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Lots of quotes, lots of rings (10)
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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00:04I don't believe it!
00:05Phelan is at the bottom of that pile!
00:08The island at the center!
00:09And the arm!
00:10For the arm!
00:12Arm!
00:13And the box is wrong!
00:15What he made!
00:16The process from
00:18The street was up and down
00:20And from the big number!
00:22Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!
00:24Hold it! You're not desperate!
00:25I'm like, man!
00:26I'm like, man!
00:27I'm too much around!
00:28I'm too much around!
00:31Hold the line of the game!
00:33I'm just proud of the air!
00:35The ball is pulled in!
00:36I break off in!
00:40Hmm.
00:47Hello, I'm Chris Fowler
00:48and welcome to SportsCentury.
00:50When he squatted behind the plate
00:52wearing his tools of ignorance,
00:54he resembled a fire hydrant.
00:56And when he's stood up,
00:57he still resembled a fire hydrant.
01:00It was funny as number eight
01:01appeared in Yankee pinstripes,
01:03but usually it got funnier
01:04when he opened his mouth.
01:06Among his most quoted lines was,
01:09it ain't over till it's over.
01:10But, as we'll see in the next half hour,
01:13when it really was over for Yogi Berra,
01:15he not only owned more World Series records
01:18than many more heralded players,
01:20he had gained a special place
01:22deep in the heart of American pop culture.
01:29Yogi would have been remembered
01:31as a Hall of Fame baseball player,
01:34which he should be.
01:35But what he has been able to do
01:37is move beyond that.
01:39And where he is now an icon.
01:44From the president right on down,
01:46he's probably the most quoted
01:47individual in the country.
01:48Yogi Berra once said,
01:49when you come to a fork in the road,
01:51you take it.
01:52Take it.
01:53They feel that my dad
01:55actually sits around
01:56and tries to make out there
01:58his language and they are Yogi Berra.
02:00I want to give some of my favorite
02:01advice to the graduates.
02:03Never give up,
02:04because it ain't over till it's over.
02:06I think it appeals to the
02:08anti-intellectual taste
02:09to the American public.
02:11They're not going to close
02:11Plato or Aristotle,
02:13but they are going to close
02:14Yogi Berra
02:14because he's a hero and a sage.
02:17If you're an advertiser
02:18and you want to sell your product,
02:20who better put out
02:21in front of America
02:24as an authentic face?
02:26When the heck
02:27is this guy Philomonic?
02:29One of the guys
02:29once asked Yogi
02:30what time it was.
02:31He said,
02:31right now.
02:34The mayor of New York City
02:35says that he looks
02:36very cool
02:38in his new summer suit.
02:39Yogi says,
02:40thanks,
02:40you don't look so hot yourself.
02:42He comes back
02:43on a road trip.
02:43He asks his wife
02:44what she did.
02:45She said,
02:45I went to see Dr. Zhivago.
02:47He said,
02:47what's wrong with you now?
02:49If I had to use
02:51one word to describe
02:52it,
02:53it's underrated.
02:56Don't worry
02:57about how he says it.
02:59Just go to the bank,
03:00whatever he says.
03:05If you say to Yogi,
03:08what basically
03:09did sports mean to you
03:10when you were a kid?
03:11He would say,
03:12look,
03:13it was always
03:14who are we playing,
03:15what is the sport,
03:16where do we meet?
03:18Yogi
03:18was the best player
03:20and when you choose
03:21upsides with the bat,
03:22the first words
03:23I used to always hear
03:24when the hand
03:24got to the top
03:25was,
03:26I'll take Lottie.
03:28Lawrence Peter Bear
03:29was born on May 12, 1925
03:32in a predominantly
03:33Italian section
03:34of St. Louis,
03:35known during his
03:36childhood days
03:37of the Depression
03:37by an ethnic slur,
03:39Dago Hill.
03:40When we went out
03:41to play,
03:42the first thing
03:42you'd hear those
03:43other guys say
03:44is watch those
03:44Dago kids,
03:45they'll steal everything.
03:47I mean,
03:47because we didn't
03:48have anything.
03:49Moms and dads
03:50on the hill,
03:51they didn't believe
03:52in the kids
03:52going out to play ball.
