Yankees Hall of Fame catcher and character Yogi Berra dead at 90

From the New York Times:

"Yogi Berra, one of baseball's greatest catchers and characters, who as a player was a mainstay of 10 Yankee championship teams and as a manager led both the Yankees and Mets to the World Series — but who may be more widely known as an ungainly but lovable cultural figure, inspiring a cartoon character and issuing a seemingly limitless supply of unwittingly witty epigrams known as Yogi-isms — died on Tuesday. He was 90."

Yogi Berra stands at home plate, 2008. REUTERS

Yogi Berra stands at home plate, 2008. REUTERS

"You can observe a lot just by watching," he is reputed to have declared once, describing his strategy as a manager.

"If you can't imitate him," he advised a young player who was mimicking the batting stance of the great slugger Frank Robinson, "don't copy him."

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it," he said, giving directions to his house. Either path, it turned out, got you there.

"Nobody goes there anymore," he said of a popular restaurant. "It's too crowded."

Berra's Yogi-isms were part of the marketing for the once very popular Yoo-Hoo chocolate beverage. Asked if Yoo-Hoo was hyphenated, he is said to have replied, "No, ma'am, it isn't even carbonated."

Former New York Mets manager Yogi Berra waves as he passes home plate during ceremonies after the final regular season MLB National baseball game at Shea Stadium in New York in  2008. REUTERS

Former New York Mets manager Yogi Berra waves as he passes home plate during ceremonies after the final regular season MLB National baseball game at Shea Stadium in New York in 2008. REUTERS