Yogi Berra Dies -- Yankees Legend Dead at 90
Yogi Berra Yankees Legend Dies at 90
Yogi Berra, a New York Yankees legend and one of the most beloved American sports stars in history, died Tuesday.
Yogi was an All-Star catcher for the Yankees from 1946 to 1963, and also played one year with the Mets before retiring as a player in 1965. He played in the Bronx alongside the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle ... earning a record TEN World Series rings.
Yogi also caught pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
He was just as famous for his quirky sayings, known as "Yogi-isms," as he was his Hall of Fame baseball career. Some of the best include:
- "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."
- "It gets late early out there."
- "If you come to a fork in the road, take it."
- "It's like deja vu all over again."
Miller played off Yogi's idioms for a popular 1987 beer commercial that happened to co-star a young Jason Alexander -- who, coincidentally, worked for the Yankees years later on "Seinfeld."
Yogi, whose birth name was Lawrence Peter, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and participated in the D-Day invasion. He started playing pro baseball when he got out of the service.
The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in NJ announced his death. Yogi was 90.