RIP Yogi Berra

[Martinus]

It must be confusing to Marty...crapping on people in their rip thread has been done on languish before. How would he know the guy who sued Yogi the Bear was respected and loved? Aside from reading the other posts in the thread, or a quick google, of course.

He didn't sue Yogi the Bear, he sued Warner Brothers, not exactly the same thing.

Ok, so he sued Yogi's parents.

[grumbler]

It must be confusing to Marty...crapping on people in their rip thread has been done on languish before. How would he know the guy who sued Yogi the Bear was respected and loved? Aside from reading the other posts in the thread, or a quick google, of course.

He didn't sue Yogi the Bear, he sued Warner Brothers, not exactly the same thing.

Only lawyers care about that sort of distinction.

[grumbler]

Oh, and probably my favorite Yogi Berra story:  he was reminiscing to some newspaper reporters about a game which was interrupted by a streaker.  "Was it a man, or a woman?" asked the reporters.  "I couldn't tell," said Yogi, "they had a bag over their head."

[Syt]

 

[Valmy]

Were they deliberately construed to be ironic/funny?

No, he was being quite earnest.

[Valmy]

It must be confusing to Marty...crapping on people in their rip thread has been done on languish before. How would he know the guy who sued Yogi the Bear was respected and loved? Aside from reading the other posts in the thread, or a quick google, of course.

Well, all I said is that someone who sues Yogi the Bear sounds like a twat. I will take your word for it that outside of this one thing, he was a swell guy. But my point still stands - outside of North America, most people haven't heard of him.

Syt started the thread. And yeah he was a huge baseball star in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Not exactly an international sport and not exactly a time Poland was open to American culture.

I fail to see the relevance.

[Syt]

Were they deliberately construed to be ironic/funny?

No, he was being quite earnest.

Though it seems a lot of them were incorrectly attributed to him (but if you have someone so quotable that's bound to happen).

[Valmy]

Ok, so he sued Yogi's parents.

People who sue giant media corporations for naming a product after you without your permission: twats? Anyway he dropped the lawsuit so your sweet little corporate giant came out of it ok Mart.

[grumbler]

Though it seems a lot of them were incorrectly attributed to him (but if you have someone so quotable that's bound to happen).

That's certainly true, but he also came up with the vast majority that i have seen attributed to him.  Of course, he knew what he was doing.  The saving grace was that he didn't make a big deal out of it, and pretended to not understand why people were laughing at his bon mots.  Plus, many of them were quite spontaneous and authentic; he didn't seem to spend any time trying to come up with them and then steer the conversation to where he could use them.  Quite a number came from press conferences where he didn't control the topic.

[crazy canuck]

It must be confusing to Marty...crapping on people in their rip thread has been done on languish before. How would he know the guy who sued Yogi the Bear was respected and loved? Aside from reading the other posts in the thread, or a quick google, of course.

He didn't sue Yogi the Bear, he sued Warner Brothers, not exactly the same thing.

Only lawyers care about that sort of distinction.

Very well done.

[DGuller]

  I just got it. 

[crazy canuck]

Were they deliberately construed to be ironic/funny?

No, he was being quite earnest.

Though it seems a lot of them were incorrectly attributed to him (but if you have someone so quotable that's bound to happen).

"I really didn't say everything I said"

[Valmy]

Fahdiz linked this on facebook 

[KRonn]

Oh, and probably my favorite Yogi Berra story:  he was reminiscing to some newspaper reporters about a game which was interrupted by a streaker.  "Was it a man, or a woman?" asked the reporters.  "I couldn't tell," said Yogi, "they had a bag over their head."

[The Minsky Moment]

Warner claims the Yogi Bear lawsuit never happened; once again proving the dangers of over-reliance on Wikipedia.  That said, people of public prominence are well-advised to take some care about the use of their names for promotional and commercial purposes, and so a lawsuit in that circumstance would be perfectly natural and not reflect poorly on the person who brought it. 

Also I want to second grumbler's comments; some of obits and coverage may perpetrate the myth of Yogi as an linguistically challenged, uneducated rube.  Yogi's best friend, Joe Garigiola, eventually became a popular broadcaster and media personality, and loved to tell often highly embellished stories.  Garigiola, with the best of intentions, helped popularize the "funny" image of Berra and as grumblers says, Yogi was content to play along.  It's detracted from the reality of Yogi's successful career as a manager and captain of the most successful team in baseball history.  A number of articles commented on his ability to handle a pitching staff, but that IMO understates the matter.  The fact is that there was a long line of pitchers in that era that had success for the Yankees and not so much elsewhere.   That ability was well recognized at the time and commented on - which is why he won 3 MVP awards with competition like Mantle, Williams, Kaline.  But that aspect of Yogi the man gradually receded behind Yogi the stock character.