Of all the larger-than-life characters and out-of-this-world talents that have graced Major League Baseball over the last 150 years, few men have made a larger combined impact on the game than the great Yogi Berra. And, Yogi Berra baseball cards are prized by collectors of all ages. Not only was Yogi one of the greatest catchers ever to play the game — perhaps the greatest when he retired in 1965 — he was also an accomplished manager and supplier of some of the most recognizable baseball quotes of all time. A master of the malapropism, Yogi could butcher any bit of common wisdom and turn it into a quip that often, somehow, became even more poignant as one of his famed “Yogisms.” What follows are 50 of the greatest quotes attributed to Yogi Berra, each accompanied by one of his beloved baseball cards. Some are head-scratching, some are thoughtful, and some are just silly. Did Yogi really say all these things? Hard to say for sure, but they certainly are fun to read, especially when you get a hefty helping of vintage cardboard on the side! Let’s dig in … (Note: These quotes gathered from The Yogi Berra Museum, IB times, and Steve the Ump.)

50 Great Yogisms — The Wit and Wisdom of Yogi Berra

1. Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
2. Pair up in threes.
3. Even Napoleon had his Watergate.
4. 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.
5. I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.
6. If I didn’t make it in baseball, I won’t have made it workin’. I didn’t like to work.
7. Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.
8. It gets late early out here.
9. It ain’t over till it’s over.
10. No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.
11. So I’m ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face.
12. All pitchers are liars or crybabies.
13. I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.
14. He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.
15. How can you think and hit at the same time?
16. Never answer an anonymous letter.
17. If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.
18. The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.
19. Take it with a grin of salt.
20. I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?
21. If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.
22. It’s like déjà vu all over again.
23. Mickey Mantle was a very good golfer, but we weren’t allowed to play golf during the season; only at spring training.
24. You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.
25. Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.
26. We (1973 Mets) were overwhelming underdogs.
27. You can observe a lot by just watching.
28. I’m a lucky guy and I’m happy to be with the Yankees. And I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary.
29. I wish everybody had the drive he (Joe DiMaggio) had. He never did anything wrong on the field. I’d never seen him dive for a ball, everything was a chest-high catch, and he never walked off the field.
30. Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.
31. We made too many wrong mistakes.
32. Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.
33. It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.
34. I can see how he (Sandy Koufax) won twenty-five games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.
35. I’m lucky. Usually you’re dead to get your own museum, but I’m still alive to see mine.
36. In baseball, you don’t know nothing.
37. I don’t know (if they were men or women fans running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads.
38. It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.
39. Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.
40. We have deep depth.
41. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
42. If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.
43. I never said most of the things I said.
44. You don’t have to swing hard to hit a home run. If you got the timing, it’ll go.
45. You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.
46. The future ain’t what it used to be.
47. I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.
48. A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.
49. You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.
50. Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.