03:54I mean,
03:54let's go to work.
03:56My oldest brother
03:57was the best ball player.
03:59and our family.
04:00In fact,
04:01all three of my brothers
04:02could have gone
04:03and played ball.
04:03My dad said,
04:05go to work.
04:06I worked in a shoe factory.
04:08I worked in a coal yard.
04:10I worked on a Coca-Cola truck.
04:12But I quit a lot of the jobs
04:14because I wanted to play ball.
04:16You'll give it
04:16all the heavy lutz.
04:18In fact,
04:18he lost his first job
04:19by going out
04:20to play ball in the lot
04:21and forgetting
04:22to go back to work.
04:24Dad would be
04:24in the middle
04:25of a baseball game
04:26and he had to run home
04:27and have that beer
04:27on the table
04:28for his dad.
04:29If that beer
04:30wasn't there,
04:31dad used to get a beat.
04:33I think he was kind of
04:34afraid of his reaction
04:35but that didn't stop him.
04:37That's all that boy
04:38ever wanted to do
04:39was play ball.
04:41Quitting a school
04:42after the eighth grade,
04:44Barrett tore up
04:45the local Sandlot
04:46Baseball League
04:47from spring to fall.
04:48A boyhood friend
04:50gave him a nickname
04:51that would eventually
04:51become part of
04:52the public consciousness.
04:53The kids the day
04:55before had gone
04:57to an Indian movie
04:59and a yoga,
05:00a Y-O-G-A,
05:02had been in the movie
05:03and the yoga
05:05was a person
05:06who sat with his hands
05:07clasped like this
05:08and his legs like that
05:10and just staring
05:11straight ahead.
05:13We didn't have
05:13no thug house
05:14and I sat on the ground
05:15and I always had
05:16my arm folded
05:17and my legs crossed
05:18and Bobby says,
05:19you look like a yogi
05:20and it stuck.
05:22Named after a movie
05:23snake charmer,
05:24Yogi would need
05:25magical powers
05:26to persuade his
05:27immigrant parents,
05:28Pietro and Paulina,
05:30that he had a future
05:31in baseball.
05:32They didn't want him
05:32to go away
05:33and play baseball
05:34because he was
05:35a contributor
05:36to the family.
05:38Yogi's brother,
05:39Lefty,
05:40was how good he is.
05:41With his brother,
05:42Lefty,
05:42running family interference,
05:44Yogi and Joe Garagiola
05:46attended an open tryout
05:48held by the Cardinals
05:49in the summer of 1941.
05:52I can remember
05:52pitching batting practice
05:54to Yogi
05:55and you could tell
05:56he was hitting him
05:56off that roof,
05:57off the screen
05:58in the right field.
05:59It was 310 feet
06:01down the line
06:02and he would just
06:03pick up any bat
06:04that was laying there.
06:05He was hitting him
06:06on the roof
06:07at Sportsman's Park.
06:09Hmm.
06:10GM Branch Rickey
06:11offered Yogi
06:12$250 to sign
06:14with St. Louis,
06:14but the 16-year-old
06:16declined
06:16because Garagiola
06:17had been given
06:18$500.
06:20Two years later,
06:21the Cardinals' loss
06:22would prove
06:23to be the Yankees' gain.
06:24When they came over
06:25to sign Yogi,
06:26our priest,
06:27Father Kester
06:28and two of my brothers
06:29stayed home from work
06:30and that
06:30to make sure
06:31my dad
06:32would let him sign.
06:34And he told Yogi
06:35he was making $90
06:36a month.
06:36He said,
06:37if you can't live on that,
06:38we have to come home
06:39and go to work.
06:39After playing
06:40for the Norfolk Tars
06:42of the Piedmont League,
06:43Farrah's baseball career
06:44was interrupted
06:45by a call to war.
06:47World War II.
06:49Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:50...in military history
06:51is assembled in England
06:52for an assault
06:53on Hitler's fortress Europe.
06:55As they prepare to move in,
06:57500 warships
06:58lay down
06:58on withering barrages.
07:00It looked like
07:01footage of ice to me.
07:02It really did.
