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OT: Yogi's 95th birthday is today

R

RUhasarrived

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May 7, 2007
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His voice has been silent these past 5 years but it's likely that he would describe our current time as being"like deja vu all over again."

Retrosheet's rating system ranks him as the No.3 catcher of all time in organized ball,just behind Gabby Hartnett and Johnny Bench .The next 7-bunched up tightly on ratings-are Piazza,I-Rod,Dickey,Carter,Fisk,Cochrane,and Campanella.
 
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You judge a trapper by his pelts. He played in Fourteen world series, and won it TEN times . Talk about two records that will never be broken. To me, these two are the most impressive of all of his amazing accomplishments. Happy Birthday and RIP Yogi!
 
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IdealisticFluffyAlabamamapturtle-small.gif
(mine is May too)
 
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Greatest memory for me and Yogi Berra was seeing him get out of his car in 1968 at Woodman Field in Montclair...EVERYBODY stopped and looked at this larger than life figure...a true icon and a hero of mine... He stayed for awhile and we got back to the game at hand ... I was a catcher and caught 3 years for a team in the the same Big Ten Conference of Essex County NJ. ..I still remember the pitcher for the Mounties that day John Petronaci who I believe graduated the following year... we lost 6-1 in a very tough loss since it was tied going into the 7th. .. several weeks later we beat them at home 2-1... the kicker is Larry Berra Jr. was the Montclair catcher... Zappa still was a few years away... Larry was the clone of his dad though a taller version... Yogi was the heart and soul of those teams...Mantle, Ford were great but there was only one Lawrence Peter Berra... May He Rest In Peace ...
 
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RUBOB72 said:
Greatest memory for me and Yogi Berra was seeing him get out of his car in 1968 at Woodman Field in Montclair...EVERYBODY stopped and looked at this larger than life figure...a true icon and a hero of mine... He stayed for awhile and we got back to the game at hand ... I was a catcher and caught 3 years for a team in the the same Big Ten Conference of Essex County NJ. ..I still remember the pitcher for the Mounties that day John Petronaci who I believe graduated the following year... we lost 6-1 in a very tough loss since it was tied going into the 7th. .. several weeks later we beat them at home 2-1... the kicker is Larry Berra Jr. was the Montclair catcher... Zappa still was a few years away... Larry was the clone of his dad though a taller version... Yogi was the heart and soul of those teams...Mantle, Ford were great but there was only one Lawrence Peter Berra... May He Rest In Peace ...
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John Pet had that good hard slider in high school...Larry Jr. was a hell of a player, had he not blown his knee out he’d of played in the big leagues.
I could name that entire 68 Mountie team for you RUBob.
The 67 team had Lenny Coleman
66 team had Earl Williams.
Gotta tell me what high school you played for.
 
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zappaa said:
John Pet had that good hard slider in high school...Larry Jr. was a hell of a player, had he not blown his knee out he’d of played in the big leagues.
I could name that entire 68 Mountie team for you RUBob.
The 67 team had Lenny Coleman
66 team had Earl Williams.
Gotta tell me what high school you played for.
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Yes I played against Lenny as well ... my dad who was the same age as your father was a Red Sox fan( a Ted Williams fan) grew up in Vailsburg but was a Dodgers / Sox guy... go figure... Larry was a very good catcher... as you know we had great baseball in that conference... Clary and my old coach were icons... my coach was a 3 time First Team All State / New Jersey Baseball ( Catcher ) ...the year 1938 he actually got invited to be with Yankees ... at the time the Yankees catchers consisted of Bill Dickey and Joe Glenn ... drafted by St.Louis and spent 3 seasons with military duty ( as your dad did as well) ... faced John and Larry during summer Legion ball... Lenny was such a dynamic athlete and scholar... the ‘ 68 Montclair team was # 1 in the Newark Evening News that spring ... proud to say we gave them their first loss in that 2-1 game ... Dale we all loved your father... because Yogi was genuine and honest In all he did...BTW: your other bro wasn’t too shabby either...stay well Dale.
 
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zappaa said:
John Pet had that good hard slider in high school...Larry Jr. was a hell of a player, had he not blown his knee out he’d of played in the big leagues.
I could name that entire 68 Mountie team for you RUBob.
The 67 team had Lenny Coleman
66 team had Earl Williams.
Gotta tell me what high school you played for.
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I played for Irvington High School ( Frank H.Morrell High) coached by Stan Wnek who wanted to play me as a frosh but waited until I was a sophomore...made my debut against Seton Hall and Mike Sheppard Sr. ...another icon coach...played against Sheppard and Fred Hill teams and got to know both men very well...Sheppard coached Vailsburg , American Legion and Fred coached Clifford Scott Legion...looking back Dale . the coaches were above average as was the baseball played in central to North New Jersey...can’t remember if Clary or Butch coached summer legion for Montclair...all those teams Belleville,Bloomfield Nutley, Kearny ( hit my first grand slam off Big Ed Halicki)) In three years was 9-12 off of him ...he said he was glad I never made it to the bigs... Pete Gebrian ( Mets scout ) told my dad after my sophomore year if he were faster he would be a great right fielder... well that never panned out but hey I have great memories of those teams , players and a conference with great talent in all sports. Montclair was a step ahead ...
 
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A photo of Yogi's only start at third base in his career:

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It came in the last game of the 1954 season against the Athletics, I guess Casey Stengel decided to have some fun. Mantle played shortstop and Moose was at second base. Yanks lost 8-6.
 
