Yogi: He's our Bear, So Lovable

 

   Hey everyone!!! I’m sorry for such the long the delay between my posts. Between the Jewish holidays  and making up for lost time at work, it has been hectic. Even in the midst of these amazing baseball playoffs, I will be talking about something else. As not only a big time Yankees fan, but a huge baseball fan I will be writing about the loss of Yogi Berra. Honestly, I should be ashamed of myself for not writing about this quite some time ago.  Yogi Berra is one of the all time greats. He ranks higher amongst all time catchers than he does amongst all time Yankees, how astonishing is that? In my opinion, he is the number 1 greatest catcher, slightly ahead of Johnny Bench, of all time. He is the number 5 all time, behind Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle, on the Yankees all time list.

     Many people may disagree with me about Yogi being ranked ahead of Johnny Bench as the greatest catcher. Besides for being the best “Bad Ball” hitter of all time, who else wins 3 MVP awards while playing with greats like Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams? It certainly was not Bench. He also caught pitchers like Whitey Ford and Allie Reynolds. Allie Reynolds pitched 2 no hitters in 1951 and guess who caught him? If you guess Peter Lawerence “Yogi” Berra, then you guessed correctly.

   Almost every baseball fan knows that Yogi has won 10 World Series, the most by any player. Did you know that is more World Series wins than the Padres, Mariners, Blue Jays, Royals, Rangers, and Astros combined? They only have 3 World Series wins combined (’85 by the Royals, ’92 and ’93 by the Blue Jays). He won 3 while playing with Joe D and 7 while playing with the Mick. When you play with those legends, it’s easy to overlook someone of Yogi’s stature.

     Yogi seemed to be the quintessential team player. When asked to move around positions, he did as needed for the team. When Bill Mazeroski hit his infamous Game 7 World Series home run, it was Yogi looking at the ball sail over the outfield fence. Elston Howard was behind the plate. What really bothers me is the that fans decided not to honor Yogi at this year’s All Star Game. Everyone fan base got to vote for their “Franchise Four” and Yankees Nation got theirs correct. Fans then got to vote for the top 4 Living Legends. At the time, Yogi was still well and alive. The fans voted Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron. Not to sound biased as a Yankee fan, but Berra should have been there instead of Bench.

    Everyone knows that once Yogi retired in 1963, he immediately started his managing career. In 1964, he managed the Yankees to the World Series, but they lost in 7 games. He was immediately fired after the World Series. After being let go, he managed the cross town Mets. In 1973, he also led the Mets to the World Series, but lost to the super hot A’s. He was fired after that World Series. What boggles my mind is why was he fired after taking his teams to the World Series? He obviously knew what he was doing. After 1973, George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees and hired another Yankees great Billy Martin. Yogi was immediately named onto Billy’s coaching staff. People had an obvious amount of respect for Yogi when it came to the game of baseball.

    Yogi will always be missed. Even though I never got to see him play, my dad is always telling me about how great it was to watch him play growing up. When they show clips or classic games on YES of Yogi, it shows his passion and intensity for the game. If people want to learn to play the game better, learn from Yogi. While listening to the Michael Kay Show on ESPN, interviews with past players about Yogi showing up at spring training were just phenomenal. Anyone who was around to see Yogi at any stage in his life, should truly feel grateful.