For nearly any sportswriter, assembling a collection of the best Yogi Berra quotes is a treat. One of the most quoted athletes in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, Yogi Berra certainly had a way with words.
There are honesty and humility in Yogi’s approach that makes us want to root for Yogi. You will, too, after reading these. Yogi had so many great lines, that we couldn’t fit them all on one page. Make sure to check the menu at the bottom to read more.
Best Yogi Berra Quotes
- Slump? I ain’t in no slump — I just ain’t hitting.
- If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.
- Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.
- Little things are big.
- I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.
- I looked like this when I was young, and I still do.
- You don’t have to swing hard to hit a home run. If you got the timing, it’ll go.
- The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.
- Take it with a grin of salt.
- So I’m ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face.
Yogi Berra Fun Fact A
How did Yogi get his nickname? Friend Bobby Hoffman, a friend from Yogi’s childhood in St. Louis, gave him the nickname “Yogi” when Hoffman noticed him sitting cross-legged waiting to play baseball. Yogi’s given name is Lawrence Peter Berra.
Funny Yogi Quotations
11. The game isn’t over until it’s over.
12. He’s learning me all of his experience.
13. My ambition is to hit .400 and talk 1.000.
14. I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.
15. He can run anytime he wants. I’m giving him the red light. (On acquiring Ricky Henderson.)
16. The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.
17. You can observe a lot just by watching.
18. I like to get kidded; that means they like me. When they stop kidding me, I’m in trouble.
19. I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary.
20. All pitchers are liars or crybabies.
Yogisms
21. You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what’s left.
22. We’re lost, but we’re making good time.
23. I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.
24. I don’t mean to be funny.
25. The other teams could make trouble for us if they win.
26. Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel.
27. I wish I had an answer to that because I’m tired of answering that question.
28. There are some people who, if they don’t already know, you can’t tell ’em.
29. We have deep depth.
30. It’s pretty far, but it doesn’t seem like it.
Yogi Berra Fun Fact B
Yogi was one of six men crew on a Navy Rocket boat at Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion of World War II. He received the Bob Feller Act of Valor award for his service.
On Life
31. If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.
32. A lot of guys go, ‘Hey, Yog, say a Yogi-ism.’ I tell ’em, ‘I don’t know any.’ They want me to make one up. I don’t make ’em up. I don’t even know when I say it. They’re the truth. And it is the truth. I don’t know.
33. Even Napoleon had his Watergate.
34. He must have made that before he died.
35. Pitching always beats batting — and vice-versa.
36. I’m lucky. Usually, you’re dead to get your own museum, but I’m still alive to see mine.
37. I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early.
38. It’s not too far; it just seems like it is.
39. He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.
40. If I didn’t wake up, I’d still be sleeping.
Good Yogi Berra Quotes
41. I can see how he won twenty-five games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five. (The he refers to Sandy Koufax.)
42. All pitchers are liars or crybabies.
43. We made too many wrong mistakes.
44. The win always seems to blow against catchers when they are running.
45. So I’m ugly. So what? I never saw anyone hit with his face.
46. I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?
47. I never said half the things I said.
48. He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.
49. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
50. I don’t know (if they were men or women fans running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads.
Yogi Berra Fun Fact C
Yogi led the Yankees in RBIs for seven seasons in a row. That’s right, even with a line-up that included legends like Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, the big RBI guy was Yogi Berra. So, in addition to serving up these funny lines, the guy could play more than a little ball.
Famous Yogi Berra Sayings
51. If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.
52. If people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them?”
53. I’m a lucky guy and I’m happy to be with the Yankees. And I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary.
54. If people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s gonna stop ’em.
55. It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.
56. Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.
57. In baseball, you don’t know nothing.
58. I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.
59. I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?
60. Pair up in threes.
We’ve put together these famous Yogi Berra quotes that are sure to make you smile and laugh. If you’ve come here first, make sure to check out the Best Yogi Berra #1 – #60.
The Best, Famous Yogi Berra Quotes: #61 to #88
61. Pie a la mode with ice cream.
62. Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.
63. Take it with a grin of salt.
64. You should always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise, they won’t come to yours.
65. A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.
66. This message won’t be over ’til it’s done.
Check out My All-Star Baseball Card Team.
Yogi Berra Fun Fact D
What number did Yogi Berra wear? #8. It so happens that Yogi’s predecessor as Yankees catcher, Bill Dickey, also wore number 8. Both catchers had that number retired by the Yankees.