07:03Yeah.
07:04I wasn't scared.
07:05It looked so beautiful,
07:06all different colors,
07:07like fireworks.
07:09Somebody else said,
07:10you better get
07:10your damn head
07:11down in here.
07:12You want it on.
07:14Surviving the fireworks
07:15off Omaha Beach
07:16on D-Day,
07:17Barrow was discharged
07:18from the Navy
07:19and the swinging catcher
07:20was assigned
07:21to the Newark Bears.
07:22At the end of the season,
07:23he arrived in the Bronx.
07:25Squat and long-armed,
07:26he hardly fit
07:27the prototype
07:28of a Yankee.
07:29They're always elegant
07:31and you have this sense
07:32of a dynasty
07:33and here you have
07:33this short,
07:35squat guy.
07:36One of his teammates
07:37called him the ape.
07:39Everybody laughed
07:40because he looked
07:41so funny in a uniform.
07:43He just wouldn't think
07:44a guy like that
07:44could play.
07:45Duke Snyder found
07:47a magazine article
07:48and it had a caveman
07:50dragging his big club
07:51behind him.
07:52So Duke tears this out
07:54and in the World Series,
07:56he goes up to the plate
07:58and he slips this to Yogi.
08:00Yogi took a tremendous
08:02amount of ribbing,
08:02but if you let it show,
08:05the ribbing gets worse.
08:06So he hid it as well
08:08as anybody.
08:09He's a very sensitive person.
08:12The things that they said,
08:14they were just hurtful.
08:15And I know that it bothered him.
08:17And it should have bothered him.
08:20Considered a defensive liability,
08:22Barrow's tutor
08:23by former Yankees catcher
08:24Bill Dickey
08:25was brought in by new manager
08:27Casey Stengel in 1949.
08:29Stengel also stemmed the flow
08:31of clubhouse ethnic abuse.
08:34Stengel used to refer to Yogi
08:35as his assistant manager.
08:37What Stengel appears to have seen
08:39in Barrow is
08:40a man who walked,
08:41talked,
08:42ate,
08:42breathed,
08:43baseball.
08:44And now Casey Stengel
08:45is going out to
08:46talk to Barrow.
08:47Use your head,
08:48use your head.
08:49And Yogi looked at him
08:50and said,
08:51if you want to call a game,
08:52come on,
08:53you catch.
08:54Yogi would talk back to Stengel.
08:56Casey would whistle
08:57and then he'd say,
08:59turn around here,
08:59damn it,
09:00turn around here.
09:01Yogi wouldn't look back.
09:03Damn it,
09:03he said,
09:04if you want to call one pitch,
09:06call them all.
09:06I'm not turning around.
09:07Well,
09:08you go around,
09:09you go around.
09:09And it went back and forth.
09:11If the marriage between
09:13Stengel and Barrow
09:15was sometimes volatile,
09:16it led to unprecedented success.
09:19Five straight World Series titles
09:21from 1949 to 1953.
09:24Five.
09:25In the first game
09:26of the 1955 Series,
09:28Yogi thought he put the tag
09:30on every catcher's nemesis.
09:32One run in in the eighth
09:33and Jackie Robinson on third.
09:35Robinson.
09:36And here comes Robinson,
09:37trying to steal home.
09:39He's safe,
09:39says the out.
09:40He's out,
09:41says Yogi Berra
09:41and brother is Yogi Hoppen.
09:44Yogi blocked the plate.
09:46You look at it.
09:47He had the ball there
09:48and Jackie slid right into it.
09:50He never got to the plate.
09:51He got there
09:52but after I tagged him.
09:54By 1956,
09:56he just missed it
09:57and nobody still knows
10:00whether Robinson had gotten there
10:02or been tagged.
10:05Berra had won three MVP awards
10:07and had led the Yankees
10:09in RBIs
10:10for seven straight seasons.
10:11That October,
10:12he called the most brilliant
10:14pitching performance
10:15in World Series history.
10:17There comes the pitch.
10:18Great goal!
10:19Don Larson.
10:20Perfect game for Don Larson!
