I never go to the track. I don't like horses. They take too long.

Ask questions. Maybe it might lead to somethin'.

I'm lucky. Usually you're dead to get your own museum, but I'm still alive to see mine.

New York is always the place to play.

If I didn't make it in baseball, I won't have made it workin'. I didn't like to work.

I was the baby. My oldest brother was the best ballplayer of all of us. You ask anybody on the Hill in St. Louis -- he was the best ballplayer on the Hill. My brother Lefty, he could hit. Man, he could hit.

I told my dad, "Dad, you realize if your other two sons had played ball, you'da been a millionaire." He said, "Blame your mother."

I was playin' American Legion Baseball. Bobby Hofman, used to play with the Giants, we were on the same team. We never had dugouts. We're sittin' on the ground. I always had my legs crossed and my arms folded. Bobby said, "You look like a yogi." And it stuck.

You don't have to swing hard to hit a home run. If you got the timing, it'll go.

I don't blame the players today for the money. I blame the owners. They started it. They wanna give it to 'em? More power to 'em.

It don't have to be a perfect pitch. If you see it good, swing at it. But if you can't hit it, lay off it.

My wife, she calls me Yogi. If she calls me Lawrence, I know she's mad at me.

The Hill was a good neighborhood. We all knew when to come in. They had a 4:30 whistle. We were playin' outside on the street, that 4:30 whistle blow, everybody drops everything, go and get that pail, get that can of beer for your father, put it on that table. They come home from work, they're thirsty.

For Christmas, I asked my dad, "I want a baseball bat, a glove, and a ball." He said, "Which one of the three do ya want?"

I had two pitchers go and hit me 'cause I hit 'em good. Gary Bell said, "You hit me too good, dago." He just called me that—I didn't mind. It wasn't mean. I know he didn't mean that. He was a good buddy of mine is why. He wouldn't throw at my head—you know, in the ass. Same way with Dizzy Trout. He said, "You hit me too good. I gotta get ya." Nothin' regular. Just for the heck of it.

When I caught, I'd look at the hitter, the way he strides. He strides in, then ya get the ball inside to him. I watched 'em pretty good.

Joe was the best player I ever saw. He didn't do anything wrong. DiMaggio I never saw slide. He just was there. It's funny—I never seen him slide for a ball. He run the bases good. Every damn thing. Never seen him without a tie. Always a dark-blue suit. Sharp. He come from the sticks, too.

A lot of guys go, "Hey Yog, say a Yogi-ism." I tell 'em, "I don't know any." They want me to make one up. I don't make 'em up. I don't even know when I say it. They're the truth. And it is the truth. I don't know.

Casey used to say, "When you're on first base and you go back to the bag, step on the guy's foot. Let him know you're there."

I get a kick out of some guys. They look at ya and say, "You look like Yogi Berra." I say, "Yeah, a lotta people tell me that." Then they say, "Ya can't be. Can't be." It's real funny. New York, they all know me, but when ya go in the airports, different towns, they look at ya—"You remind me of Yogi Berra."

I never figured I'd go into the Hall of Fame. A kid from the Hill.

This interview was published in the January 2002 issue.

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