Tag Archives: baseball

It’s Over

It ain’t over, until it’s over.

In Memoriam

Yogi Berra [May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015]

They call them Yogi-isms.

1. “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

2. “You can observe a lot by just watching.”

3. “It gets late early out here.”

4. “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”

Lawrence PeterYogiBerra, Performer Artisan, (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–63, 1965), all but the last for the New York Yankees. An 18-time All-Star and 10-time World Series champion as a player, Berra had a career batting average of .285, while compiling 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. He is one of only five players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award three times. Widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

5. “No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.”

6. “Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.”

7. “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”

Berra was also well known for his pithy comments, malapropisms, and witticisms, known as Yogi-isms. Yogi-isms very often take the form of either an apparently obvious tautology or a paradoxical contradiction.

8. “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”

9. “We made too many wrong mistakes.”

10. “Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.”

Much of everyday Artisan speech is far more lively, more filled with vivid, unorthodox terms, though not much more abstract. Artisans like to use colorful phrases and current slang in their speech, and they pick up hip phrases quickly (“I’m outta here,” “no way,” “ya know what I’m saying?”). When they reach for images, they tend to use quick, sensory adjectives (“slick,” “cool,” “sharp”), or they say what things are like, using rather striking similes, “drunk as a skunk,” “like taking candy from a baby,” “goes like a bunny.”

Performers are smooth, talkative, and witty; they always seem to know the latest jokes and stories, and are quick with wisecracks and wordplay-nothing is so serious or sacred that it can’t be made fun of. [Please Understand Me II]

11. “You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.”

12. “You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.”

13. “I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.”

14. “Never answer an anonymous letter.”

15. “Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.”

16. “How can you think and hit at the same time?”

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

18. “I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.”

19. “If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.”

20. “We have deep depth.”

21. “Pair up in threes.”

22. “Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.”

23. “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”

24. “All pitchers are liars or crybabies.”

Other Performer Artisans include: Robin WilliamsMickey RooneySid CaesarSteve MartinBrittney GrinerJanis JoplinGene KrupaLouis ArmstrongAlex KarrasKim Jong UnPhyllis DillerJim CramerMagic JohnsonJosephine BakerWhitney HoustonMarilyn MonroeMichael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

Tomboy

“I had to play. I had to find the heart of the game.” 

“She was a very good baseball player,” — Hank

Toni was a pro and “smooth,” — Ernie

Hank Aaron, some people have argued, is the best baseball player ever.  So Hank knew what he was talking about.

Mister Cub, Ernie Banks, one of the top baseball players in the 50’s, no doubt.

But she knew she was good, good enough to play with the best: including Satchel.

‘He was so good that he’d ask batters where they wanted it, just so they’d have a chance. He’d ask, “You want it high? You want it low? You want it right in the middle? Just say.” People still couldn’t get a hit against him. So I get up there and he says, “Hey T., how do you like it?” And I said, “It doesn’t matter, just don’t hurt me.” When he wound up — he had these big old feet — all you could see was his shoe. I stood there shaking, but I got a hit. Right out over second base. Happiest moment in my life.’ — Toni Stone.

Baseball.  For the love of the game.

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Do What You Love

If others can benefit from it.

Yes, she is in a league of her own:  Boys Baseball Little League.  She is the only girl in the league.

Her statistics are impeccable. In four years of pitching for Brandon Farms against all-boys teams, she compiled a perfect 37-0 record. She completed a 12-0 season with the second perfect game of her career (16 strikeouts in six innings) while striking out 127 in 60 innings. Her team was the city champion three times.  She threw her second perfect game — and predicted this one just hours before she did it.

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