10:22If you want to know
10:23about his competitors,
10:25look at that picture
10:26of Don Larson
10:27and Yogi's got his legs
10:29and his arms wrapped around him.
10:30I mean,
10:31it's almost X-rated
10:32he's hugging him so closely.
10:34You go to a schoolhouse
10:36that's 150 years old
10:37and you see this cornerstone
10:39there that you know
10:41is still going to be there
10:42200 years from now.
10:43That's what Yogi was
10:45to the Yankees.
10:46He was immovable.
10:47And this guy here
10:48to me,
10:48I've never seen the game today
10:50have baseball
10:51and he does a tremendous job.
10:53High drive,
10:54that's trouble
10:55and Yogi Berra
10:56up front
10:57over the screen
10:58and into Bedford Avenue
10:59and the ball game is even.
11:01Casey would go up
11:02to the trainer
11:03and ask if anybody's sick
11:04or anything.
11:04He said,
11:05well,
11:05Yogi Berra's going to stay home.
11:06He don't feel good.
11:07And Casey says,
11:08you better bring him back
11:09to the ballpark.
11:10He came to the ballpark
11:12that day
11:12and in the ninth inning
11:13he pinch hit
11:14and hit a home run
11:14and beat Billy Pierce
11:15two to one.
11:17A notorious
11:18bad ball hitter,
11:19there were a few pitches
11:20Berra couldn't hit.
11:21High,
11:22low,
11:22inside or outside.
11:23And he never struck out
11:25more than 38 times
11:27in the season.
11:28Best way to pitch
11:29a Yogi
11:29is throw a ball
11:30right down the middle
11:30of the plate
11:31because I'm just going
11:31to get a look at you
11:32and throw it on the corner
11:34or down his knees
11:35or up around his armpits.
11:36I know Casey sometimes
11:38would fall off
11:38on the bench
11:39because he would take
11:40a ball down the middle
11:41you know
11:42and the score is tied
11:43and then he'd golf
11:44one out of the ballpark.
11:46Newcomb won 27 games
11:48in 56.
11:49World Series
11:50fastball
11:50by his ankle,
11:51Yogi,
11:52home run.
11:52Next time up
11:54over his head,
11:54home run.
11:55Those two homers
11:56in game seven
11:57beat the Dodgers
11:58in 1956.
11:59If both eyes
12:01were on the ball
12:01at crunch time,
12:03one was always
12:04on his bank account.
12:05One of the Yogi's gimmicks
12:07was he would go
12:08with Casey
12:09up to the ownership
12:10of the Yankees
12:11at the World Series
12:13victory party.
12:14We had a few drinks,
12:16they were in a good mood
12:16and Casey would say
12:18to the owners,
12:19take care of Yogi.
12:20and they would say,
12:21okay,
12:21you know,
12:22we're going to give him
12:22a $5,000 raise
12:24and Yogi would say,
12:25I want $7,000.
12:27All right,
12:27give him $7,000.
12:28The mistake people make
12:30about Yogi Berra
12:31is that they suggest
12:32that he's somehow a clown.
12:34He's not.
12:35He's very smart.
12:37He is very shrewd.
12:38He is very crafty
12:39and he's very lovable.
12:42Probably.
12:44Reporters of the Associated Press
12:46come World Series time
12:47would always be cooking up
12:50non-existent trades.
12:51So at the time,
12:52we said,
12:52what would be the most
12:53outrageous thing
12:54that people would think of?
12:56We said,
12:56how about Yogi Berra
12:57as manager?
12:58No one would ever think
12:59of Yogi Berra as manager.
13:00But in October of 1963,
13:03Berra was handed
13:04the reign to the team
13:05when manager Ralph Ha
13:07was elevated at GM.
13:08After setting records
13:09on the field
13:10with 10 World Championship rings
13:12and 71 hits
13:13in the fall classic,
13:15Yogi now had to lead
13:16from the dugout.
13:17Ralph Ha come up
13:18and told me,
13:19how do you like the manager?
13:20I said,
13:21the manager who?
13:22I said,
13:23the Yankees.
13:24I said,
13:24you kidding?
13:26The players
13:27who we had been teammates of
13:29in the earlier years
13:30in the 60s,
13:31there was no line
13:32between them
13:33and the manager
13:34the way they should have been.
