The ANNOTICO Report
Thanks to Larry DiStasi

Yogi's sayings are SO Popular it seems to put a shadow on his Enermous Accomplishments.  ["Yogisms" at end]

Although considered a "wild" batter, In 1950, he fanned only 12 times in 597 at bats. Yogi was a talker behind the plate. He used to talk to the opposing batters in order to distract them. Hank Aaron tells the story about the 1958 World Series, with Yogi behind the plate. Yogi kept telling Aaron to 'hit with the label up on the bat'. Finally Aaron turned and said "Yogi, I came up here to hit, not to read."

Yogi went on to become a FIFTEEN-time All Star, winning the AL MVP THREE times, in 1951, 54 and 55. He played in 14 World Series and holds numerous World Series records including most games by a catcher (63), hits (71), and times on a winning team (10), first in at bats, first in doubles, second in RBI's, third in home runs and BOB's. Yogi also hit the first pinch hit home run in World Series history in 1947.

Yogi was named the Yankees Manager in 1964 and went on to win the AL pennant,

Yogi then signed with the NY Mets as a player-coach in a public relations coup that can only happen in New York. Yogi was reunited with his long time friend and mentor Casey Stengel, the current Mets manager. Following Gil Hodges's death in 1971, Yogi was named as the Mets manager in 1972. In 1973, Yogi brought the "You Gotta Believe" Mets from last place in the final month of the season to win the National League pennant.

Yogi was dismissed from the Mets in 1975 and returned to the Yankees as a coach the following year. In 1984, George Steinbrenner hired Yogi to manage the Yankees; they finished third that year. After 22 games of the 1985 season Yogi was replaced as manager.

In 1986 Yogi signed on as a coach with the Houston Astros, and remained with them until his retirement in 1992. Yogi is one of only a few managers to have won pennants in both the American and National Leagues.Yogi was elected the the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

A Site for Yogi
The official Yogi Berra web site
http://www.yogi-berra.com/
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"NOBODY DON'T LIKE YOGI" with Gazzara, Expected to Reach New York in Fall

The Playbill
By Robert Simonson
11 Sep 2003

Ben Gazzara will this fall play baseball great Yogi Berra in Nobody Don't Like Yogi in the city where the legend played and coached: New York. The show, which had runs this past summer at Bay Street Theatre and Syracuse Stage, will open Off-Broadway in October, the New Yorker reported.

An official announcement about the production is expected soon. Thomas Lysaght wrote the one-man work, which shows Berra stepping foot in Yankee Stadium, his old stomping ground, after a 14-year absence.

Berra is the lovable one-time Yankee player and coach, and three-time American League MVP, who is known for his nonsensical aphorisms as much as for his play on the field.

Among his best remembered observations are "It ain't over til it's over," "It's deja vu all over again," "Nobody goes there anymore—it's too crowded," and "If the people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's going to stop them."

The show opened at Bay Street in Sag Harbor, Long Island, on May 20 and lasted until June 1. The Syracuse run ran Aug. 19-Sept. 7.

Gazzara, a stage and film veteran, has starred in "The Spanish Prisoner" and "The Big Lebowski" as well as the original Broadway productions of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Hatful of Rain.

The title of the play notwithstanding, Berra's absence from Yankee Stadium was due to a long feud with the team's owner, George Steinbrenner, who hired him to manage the Bronx Bombers in 1984 and fired him in 1985.

Playbill News: Nobody Don't Like Yogi,
with Gazzara, Expected to Reach New York in Fall
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/81581.html
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YOGISMS...

  It ain't over 'til it's over " "Never answer an anonymous letter"" I usually take a two hour nap from one to four"" It's deja vu all over again"" When you come to a fork in the road....Take it "" I didn't really say everything I said "" You can observe a lot by watching "When asked what time is was......" you mean now?"At Yogi Berra day in St Louis 1947 " I want to thank you for making this day necessary"" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be "Yogi on the 1969 NY Mets....." overwhelming underdogs "" If the people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's going to stop them "
   On why NY lost the 1960 series to Pittsburgh " We made too many wrong mistakes"  " The future ain't what it used to be "" It gets late early out here"