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The courage to continue

Oct 05,2015 - Last updated at Oct 05,2015

Yogi Berra, the all-American baseball player, died on September 22, 2015, at the age of 90.

Other than being a great reliable hitter, he was also a great catcher and an effective coach and manager. 

He had very little going for him in terms of handsomeness, education and height. Yet, he endeared himself to all. His was sharp witted and, above all, was considered a powerful player.

His lifetime batting average exceeded 285, he hit 358 homeruns and had 1,430 RBIs.

He should be remembered not only because he was an excellent athlete but also because despite all his shortcomings, he was a great, bankable player.

He was ill treated by the Yankees club that he had served very well, but he went on to play for the St Louis Cardinals, in his native city club. Eventually, the Yankees apologised publicly to him, and he became their coach and manager.

This baseball Hall of Famer is the inspiration of this column.

I am not a great baseball fan, although I watched many games in Los Angeles and Atlanta, but I admire the man because he turned his seeming lack of education into a wealth of brainy quotes.

His famous sayings are now part of the American folklore.

In the US, people use the term “ain’t worth a dime” about something of low value to them. That term was turned into a deep meaningful economic statement, if really amusing, by Berra who would say: “A nickel ain’t worth a dime these days.”

He made one laugh at absurd oxymorons when he said: “Nobody goes there anymore. It is always crowded,” or when he gave one advice on how to behave when at a crossroads: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

About purposefulness in life, Berra advises: “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, you might not get there.”

Yet the most beloved two quotes to me are: “The future ain’t what it used to be” and “in theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.”

Berra shall always be remembered by cartoon lovers because it is now commonly accepted that the Yogi Bear was fashioned after him. 

Berra sued Hanna and Barbera who denied the connection, and he eventually dropped the suit.

If the man is to be remembered, one should use Winston Churchill’s quote: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

His legacy will continue and he will remain on our screens and in our minds of a long time to come. This is what a legend is.

 

 

The writer, a former Royal Court chief and deputy prime minister, is a member of the Senate. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.

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