In this post, I remember the great Yankee catcher and American icon, Yogi Berra, not only for his many tremendous accomplishments, but also for his famous words of wisdom.

Hall of Famer Yogi Berra won ten World Series Championships during his illustrious career playing for the New York Yankees. That’s more than anyone else ever to play major league baseball. And if the purpose of the game is to win, one might argue that Yogi Berra was the greatest to ever wear a major league uniform.

I know he didn’t have the most career homeruns or get more hits than anyone, but he sure collected the most championship rings. Some say he was in the right place at the right time, and there is some truth to that since the Yankees had a distinct advantage during most of Yogi’s playing days (1946-63, 1965). But one of New York’s greatest advantages was having Yogi behind the plate and later in leftfield. 

In addition to winning the World Series repeatedly, Berra was also famous for the funny yet often profound things he said – or was attributed as saying. Things like “when you come to the fork in the road, take it,” or “pie-a-la-mode, with ice cream.” Or when asked to go to a popular restaurant for dinner with some teammates, “no one goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.” Or how about this classic? “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.”

Beneath the funny Yogi, though, was a great baseball mind, a tremendous family man, and someone who put important lessons into the language of everyday people. When you give them a little thought, there is much to learn from the wise sayings of Yogi Berra. Here are a few for your consideration. Read them carefully, think about what they mean to you, and return to them regularly.

“It’s déjà vu all over again…The future ain’t what it used to be…It ain’t over until it’s over…You can observe a lot by watching…Baseball is 90 percent mental; the other half is physical…I always thought that record would stand until it was broken…We made too many wrong mistakes.” And when explaining how Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey took a special interest in coaching young Yogi, Berra explained, “He learned me all his experience.”¹

Here are some more: “I knew how good I was, and that meant I knew how bad I was, too…There’s an old saying, if they don’t like you, they won’t notice you…You’d better know where you were going or you’d never get there…The thing I was truly most proud of was only striking out 12 times in 597 at-bats (in 1950); to me, striking out was an embarrassment. I didn’t like getting embarrassed…If you don’t stand up for what you think is right, then you’re wrong…If you’re a team that won’t be beaten, you can’t be beaten; that’s what we believed…Whenever someone asks me what makes a good manager, I say good players.”²

Then, there were these gems: “If you win like we did, you also have the responsibility of knowing how to act like a winner. We never went around bragging; we learned to be appreciative and humble…One thing I learned is, don’t panic. Just do what you’re supposed to do…If ever I learned anything in baseball, it’s don’t give up and don’t let up. When you go slack in something, I don’t care if it’s baseball or business or badminton, it’s hard to get that crispness back…Maybe it was just better to be satisfied with what you were than think about what you weren’t…We use baseball to teach kids about the importance of hard work, tolerance, and how to win with grace and lose with dignity.”³

When asked about the difficulty outfielders had with the sun during late season games as Yankee Stadium, Yogi cleverly observed, “It gets late early out there.” He also had great advice for a young player trying to emulate Hall of Famer Frank Robinson’s famous swing. “If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.” Of course, Yogi also smiled and said, “I really didn’t say everything I said.”⁴

Maybe so, but his words of wisdom are much too good to ignore. They help in so many different situations. I always refer to Yogi, who was part of America’s Greatest Generation and the United States D-Day invasion during World War Two, as the wise Mr. Berra. I value his many lessons, and you should, too.

REMEMBER

◊Watch the tremendous Netflix/Sony Pictures Classics documentary about the life of Yogi Berra, It Ain’t Over. His grand-daughter did the film to show the real many her grandfather was, not just his famous persona.

◊ This blog post is an excerpt from Dave’s upcoming book manuscript,Take This With You…100 Messages to Accompany You on Your Life Journey, that is currently being edited. Visit www.davidajolley.com for additional blog posts, other interesting content, and updates on future book releases and appearances.

1. Berra, Yogi, www.brainyquote.com/authors/yogi-berra-quotes ↩︎
2. Berra, Yogi, with Kaplan, Dave, Ten Rings – My Championship Seasons, ©2003, William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, NY, NY ↩︎
3. Berra, Yogi, with Kaplan, Dave, Ten Rings – My Championship Seasons ↩︎
4. Berra, Yogi, www.brainyquote.com/authors/yogi-berra-quotes ↩︎