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RUBOB72 said:
I played for Irvington High School ( Frank H.Morrell High) coached by Stan Wnek who wanted to play me as a frosh but waited until I was a sophomore...made my debut against Seton Hall and Mike Sheppard Sr. ...another icon coach...played against Sheppard and Fred Hill teams and got to know both men very well...Sheppard coached Vailsburg , American Legion and Fred coached Clifford Scott Legion...looking back Dale . the coaches were above average as was the baseball played in central to North New Jersey...can’t remember if Clary or Butch coached summer legion for Montclair...all those teams Belleville,Bloomfield Nutley, Kearny ( hit my first grand slam off Big Ed Halicki)) In three years was 9-12 off of him ...he said he was glad I never made it to the bigs... Pete Gebrian ( Mets scout ) told my dad after my sophomore year if he were faster he would be a great right fielder... well that never panned out but hey I have great memories of those teams , players and a conference with great talent in all sports. Montclair was a step ahead ...
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Tom Rothacker was your 1st basemen, pretty damn good hitter.
My 75 Montclair team was 27-5
Losing twice to you guys and Wacker, Krill and Zangari
 
zappaa said:
Tom Rothacker was your 1st basemen, pretty damn good hitter.
My 75 Montclair team was 27-5
Losing twice to you guys and Wacker, Krill and Zangari
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Yes , Tom and I grew up together ...played together in Little League, Pony League, Legion and into high school ...Tom played football at Montclair State... Clary I believe was his coach? We both were very competitive and much was expected of our ‘67 and ‘68 baseball team ... Last saw him in 2016 at a reunion at the time he was building in South Carolina... He became a teacher and was a guy who I respected very much... He was a powerful hitter being 6’ 1” 235 as a senior... good first baseman... Wacker, Krill and Pete Zangari were on very a good team... Think they were #1 in the Ledger but lost twice to the Hall in the States and GNT.....my ex coach became much more relaxed in those mid 70’s and that actually was a good thing...
 
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RUBOB72 said:
Yes , Tom and I grew up together ...played together in Little League, Pony League, Legion and into high school ...Tom played football at Montclair State... Clary I believe was his coach? We both were very competitive and much was expected of our ‘67 and ‘68 baseball team ... Last saw him in 2016 at a reunion at the time he was building in South Carolina... He became a teacher and was a guy who I respected very much... He was a powerful hitter being 6’ 1” 235 as a senior... good first baseman... Walker, Krill and Pete Zangari were on very a good team... Think they were #1 in the Ledger but lost twice to the Hall in the States and GNT.....my ex coach became much more relaxed in those mid 70’s and that actually was a good thing...
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Bob72, as an aside, did you know the Malgieri's when they lived in Irvington before moving to Clark? I understand that Mike was a pretty good ballplayer before injuring his shoulder.
 
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RU-Kidding said:
Bob72, as an aside, did you know the Malgieri's when they lived in Irvington before moving to Clark? I understand that Mike was a pretty good ballplayer before injuring his shoulder.
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Yes I knew a Mike Malgieri and played with Mike Malgieri ...he was a year or two younger ...good ball player
 
I remember seeing Yogi play at the old Yankee stadium in the early ‘60s...priceless. I also remember the Yoo-hoo billboards as a kid. And don’t forget, he was a WWII vet and was at Normandy. A great American for sure.
 
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RU-Kidding said:
Mike graduated Irvington in 1970. His brother Gary was 4 years younger.

Happy Birthday Yogi!
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Mike and a kid by the name of Karl Gordon were two outstanding players. Gordon was a first team All State SS who went to Montclair State and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs... a terrific player who made it as far as AAA ...broke his ankle in a slide and never really recovered...I believe Karl would have made it... if it happened 20 years later the advances in ortho surgery may have made a difference ....Mike and Karl formed the base of a very solid baseball program.
 
zappaa said:
John Pet had that good hard slider in high school...Larry Jr. was a hell of a player, had he not blown his knee out he’d of played in the big leagues.
I could name that entire 68 Mountie team for you RUBob.
The 67 team had Lenny Coleman
66 team had Earl Williams.
Gotta tell me what high school you played for.
Click to expand...
Earl was a huge dude 6’3” 225 who went on to play in the Major Leagues with the Atlanta Braves... I thought Earl was on the ‘ 65 team when I was a frosh... He played 1st base and was also a a multi sports star... He had a great career...
 
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Happy Birthday Yogi, some great stuff on him on MLB Network tonight. Question for Zap, who did your dad think was the best player of his time? Best everyday player and best pitcher?
 
Doteman said:
Happy Birthday Yogi, some great stuff on him on MLB Network tonight. Question for Zap, who did your dad think was the best player of his time? Best everyday player and best pitcher?
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Joe DiMaggio
Herb Score before injury.
Sandy Koufax
“I understand how he won 27, I don’t understand how he lost 5”
After striking out 15 Yankees in 1963
 
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zappaa said:
https://www.espn.in/video/clip/_/id/13722286

7th, 8th and 9th innings at Yankee Stadium, the shadows creeping in on home plate, two outs, tying or winning run on 2nd....in the 50s as a Yankees fan there’s only one guy you want up, as an opponent there’s only one guy you don’t want up, and it’s not Mantle
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As a kid and an Indian fan in the 50's, I would scream at the TV, "Not Yogi! Anybody but Yogi!" Truth. Yogi simply did whatever was necessary to win the game. Loved hating him. Hated loving him. Always hoped that somehow he would get traded to the Tribe.
 
Section124 said:
My dad would have been 95 yesterday. He was a big fan of your dad and always referenced their birthday's were a day apart. Here's a toast to both! :Beers:
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My dad too! Make it three!

"You have your future ahead of you. Mine is behind me."
 
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Just saw an interview with Michael Jordan's son Marcus and it got me thinking.........Dale, what do you think contributed more to your athletic success, genes or growing up in the environment you did and being around high level athletes?
 
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