Yogi Berra passed away on Tuesday at the age of 90. The Hall of Fame catcher was just about as well-rounded an individual as one could be, and that's what our 10 Reasons Why New York Yankees Legend Yogi Berra Was The GOAT focuses on.
*In case you don't know what GOAT means, it's an acronym for "Greatest of All Time."
10. He was an All-Star for 15 consecutive MLB seasons.
This career total is good for 10th all-time behind only Hank Aaron (21), Willie Mays (20), Stan Musial (20), Cal Ripken (19), Rod Carew (18), Carl Yastrzemski (18), Ted Williams (17), Pete Rose (17) and Mickey Mantle (16). No catcher has ever made more All-Star teams.
9. He won three MVPs ('51, '54, '55) and finished top four in the MVP voting four other times.
No catcher has more MVP awards either. By the way, this was when he was on the same team as Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. He was the runner-up for the award in 1953 (lost to Al Rosen) and 1956 (lost to Mantle).
8. He has the most World Series championships (10) of any player in MLB history.
He has also played in the most World Series games (75) and accumulated the most hits in the World Series (71) in MLB history. All of his championships came with the New York Yankees ('47, '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '56, '58, '61 and '62). He also hit the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history in 1947.
7. He had five MLB seasons where he had more home runs than strikeouts.
They are as follows:
1950: 28 home runs, 12 strikeouts
1951: 27 home runs, 20 strikeouts
1952: 30 home runs, 24 strikeouts
1955: 27 home runs, 20 strikeouts
1956: 30 home runs, 29 strikeouts
He also had more career walks (704) than strikeouts (414).
6. He managed both the New York Yankees and New York Mets to the World Series.
He's one of seven managers in MLB history to make the World Series in both the American and National League and the only manager to take both the Yankees ('64) and Mets ('73) to the championship. Unfortunately, he lost both times. He's probably satisfied with 10 rings, though.
5. He served in World War II during the D-Day invasion of France as a 19-year-old.
"Yogi was one of a six-man crew on a Navy rocket boat, firing machine guns and launching rockets at the German defenses at Omaha Beach. He was fired upon, but was not hit, and later received several commendations for his bravery," according to the Yogi Berra Museum website.
4. He probably has the best golf quote ever.
"Eighty percent of the balls that don't reach the hole, don't go in."
He would have been a great golf coach for Happy Gilmore.
Yogi Berra > Chubbs Peterson.
3. He once batted in 23 runs in a minor-league game.
Per Tim Kurkjian on the Baseball Tonight Podcast: "He told me once, that when he was in the minor leagues, and this has been double-checked, that he drove in 23 runs during a doubleheader. He had 12 RBIs in the first game and 11 in the second game. I said, 'Yogi, that's impossible, no one can do that,' and he said, 'I only hit one home run in the doubleheader, but every time I came to the plate the bases were loaded.'"
2. He didn't really care about his lack of knowledge in mathematics.
Here are those famous "Yogi-isms":
"You give 100 percent in the first half of the game. And if that isn't enough, in the second half, you give what's left."
"Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical."
"Pair off in threes."
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."
"I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4."
1. He was as competitive and realistic as anyone despite his lovable and cheerful demeanor.
"It ain't over 'till it's over."
"If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be."
He even went out in style: Berra died on Sept. 22, 2015, which was exactly 69 years after he made his MLB debut on Sept. 22, 1946.
