The Wit and Wisdom of Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra died on September 22 at his home in Montclair, NJ at the age of 90. Aside from rock star baseball, he was otherwise well known for his "Yogisms", which have been oft quoted and re-quoted since his passing. These amusing aphorisms have often been accepted as being merely silly tautologies in many cases. I beg to differ. I think they are the sayings of a very insightful mind and spirit.

Let's start with this most famous one:

It ain't over till it's over.

Obvious, right? No. It's a statement about the psychology of life's challenges. It's the ninth inning. You're at bat. You're down 7 zip. You have two outs against you. The game's over, right? No, says Yogi. It ain't over until it's over. That's an important idea. Whatever the strikes against you, you can't make the rent, your girlfriend is about to walk out on you, your brother has hit rock bottom and is self-destructing: remember, it ain't over until it's over.

Hear this one:

It's deja vu all over again.

Deja vu happens more than once, and it's eerie. Why does this stuff keep happening?

Sometimes you just have to remember your way:

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

If you came to that divide for the first time, you wouldn't know what to do quite frankly. But if you've been down that road before, doesn't it come natural?

Let's face it: things take longer than their assigned time.

I usually take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4.

By the time you make the trip to and fro, shower up and change clothes... well?

I particularly like this one:

We made too many wrong mistakes.

There are two kinds of problems in life: problems that have a right to be a problem, and problems that do not have a right to be a problem. In the former case, we have problems and make mistakes because we are doing something hard to do, perhaps something we've never done before. In the latter the case, we have problems because we are being butt-heads and make "wrong mistakes."

By the way, we can be amphi- anything, if we demonstrate flexibility.

He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious.

Sometimes we look at things without really seeing.

You can observe a lot by watching.

Often, you can't learn than much by watching, unless you come prepared. What are you watching for? What does Yogi mean by "observe?" This one may need further refinement by a future Yogi.

Here's a truism on the annual seasonal changes:

It gets late early out here.

Isn't that the way it feels in the northern latitudes come October? Here is a distinct contrast between the sky and the clock.

You can't put a finer point on American liberties than to put it a little upside down.

If the people don't want to come to the ballpark, nobody's going to stop them.

I have a pet peeve. If you speak of a transaction between two people it occurs "between" them. If among more than two it is "among" them. Violations of this simple grammar are frequent and severely grates on my nerves. That's why I appreciate the way Yogi calls it out in this next one:

Pair up in threes.

He had good investment advice too.

Why buy good luggage. You only use it when you travel.

If you've been around a while, like I have, you learn to take it down a notch, especially when you're under fire. Other people know stuff too, and they can help you if you can tame your ego and give them a chance. Yogi knew that.

It ain't the heat, it's the humility.

Farewell Yogi. The future ain't what it used to be.