Baseball’s most quotable character

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a Major League Baseball player. Like many small towns, baseball was a big piece of the fabric that defined my East Coast hometown.

We didn’t have a rink so it was baseball, not hockey. Still is.

Major League Baseball has certainly had its share of characters: Remember Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, a Detroit Tigers pitcher who used to talk to the baseball?

Ozzie Smith of the Cardinals who used to backflip himself into position at shortstop?

How about Casey Stengel who managed three New York teams — the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets? He used to tell reporters outlandish stories, all of which ended with, “You could look it up,” which you couldn’t.

And everybody’s favourite phrase-master, Yogi Berra who gave us, among others:

“We were overwhelming underdogs.”

“It never happened in World Series history and it hasn’t happened since.”

“The future ain’t what it used to be.”

“I double-checked it six times.”

“Ninety per cent of this game is 50 per cent mental.”

“You can observe a lot by watching.” “Pair up in threes.” “It’s deja vu all over again.” “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” “It ain’t over till it’s over.” And my personal favourite: “If they don’t wanna come to the ballpark, how ya gonna stop ‘em?”

There will never be another Yogi Berra. He died Sept. 22, 2015 four months shy of his 90th birthday.

I’m Fred Trainor and that’s a Little Good News.

Fred Trainor will be writing A Little Good News in each edition of The Okanagan Weekend.