
By Don Burke
September 23, 2015 | 2:26am
Yogi Berra, a three-time MVP who was the backbone of a record 10 world-champion Yankees teams in the 1940, 50s and 60s and who became one of the most beloved figures in franchise history despite a lengthy estrangement from the team, died Tuesday night, according to the Yogi Berra Museum. He was 90.
Berra, whose wife of 65 years, Carmen, died in March 2014, had been in failing health for some time. His death was announced by the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, N.J., to which Berra had devoted himself in the final years of his life.
Berra died of natural causes Tuesday at his home in New Jersey, according to Dave Kaplan, the director of the Yogi Berra Museum.
“While we mourn the loss of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, we know he is at peace with Mom,” Berra’s family said in a statement released by the museum. “We celebrate his remarkable life, and are thankful he meant so much to so many. He will truly be missed.”
Berra, a catcher who was named the A.L.’s most valuable player in 1951, 54 and 55, led the Yankees to five consecutive world championships (1949-53) and also led a team that included Mickey Mantle and, for three of those seasons, Joe DiMaggio, in RBIs for seven consecutive seasons (1949-55). Berra was an 18-time All-Star, a member of a record 14 A.L. pennant winners and a 1972 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That was the same year his uniform No. 8 was retired by the Yankees.
Berra, who dropped out of school after the 8th grade to help support his family, is nearly as well known for his unique use of the English language as he is for his baseball career. His wit and wisdom — “It’s never over til it’s over.” “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.”— have not only found their way into the American lexicon, but also into Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.
https://nypost.com/2015/09/23/yankees-legend-yogi-berra-dead-at-90/