"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."
He was a gunner's mate on the USS Bayfield on D-Day, laying down fire on Utah Beach and Omaha Beach while taking fire himself. He appeared in 21 World Series as a player, manager, or coach, winning 13 of them. He was a philosopher unparalleled by today's thinkers -- always the one to leave fans and reporters scratching their heads, and begrudgingly nodding them as well. On September 22, 2015, 69 years to the day since his Major League Baseball debut with the New York Yankees, Yogi Berra passed away. With him, the world has lost one of the games greatest characters, catchers and competitors. He was 90 years old.
Among catchers, Yogi Berra ranks among the greatest to protect home plate. He ranks in the top five in WAR (Wins Above Replacement), runs scored, hits, and home runs. He is the all time leading catcher in All Star Game appearances, and Runs Batted In. Most notably, however, Yogi Berra won more world series as a player than anyone else in history. Over the course of his 19 year career, he went home with a parade 10 times. To put that into context, Yogi Berra had more World Series Rings than 28 other Baseball Teams. Only the Yankees, the team with which he won all of his championships, and the Cardinals have more. Oh, and he won three more championships as a manager or coach, too. It doesn't matter how you measure it - traditional statistics, sabermetrics, or plain old championships - Yogi Berra was one of the most successful, and greatest baseball players of all time.
Because of their physical abilities, athletes take on a sense of celebrity. Because of this, they are given ample opportunities to speak their minds and let the world know what they think. Most athletes are political enough not to ruffle any feathers, some just do it so they don't get fined, and some admonish reporters for asking them about practice. Every so often, though, maybe once in a generation, the world is gifted an athlete with a philosophers mind. Yogi Berra may not have been that gift, but he was certainly pretty damn close.
Affectionately referred to as "Yogi-isms," Yogi Berra left more than enough quotes to have us thinking for a lifetime. Whether he was telling us about his sleeping habits - "I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four" - bequeathing us with brilliant travel advice - "Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel" - or giving apt insight into the economy - "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore" - Yogi Berra always left us laughing, learning and a little confused.
So now we need to say goodbye to one of the defining personalities in the history of baseball. We may see his standards fall or his records broken, but his legacy cannot falter over time, and we may never see insights on his level again. He was a veteran, a champion, and a competitor, he has and will go down in the annals of baseball history, and he will be missed.
