Yogi..................

Yogi Berra, the iconic catcher of New York Yankee fame, known for his Yogi-isms, is also the winningest man in baseball.  He appeared in 21 World Series as a player, coach, and manager.  In his 17 years as a player, his team reached the World Series 14 times and won 10 times.  He was also an ironman.  Over a seven year period during his prime years, Berra played in 100 more games than any other catcher in baseball.   In that stretch he payed both games of a double header 117 times, seven times on back-to-back days.  Makes my knees hurt just thinking about it.


The following story comes from a story by Joe Posnanski in Sports Illustrated  from last summer:

"One time in Boston it was so hot that Berra decided to get thrown out of the game.  The umpire that day was Cal Hubbard, a former football player who did not listen to much talk before throwing players out of the game. Berra figured it would be easy.  So he made a few cracks. Hubbard didn't say a thing.  Then, Berra started openly arguing balls and strikes.  Again, Hubbard didn't say a thing.  Finally, Berra turned and tried to show up Hubbard, the surest way to get thrown out of a game.  Hubbard calmly said, 'Berra, if I have to be out here in this heat, so do you.'"