13:35This was just Yogi.
13:36On August 20th, 1964,
13:39the Yankees fell
13:40to four and a half games
13:41out of first place
13:42after getting swept
13:43by the White Sox.
13:44The weather changed abruptly
13:46on the way
13:47to O'Hare Airport.
13:48On the team bus,
13:49I started playing a harmonica.
13:51But I heard Yogi say,
13:53shove that harmonica up.
13:55Where?
13:56I had never seen him angry,
13:57ever.
13:58He came up the aisle
13:59and was like,
14:00here, take it.
14:01Do it.
14:01Like he was throwing
14:02out a runner.
14:03And he hit pep-a-thone
14:04in the knee.
14:05I went to the clubhouse
14:07in Boston
14:08and knocked on his door.
14:09He says,
14:10well,
14:10he says,
14:11I gotta find it.
14:12Is 250 enough?
14:15The Yankees
14:16won 30
14:17of their final 43
14:18to win the pennant
14:19by a game
14:20over Chicago.
14:21But the late season
14:22surge
14:22was not enough.
14:24His teammates
14:24gave him
14:25no respect.
14:26Their boss
14:26was still Ralph Hauke,
14:28who was sitting up
14:29in the front office.
14:29He was never going
14:30to be accepted
14:31by Ralph Hauke
14:32because Ralph
14:33was the third string
14:34catcher on the Yankees
14:35in the 50s.
14:35There was always
14:36a clash there
14:37of two Yankee cultures,
14:40Hauke and Yogi.
14:41The day after New York
14:43lost to the Cardinals
14:44in seven games,
14:45Hauke summarily relieved
14:47Bearer of his duties.
14:48And pinstripes,
14:50Yogi went home
14:51to New Jersey
14:51in shock.
14:53He really felt
14:54in his heart
14:54that he was going
14:56back to sign
14:57an extension
14:58to the contract
14:58and got slapped
15:00in the face
15:00terribly,
15:02treated horribly.
15:04The firing
15:05of this lovable figure
15:07caused a kind
15:08of national revolution
15:11among fans
15:12that this kind
15:14of funny-looking guy
15:15who won the pennant
15:17would be fired
15:18instead of rewarded.
15:19And I think
15:20that was the best thing
15:22that ever happened
15:22to Yogi.
15:25The next spring,
15:26Yogi was back
15:27in uniform
15:27as a coach
15:28under Stengel
15:29who was managing
15:30the Mets.
15:31Seven years later,
15:33Bearer was tapped
15:33again for the top spot
15:35after the sudden death
15:36of iron-willed
15:37Gil Hodges
15:38in April of 1972.
15:40The organization
15:41started to go to
15:42hell in a handbasket
15:44as soon as Gil died.
15:45The strength
15:45came out of that organization.
15:47We're cuddling.
15:47If he was struggling
15:49and he had to take you
15:49out of the lineup,
15:50I think Yogi felt as bad
15:52as the player
15:53coming out of the lineup.
15:54Gary Kuzma
15:55was pitching
15:55in San Francisco
15:57and Yogi
15:58started out
15:59and he was going
16:00to change pitches.
16:02And Kuzma
16:02stood on the mound
16:03and yelled at him,
16:03don't you dare
16:04come out here.
16:05And Yogi turned around
16:06and went back.
16:08We were leading
16:08two to one
16:09against the Phillies
16:10and Seaver said,
16:11if I have to face
16:12Bill Robinson
16:13in the ninth,
16:14I'm going to have
16:15Yogi bring him in.
16:16So I went behind
16:17underneath
16:18and started throwing
16:18against the wall.
16:20And sure enough,
16:21here comes Bill Robinson.
16:23Seaver calls timeout.
16:24And he says,
16:25Yogi Tucker ought to
16:26come in here
16:26and take care
16:26of this last half.
16:28And Yogi says,
16:29he's not ready yet.
16:31He says,
16:31oh yeah he is.
16:33In 1973,
16:34Vera's improbable
16:36managing style
16:37again got results
16:38as the Mets
16:39charged to a pennant.
