phiber:
my Hero as a kid playing as a catcher from little league through HS ball. A really great man that left a lot more to this world than he ever took from it.
I used to play third base, always wore my cap backwards...my JV Coach (as he was going to move to Varsity Coach the following year ) told me You're gonna be a catcher next year...
Okay...
So being a big fan of all baseball/football/basket ball paperback books of players, I picked up the one on Yogi Berra..
Yogi used to talk to the batters...friendly caht..
"How's the wife doing Dave?"...
"Kids doing good in school?"...etc, etc..\\To the point the batters would almost plead with Yogi to not talk to them, so they could concentrate on the AB, as it wold start them thinking of other things and distract them.
So, following year, I start catching for HS and American Legion, armed with my "new found" knowledge of how to distract hitters, vis Yogi Berra...worked pretty well for awhile..
"Hey, you have nice car?"
"I have a '57 Chevy"
You have a Girlfriend?"
"I need one"
Ect, till this one day I pulled my best "Yogi distraction" on a CF from Beyer High.
"STFU"
I didn't
He then smacked with his bat on top of my helmet, effing laid me out.
I quit the "Yogi way" then.
But, agree with all that was said, I read where he sent Johnny Bench a letter congratulating Bench on breaking his home run record for a catcher.
Said something like "I always thought it would stand, until someone broke it".
Yogi was full of them.