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Yogi Berra, Baseball Legend & World’s Most Quotable Man, Dies At 90

Photo: Carl Kidwiler/Diamond Images.
Beloved American rhetorician, Yankees legend, and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra died on Tuesday evening, leaving this world a lot less quotable. Berra was 90 years old. Born in St. Louis in 1925, Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra never made it through eighth grade, but he went on to lead an illustrious life that included a 19-year stint as a catcher for the New York Yankees, taking 10 MLB World Series titles during his playing career. When Berra retired in 1963, the Yankees made him the team manager. Wherever he went, and with whomever he spoke, Berra left pearls of memorable, if not a bit discombobulated wisdom — some about baseball, others about success, and all applicable in one way or another to navigating the conundrums of life. His quotes came to be called Yogi-isms, and though their veracity has been questioned by many (including Berra), the American lexicon will undeniably uphold Berra's legacy for a very long time. In addition to inspiring his teammates, players, and fans, Berra likely inspired the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yogi Bear. Like Berra, Yogi Bear is known for his quirky catchphrases, like "I'm smarter than the average bear." Berra attempted to sue the character's creators for defamation, but did not follow through. Both the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, NJ, and the Yankees tweeted about Berra's death early Wednesday morning.
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Below, 10 of our favorites of Berra's sayings that, whether uttered in reference to baseball or not, make just as much sense when they're about us: "You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six." "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up some place else." "It ain't over till it's over." "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." "You can observe a lot by just watching." "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." "It was impossible to get a conversation going. Everybody was talking too much." "It's like deja-vu all over again." "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." "I never said most of the things I said." And, one more, from the Bear, not the Berra:
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