16:40But less than
16:41two years
16:42after losing
16:42the World Series
16:43to Oakland
16:43in seven games,
16:45Yogi was sacked.
16:47Then in 1984,
16:50after eight years
16:51as a Yankees coach,
16:52Vera dutifully
16:53responded to
16:54a third managerial call.
16:56This one
16:56from George Steinbrenner.
16:58I won
16:59the pennant
17:00against the Yankees
17:01and the Mets.
17:02There's one thing
17:03I haven't achieved
17:04to win the World Series.
17:05With the boss
17:06running the operation,
17:08Vera began to show
17:09some wear and tear
17:10in the spring of 1985.
17:12Despite
17:13a promise
17:13by Steinbrenner
17:14that the Yankee legend
17:16would finish
17:16the season
17:17as manager,
17:18the relationship
17:19between the two
17:19would continue
17:20to deteriorate.
17:22George was telling
17:23them who to play.
17:24When they were losing,
17:25George would say,
17:26this is your team,
17:27and Yogi would say,
17:27no, this is your team.
17:29You're the one
17:29who handpicked
17:30these players.
17:31I was doing
17:31Game of the Week
17:32and I went in
17:33and I said,
17:34yo, you look awful.
17:36This guy's killing you.
17:37And he said,
17:38no, no, no.
17:40He's okay.
17:40We just agreed different.
17:42We all kind of sensed
17:43that George was
17:44being a little bit
17:45impatient
17:45with him
17:46and we knew
17:47that we didn't
17:47play well
17:49pretty quick
17:49that something
17:50could happen.
17:50In late April,
17:51the Yankees' record
17:52fell to 6-10
17:53following a three-game
17:55suite by the White Sox.
17:56I remember
17:57after they had
17:58to let your dad go.
18:00So I said,
18:01who,
18:01I actually said this,
18:02I said,
18:02who did that?
18:04Who fired him?
18:05Like,
18:05not knowing
18:06it was George?
18:07I relied on my
18:08general manager
18:08because I was tied up
18:09in something else
18:10in business.
18:11I said,
18:12well, get a hold of Yogi,
18:13tell him we're sorry
18:13but we're going to
18:14make a change.
18:15That's what made me
18:16get mad at him
18:17because he never told me.
18:18He said somebody else
18:19that I was fired
18:22and I didn't like that.
18:24Dad got on our team bus
18:27and he was supposed to go.
18:28Dad got up
18:29and said,
18:30see you later guys
18:31and then the rest of the team
18:32stood up
18:33and clapped for him
18:34as he got off the bus.
18:36And that's how Dad
18:37exited from the Yankees.
18:41Educated?
18:42No, he's not educated.
18:43But he's educated
18:44by the streets.
18:45He's educated
18:46by his upbringing.
18:48As much as Yogi
18:49was a Yankee,
18:51Yogi is a guy
18:52who believes
18:52in right and wrong.
18:53Wounded by his
18:54unceremonious departure,
18:57Barrett promised
18:58never to return
18:59to Yankee Stadium
19:00so long as Steinbrenner
19:01was in command.
19:02We began getting
19:03piles of letters
19:05from fans
19:06saying,
19:06don't be so selfish,
19:07Yogi.
19:08You think only of yourself.
19:09What about us?
19:10We want to see you
19:11at Yankee Stadium.
19:14Yankee fans
19:15love him
19:16and they wanted him there
19:18and he wanted to go there.
19:21But he felt like
19:22he had been wronged.
19:24If you ever
19:25looked at something
19:26and know that
19:27something was missing,
19:28I always felt that
19:29about Yogi.
19:31Joe D.,
19:32when he heard about
19:33we were trying,
19:34I remember him
19:34telling me,
19:35that's good.
19:36Get him back here.
19:38In December 1998,
19:40a dialogue of reconciliation
19:42began with a request
19:43by Steinbrenner
19:44to visit the Yogi Berra Museum
19:46near the Hall of Famer's
19:48home in Montclair,
19:49New Jersey.
19:50When I told that to Dan,
19:52he jumped through the ceiling.
19:53He said,
19:54I don't give a damn.
19:55There's no way.
19:56No way.
