So Yogi Berra is suing Turner Broadcasting System for $10 million for a generous compliment:

This is what made Yogi cry foul: The [offending Sex in the City] ad centers on a promiscuous character in the show named Samantha, played by Kim Cattrall. It asks readers to choose the correct definition of "yogasm" from these choices: a) a type of yo-yo trick; b) sex with Yogi Berra; c) what Samantha has with a guy from yoga class. The answer is (c).

The editorialist, George McEvoy, goes on to note that Berra's fame is based on a fair bit of legend, including his ageless quips (I had a pencil with "It ain't the heat; it's the humility" printed on it in my childhood):

But one of the most famous Yogi quotes — "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded" — I know for a fact he did not originate. The first time I heard it was in Tim Costello's pub on New York's Third Avenue years before. A writer named John O'Brien just had returned from a long stay writing for movies in Hollywood. He said he got off the train and hailed a cab. It was lunchtime, and when he suggested they go to Leon and Eddie's restaurant, the cabbie replied: "Ahh, nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." Mr. O'Brien later used the line in a story for The New Yorker magazine.



Even Yogi has admitted, "I didn't really say everything I said."

...

But aside from the malaprops, whether his or someone else's attributed to him, Yogi's language always has been clean. From the day he began playing baseball, nobody ever heard him use vulgar language in the presence of youngsters.



He always has been aware of the influence his image can have on kids. That's why this sleazy TV ad campaign got him so angry.

Get me the checking department! This is the sort of (as Berra would say) wrong mistake that can drastically set back the happiness of the human race. There's nothing vulgar about orgasms, Yogi-style or otherwise, and it's about time all us puritans learned it.



A New Yorker-inspired baseball book is also in the news: Last Time Out: Big-League Farewells of Baseball's Greatest, by former sportswriter John Nogowski. From a graceful profile:

Nogowski conceived "Last Time Out" in 2000 after meeting novelist John Updike at a writing workshop at Florida State. Among other things, the author discussed his famous 1960 New Yorker magazine essay "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu," about the last game of Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams—in which Williams clubbed a home run in his final at-bat.

Good to know some players exit on a heroic note.



With All the Yogi-isms, "Yogasm" Doesn't Fit [Palm Beach Post]

Nogowski takes a crack at great players' last at-bats [Tallahassee Democrat]

Last Time Out [publisher]