New York Yankees icon and baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra has died, Major League Baseball and his charitable foundation announced early Wednesday. He was 90.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Yogi Berra passed away Tuesday night,” the Yogi Berra Museum told NBC News.
The New York Yankees and MLB both described him an an “American hero.”
He was known for his “Yogi-isms,” although he never uttered all of the malapropisms attributed to him.
Berra quit school after eighth grade and served in the Navy, including as a ship gunner’s during the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
He went on to play for the Yankees between 1946 and 1963 before becoming the team’s coach and then crossing town to join the Mets.
“I love baseball, I really do,” he once said. “I always told my Dad, I’m not gonna make it working… I like to play ball too much. Which I did. We played hard. You gotta work at this game. You really do. And its fun doing it if you do it the right way.”
Berra devoted the later innings of his life to community service and charity work.
His Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center are on the campus of Montclair State University in New Jersey, not far from Yankee Stadium.
In March 2014, Berra lost his wife of 65 years, Carmen – often called “the woman beside the man behind the plate.”
They have three sons and 11 grandchildren. We are deeply saddened by the loss of a Yankees legend and American hero, Yogi Berra. pic.twitter.com/Bf8uXxUPzR It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that Yogi Berra passed away Tuesday night at the age of 90. #YogiBerra pic.twitter.com/0BSctBzhTb 3-time MVP. 10-time World Series champion. American hero. Yogi. http://t.co/kiIKhuCIyc pic.twitter.com/jN2J5nwpvx NBC News’ Ron Allen contributed to this article, which originally appeared on NBC News.com.
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