A Baseball Legend Leaves Us

Today, Yogi Berra, one of baseball's greatest legends died at the age of 90. In his career, he garnered 10 World Series rings, a feat unlikely in today's sports. More amazing, in 1950, he had only 12 strike outs in 597 at-bats. I can't even imagine that, yet as a kid growing up in southern New Jersey, I listened to countless Yankee baseball games. Television was in its infancy; for baseball, radio was a great way for a young kid to hear the game.

Baseball is a summer game, and in the 50's and 60's, few people had air conditioning. Windows were open, and spilling out of them were the legendary baseball sports announcers like Mel Allen for the Yankees and Red Barber for the Brooklyn Dodgers. As far as I'm concerned, this was the golden age of baseball as greats like Berra, Mantle and Maris went up against Willie Mays and Duke Snyder. The list of these greats is a long one.

Instead of performing enhancing drugs, the players from this era drank beer, and probably a lot of it, yet their accomplishments on the field are forever storied. So I tip my Yankee's hat to one of the great ones, one who I rooted for when I was a kid as they were my idols. "It ain't over until it's over" and I like to believe that it ain't over, but that somewhere, they're still playing in their field of dreams.

So many of his lines have made it into mainstream conversations like "It ain't over until it's over" and his legacy will live on in those quotes and his unique personality.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

"Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded"

Most apropos: Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.

HE was not dead until he died!

"I like little league. It keeps the parents off the streets."