The Austrian economist Ludwig Lachmann once walked into the colloquium room at New York University, where the blackboard displayed this quotation: “When it comes to the future, one word says it all: You never know. – Y. Berra.”
Having built much of his economics on the unknowability of the future, Lachmann noticed the quote. However, having lived in South Africa for decades and being unfamiliar with the wit and wisdom of the former New York Yankees catcher, he pondered the chalk inscription for a bit, turned to those assembled, and in his heavy accent said, “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the works of Professor Berra.”
I knew Yogi had something to do with baseball but if all ever did was come up with great sayings, that alone would've justified a lengthy obit in the Times -- I've always found it funny the kind of people who pat themselves on the back for quickly seeing that a Yogi-ism is "dumb", as if they're excited to discover someone in the world dumber than they -- but I had no idea at all that he was so great a player to be considered the best catcher in the history of the sport.
Reminds me of Steve Wozniak, whose antics and pranks and baffling generosity are so amazing that you almost forget that he was also, incidentally, a freakishly outstanding engineer, and a co-founder of Apple.
Yogi was not only a great guy who said funny things but he played for 10 World Series winners in 16 years, a feat no one else has ever done. Plus they named the cartoon character after him, which is amazing by itself.
I don't really know the guy since I grew up in England, but from what I've read today I think he must've been some sort of subversive genius. All the quotes I've seen attributed to him suggest a perspective on the world which isn't really congruent with stupidity. For example, "I won't buy my kids an encyclopedia; they can walk to school just like I did." It's brilliant, and really funny. If the only thing he ever said was, "If you come to a fork in the road, take it," you might be forgiven for thinking he was a stereotypical lunkheaded sportsman. Taken as one example from a whole canon of sayings, though, and it's almost profound: 'you need to make a decision.'
As I heard it, the "fork in the road" quote is referring to his house. It had a road leading up to it that split into two roads, then came back together at the house.
So, those were specific instructions. It didn't matter which way you went, you would end up at his house. It was just delivered in a funny way.
Not being American and not being interested in baseball, I never knew that Yogi Berra was a famous baseball player. All I knew was a quote of his that I liked. I thought he really was a yogi. It is this quote:
"You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there."
As a kid in another country I use to think grownups were referring to the Yogi Bear cartoon character. We used to watch those cartoons all the time and the bear also had funny quotes and remarks. (Baseball isn't really a big sport in my country).
Hahaha. I had the exact same reflection. I don't know much about Baseball either. When I was listening people talking about Baseball and referring to Yogi Bear, I thought it was a mascot of one of the teams.
Anyway, RIP.
When I was a kid, I was a baseball nut. Berra was an Astros coach from 1985-1989 and one of my greatest thrills was meeting Berra before a game in 1986. For a 9 year old with an encylopedic (at the time) knowledge of the Yankees and Astros, that was a thrill that resonates even to this day. I met Michael Jordan really briefly in 1996 and it didn't come close to that memory of Berra. An apt quote for today: "Always go to other people's funerals or else they won't come to yours." RIP Yogi. Thanks.
Yogi was in a league of his own in so many ways. He was the greatest catcher in the history of baseball, but he's remembered for his wit and character.
I met Yogi once, when I was a teenager. This man had a thousand accomplishments to his record, and a museum built in his name, and he still took the time to talk to a young man and give him advice on how to achieve his dreams. He was a uniquely good person, and he will truly be missed.
A friend related a story on Facebook this morning: this friend was at a baseball camp in Houston when Berra was coaching there and Berra came to coach the kids one day. His advice to my friend "you can't hit and think at the same time". 9 words to summarize the importance of developing an intuition.
Coincidentally on Sunday I was trying to figure out a word for "yogiism" - "malapropism" comes close but it's not it. I was googling around and ran into a story about Berra. Apparently at age 16 Berra tried out for the St. Louis Cardinals and Branch Rickey (legendary coach of the Cards) told him that he'd never make it in baseball.
There's a scholarship at Columbia in his name that he established because he regretted that he dropped out of school in 8th grade and never completed his formal education.
It was tough to see this news pop up after enjoying a big Yankees win. Yogi was one of the greatest catchers and Yankees in history, and he was part of more World Series teams than any other player (10!). Sad day for baseball fans.
Honest question, what's the deal here? Are these all weird little slips of the tongue people find amusing, like that person in your life who is unintentionally funny, or are these purposeful little zen koans he comes up with to make you think and laugh?
Or is Berra's appeal that you'll never know if its the former or the latter?
Some quotes were taken out of context:
"when you come to a fork in the road take it" - both forks lead to his house.
He never graduated high school which created interesting dialog and attributed to some of his quotes.
Regardless, he played for 17 years in the majors, and managed several more. He went to the championship something like 75% of the time. He was a good player, said interesting things, and had high baseball IQ.
You can observe a lot by watching a guy like that.
> Or is Berra's appeal that you'll never know if its the former or the latter?
That's how I take it (the latter) -- you hear something that on the surface sounds dumb, but on second thought, makes sense.
For those that don't know baseball, the catcher position is arguably the most cerebral in the game. Many good managers were once catchers (as they understand hitting and pitching).
There's a little tavern on "the Hill", an Italian neighborhood here in St. Louis, down the street from where Yogi and Joe Garagiola grew up. My, then girlfriend, lived near there and we'd occasionally go to the tavern with her grandfather. Once in a while, Yogi would show up, even just 10 years ago, to say hi to old friends who would think nothing of him as a hall-of-famer but everything as a dear friend who had been gone a while.
Having built much of his economics on the unknowability of the future, Lachmann noticed the quote. However, having lived in South Africa for decades and being unfamiliar with the wit and wisdom of the former New York Yankees catcher, he pondered the chalk inscription for a bit, turned to those assembled, and in his heavy accent said, “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the works of Professor Berra.”