We will remember him forever for telling us that it gets late early, although it ain’t over ’til it’s over. But there was so much more to Yogi — no last name needed — than all those Yogi-isms that made him one of a kind, and one of our Last American Heroes.
He didn’t have Mickey Mantle’s muscles, or Joe DiMaggio’s amazing grace, or Derek Jeter’s looks or girlfriends. He didn’t have Reggie Jackson’s ego, or George Steinbrenner’s bluster. His 10 Yankee championship rings may have defined him as a baseball player, but absolutely not as a man.