19:57I don't care if George
19:58wants to come here.
19:59I ain't going back.
20:00And I said,
20:01Dad,
20:01the man is willing
20:02to come here,
20:03put his reputation
20:04on the line
20:05and apologize to you
20:06in person.
20:08Mr. Steinbrenner,
20:09you remember Mr. Berra?
20:10Yes.
20:11We remember each other.
20:11Mr. Berra, you remember Mr. Steinbrenner.
20:15I should have called Yogi,
20:17no question about it,
20:18if we were going to make a change.
20:20So what I did
20:21is later try to go back
20:23and bring Yogi back
20:24to New York,
20:25to Yankee Stadium.
20:26One of the greatest moves
20:27I ever was dumb enough
20:29not to have made earlier.
20:30When the boss delivered
20:32his formal apology
20:33at the museum,
20:34Berra softened
20:35and came in from the cold
20:36after 14 seasons.
20:39And he was a Yankee
20:41the rest of his life.
20:42Let's welcome home
20:44number eight,
20:47Yogi Berra,
20:49number eight.
20:52He comes out to,
20:53you know,
20:53I think he's thrown out
20:54the first pitch
20:54and the whole Yankee Stadium
20:57was like,
20:57you know,
20:58saying,
20:58Yogi,
20:59Yogi.
20:59And it was just amazing
21:01how I got the chills.
21:02That summer,
21:03Yogi Berra was honored
21:04with his own day
21:05at Yankee Stadium.
21:06There was Yogi
21:07and Don Larson
21:08reenacting
21:09the final pitch
21:10of Larson's
21:11World Series
21:12perfect game.
21:13And it couldn't be happening,
21:15but on that day,
21:16Cone goes out
21:17and pitches
21:17a perfect game.
21:18A perfect game!
21:20David Cone!
21:23Here at Yankee Stadium
21:25on Yogi Berra Day.
21:31The best line
21:32I ever heard
21:33regarding Yogi
21:34was when Yogi
21:35was born,
21:36God said,
21:37Yogi,
21:37you just breathe,
21:38I'll take care
21:39of the rest.
21:40I used to think
21:41that Yogi
21:42was somehow
21:43the magic charm.
21:45One time,
21:46we were on a flight
21:47coming home
21:47from St. Louis
21:48and Yogi
21:48had stayed over.
21:49I mean,
21:50it was really
21:50storming
21:51and lightning
21:51off the wings
21:52and when the guys
21:54realized that
21:54Yogi wasn't
21:55on the flight,
21:57it sent them
21:58a little bit
21:58of fear
21:59because if Yogi
22:01were there,
22:01you know,
22:01the plane's not
22:02going to go down
22:02with Yogi
22:03on the plane.
22:04Casey Stengel
22:05said,
22:06you know,
22:06everything a dad
22:06touches turns
22:07to gold.
22:08Casey said,
22:09well,
22:09Yogi has three
22:10great kids,
22:11lives in an affluent
22:12town in a mansion.
22:13There's nothing
22:13dumb about that.
22:15I've never met
22:16anyone who was
22:18more completely
22:19at peace
22:20with himself
22:21and what he was
22:22as Yogi Berra had.
22:24That's why
22:25they call him
22:25there's no story
22:27about him
22:27that isn't wonderful.
22:28He was indeed
22:29a character
22:30of his time
22:31and of his sport
22:32and is going to live
22:34in the legends
22:35of our time.
22:41Walter Cronkite
22:42is also from Missouri.
22:46They've been known
22:48as a for X-rated.
22:49After Ryan Duren
22:50beat the Milwaukee Braves
22:52in game six
22:52of the 1958 World Series,
22:54the power pitcher
22:55was interviewed
22:56for 15 minutes
22:57for the Today Show.
22:58But what he saw
22:59on TV the next morning
23:01was closer to 15 seconds.
23:03The reason?
23:04Throughout much
23:05of the interview,
23:06Yogi had been
23:06in the background
23:07of the cameraman's shot
23:08buck naked.
23:10On the field
23:11and off it,
23:13Yogi Berra
23:13was always himself.
23:15For Sports Century,
23:17I'm Chris Fowler.
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