The Popcorn Stand: We need Yogi’s wisdom

We’re now in the dog days of summer in the tough year of 2020, so I thought to myself we really need the wisdom of somebody who always spoke the truth. So of course the first person I thought of was Yogi Berra.

Yogi Berra died in 2015, but boy could we use a guy like him in 2020. Berra was one of the greatest catchers in Major League history.he’s also one of the greatest New York Yankees ever and although he’s in the Hall of Fame, I would argue he actually goes underrated.

I don’t think we appreciate just how great of a catcher he really was. That’s because he’s most remembered for many of his memorable quotes or as he put it: “I really didn’t say everything I said.”

While that’s an actual quote of Berra’s, he was making the point he wasn’t responsible for all the quotes attributed to him.

And Yogi is the ultimate example of someone who didn’t have book smarts, but definitely had street smarts. Like he knew the best time to negotiate his contract with Manager Casey Stengel was right after the Yankees won the World Series when let’s just say Stengel was still “celebrating” and was actually in a generous mood, something that was rare.

There’s also different versions of this story but it does involve Yogi and Stengel. The Yankees starting pitcher had been hit hard on something like his first three pitches so Stengel came out to the mound and basically asked Yogi what the pitcher’s pitches looked like: Yogi’s response was something like: “I don’t know, I haven’t seen one yet.”

But I also know the reason why we remember so many of Yogi’s colorful quotes is there’s so much truth to them. Like is quote: “This game is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.” While Yogi’s math was off, but the point he was making the game of baseball was mostly mental was absolutely true.

And yes, another quote shows Yogi wasn’t exactly the best at math. One time he went into a pizza place and ordered a medium pizza. When he was asked about how many slices he wanted, Yogi replied “You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.”

Late in his career Yogi saw a lot of time in left field to rest his catcher’s legs and one time he misplayed a ball in the outfield in the late afternoon. When he came back to the dugout, Stengel asked him what happened to which Yogi replied, “It gets late early out there.”

My favorite Yogi quote came on a hot day at Yankee Stadium when the mayor’s wife came up to him and said, “You look pretty cool in that suit.” Without missing a beat, Yogi replied, “You don’t look so hot yourself.”

Admittedly one of his statements that had some truth to it doesn’t exactly ring true to the circumstances we’re now facing in 2020. One time teammate Whitey Ford chose a restaurant for him and Yogi to which Yogi replied: “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”

Another one of Yogi’s quotes does have some truth in it, although it’s not physically possible: “Always go to people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”

And another truthful statement came when Yogi was asked about being at Yankee Stadium on opening day: “Home openers are always great whether they’re home or away.” Yogi was making the point opening day was always great whether it was at home or on the road.

Yogi also made some astute observations like this one about Sandy Koufax. “I can see how he won twenty-five games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.”

And of course Yogi’s financial wisdom always rang true and certainly in 2020 when he said, “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”

There was also the time in which Yogi was told a story about something that happened in Ireland and he replied, “Only in America.”

I would say “only in America” could there be somebody like Yogi Berra. And in 2020 I rely on his wisdom more than ever.