The Yogi Book by Yogi Berra

4 Stars

 

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

I get asked quite frequently how I have time to read all of the books I read. The answer is pretty simple. I spend most of my free time doing this . . .



I was raised in the Church of Baseball by a family of loyal Cubs fans. P.S. Watch out world, we’re coming for you . . .



But I digress. In my present life I have the privilege of raising a couple of my own little leaguers. As Yogi Berra would say . . .

“Little league baseball is a good thing ‘cause it keeps the parents off streets and the kids out of the house!”

He ain’t lying. While other parents moan and groan about “how different things were when they were kids” my husband and I don’t have those experiences at all. In fact, we are the ones who still have to force the children to come back inside – neither rain nor snow or sleet nor hail keeps them indoors and as Yogi’s quotes will tell you, baseball teaches some valuable life lessons. Things like:

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”

and that . . .

“You can observe a lot by watching”

and . . .

“Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical”

and . . . .

“You can’t think and hit at the same time”

I cleaned out a closet a couple of weeks ago and discovered this little book. There wasn’t room in the organized hoard which is my “entertainment” bookshelf so I tossed this one on the coffee table in case the boys wanted to read it. When I heard Yogi Berra passed away, I immediately went downstairs and grabbed it. Reading Yogi’s quotes was like . . .

“Déjà vu all over again.”

While this book isn’t a real life-changer, I highly recommend it for any baseball superfan in your life - especially if he happens to be a catcher who wears the number 8 . . .


(as always, the part of small child is being played by Mitchell – this time he’s showing off his first over-the-fence homerun ball)

Yogi, thank you for being an example to my children – not only on the field, but especially off it. RIP and don’t forget . . .

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