Yogi Berra
Baseball lost one of its all-time legends last month, as the great New York Yankees' catcher and clutch hitter, Yogi Berra, passed away at the age of 90.
He was perhaps the most beloved athlete of our time, for his services both on and off the pitch. He played in more world series games than any other player in history, and was a World Series champion 10 times with the Yankees.
But even if you've never been a baseball fan, Yogi Berra was quite a character, and is perhaps just as famous for some of his sayings - or 'Yogi-isms'. You have probably heard, or even said one or two yourself during your life. Here's some of my favorites:-
- "It ain't over 'til it's over"
- "It's deja vu all over again"
- "It gets late early around here..."
- "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."
- "I didn't really say everything I said"
- "When you get to a fork in the road, take it"
- "You can observe a lot by watching"
- "I wish I had an answer to that because I'm tired of answering that question."
- "If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else"
So, who was Yogi Berra, and why did he have one of the most famous moniker's in sporting history?
Well, he was named Lawrence Peter Berra when he was born on 12th May 1925 in a predominantly Italian neighborhood of St Louis, but his friends later nicknamed him Yogi, after watching a travelogue featuring a Hindu yogi sitting cross-legged. It had struck them that the posture was exactly the same as the one Berra had adopted when sitting waiting for his turn to bat.
From then on, the name stuck, and he became known as Yogi Berra - a name not dissimilar to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Yogi Bear. It is widely speculated that Berra was the inspiration for the name, as he was a household name at the time Yogi Bear first hit TV screens, but he denied this and filed a suit against the animation studios, which was later withdrawn.
In 2004, he approved a production entitled Yogi Berra's Favorite Baseball Radio Shows, which was a compilation of material from 1937 to 1950. Some of the shows which were included in the recording are available on RUSC. I've listed these below, but I've also added several more, along with a few series.
And don't forget that there's also the Sports Radio Station available at RUSC Radio where you can listen to a continuous stream of fantastic sports related radio shows.
I hope you enjoy this wonderful trip down memory lane.
Happy listening my friends,
