in the middle of all of the historical moments of the game that took place during his 19 year career

He was an 18 time All-Star and a Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees. The Yankees won ten World Series (out of 14 he played in) while Yogi Berra was a player. Three times, he was the American League’s MVP.

He was an extremely popular player of a championship team in a big city, but more importantly, he was built more like a cab driver, or a bartender, and that made him a guy who all of the fans could easily relate to (a guy, who, by the way, who was always cool and accommodating to them). He walked like, talked like, looked like one of them. To the fans of the New York Yankees, he was nearly as popular as any of the most famous of the Yanks, Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle. They may have been stars. HE was Yogi.

After his playing career, he either managed or coached several teams, which included another seven appearances in the World Series (and three more wins). He either played in or coached something like half of the World Series that took place from the late 1940’s when he arrived in the major leagues and the mid 1980’s, when he was either fired or quit.

He was a post career ambassador for baseball, kind of a walking symbol of the game. Again, after his career, all he did was take pictures with people, sign autographs for them and in general, be genuinely NICE to people.

The character of Yogi Bear. Who else has a cartoon character named after him?

But most of all, it was the Yogi-isms. Yogi Berra became most famous for his unintentionally funny, but very witty when you think about them malapropisms like:

“Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.” “It’s déjà vu all over again.” “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.” “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” “You can observe a lot by watching.” “It gets late early out there.” and “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

His sayings became so popular, so remembered, that he got TV commercials where people could hear one of his famous quotes as a play on their product. You will ALWAYS remember Yogi Berra’s voice saying SOMETHING memorable, something that will put a smile on your face.

And that is the point. Yogi died physically on Tuesday. He lived a very FULL life to the age of 90. But HE, as much as Elvis, or Marilyn, or Jimi, or The Babe, will live on forever in our hearts, minds and in our collective sense of fun about life. For Yogi succeeded in life on a grand scale. He was successful in ALL facets of life. War hero, devoted husband and family man, his ball playing career, his Yogi-isms.

In the game of life that so often beats everyone down, Yogi Berra hit a grand slam home run. HE lived life so well that, instead of dying and becoming forgotten in the sands of history, he will be remembered forever. That short lump of a guy with an eighth grade education, that everybody thought was saying such dumb things fooled everybody. Yogi Berra became immortal.