67. Surprise me. (Responding to his wife Carmen’s question: “Yogi, you are from St. Louis, we live in New Jersey, and you played ball in New York. If you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?”)
68. You should always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise, they won’t come to yours.
69. I never said most of the things I said.
70. I never figured I’d go into the Hall of Fame. A kid from the Hill.
Read more on Yogi at the Baseball Hall of Fame site.
Famous Takes
71. It ain’t the heat; it’s the humility.
72. If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.
73. It gets late early out there.
74. You mean now? (when asked, “What time is it?)
See Take Me Out to The Ball Game History and Fun Facts
75. In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.
76. You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.
77. I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.
78. It’s like deja vu all over again.
79. You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.
80. I wish everybody had the drive he had. He never did anything wrong on the field. I’d never seen him dive for a ball, everything was a chest-high catch, and he never walked off the field. (Referring to Joe DiMaggio.)
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Fun Yogi Berra Fact E
Yogi Bear, the famous cartoon star, was named after Yogi Berra (or Yogi Berr if you prefer).
Check out Baseball Captions and Sayings.
81. Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.
82. Ninety percent of this game is half mental.
83. How can you hit and think at the same time?
84. Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.
85. If I didn’t make it in baseball, I won’t have made it workin’. I didn’t like to work.
Check out Fun Baseball Sayings
86. I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.
87. If I could just make ’em up on the spot, I’d be famous. (when asked by fans to come up with a Yogism.)
88. Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.
Check out the “Get to know Aaron Judge” page.
Bonus Berra Quotes
89. I don’t know. They had bags over their heads. (If the fans were men or women running naked across the field)
90. Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
91. You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.
92.) When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
See Babe Ruth Day.
Quotations about Yogi Berra
Yogi is the most relaxed hitter I ever saw or faced. What a guy! In spite of all the great things he’s accomplished over the years, he’s lost none of his humility and none of his niceness. He’s truly one of nature’s noblemen.
Bob Friend
Yogi had the fastest bat I ever saw. he could hit a ball late that was already past him and take it out of the park. The pitchers were afraid of him because he’d hit anything, so they didn’t know what to throw. Yogi had them psyched out, and he wasn’t even trying to psyche them out.
Hector Lopez
Check out Funny Baseball Quotes
People think Mickey Mantle is the toughest hitter in the league, but I can usually get him out if I don’t make a mistake. The real toughest clutch hitter is Berra. As you change speeds and move around, Berra moves right with you. Rosen does the same thing, but fortunately, he’s playing third behind me, so I don’t have to pitch to him. Believe me, the two best clutch hitters in the game are Berra and Rosen. Most of us pitchers wish to hell they’d switch to golf.
Early Wynn
(Yogi reminds me of) the bottom man on an unemployed acrobatic team.
Larry MacPhail
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Yogi’s Background
With all the coverage he’s received for his turns of phrase – frequently called “Yogisms” – the casual sports fan should never lose sight of the fact that Yogi was one heck of a player, coach, and manager. For 19 years, he was the catcher for the New York Yankees and was considered one of the toughest outs on some very strong teams. He was a legitimate American League baseball star.
For 15 of those 19 years, Yogi was an MLB All-Star. He also won the American League MVP three times making him one of only four players to accomplish that feat in history. When it comesto considering the best catcher of all time, Yogi Berra is frequently at the top of the list.
Yogi’s records include being the only major league player to appear in 14 World Series and 10 World Series Championships. As a baseball manager, he took teams from both the American League and the National League to the World Series.
As a great player, a World Series Champion and a manager, Yogi left his mark. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972 and passed away at the age of 90 years old in 2015.
Yogi Berra’s Legacy
Yogi Berra was the New York Yankees star catcher noted for World Series heroics and home run power. An American League legend, he played 19 seasons in the majors and was an 18-time all-star. He wrote a book with Dave H. Kaplan entitled You Can Observe A Lot By Watching: What I’ve Learned About Teamwork From the Yankees and Life.
Yogi is noted for a series of famous quotes like, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it” and “we made too many wrong mistakes,” which has affectionately become known as “Yogisms.”
Yogi died in 2015 at the age of 90.
I hope you enjoyed these Yogi Berra quotes.
By Mike O’Halloran
Founder and Editor, Sports Feel Good Stories
Extra Innings
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