Entry 596: Yogi Berra

Last night Lance heard that New York Yankees great Yogi Berra passed away and it reminded him of a story that his Grandmother told him about Yogi Berra.  This is by far one of our favorite Grandma Dorothy stories.

Lance's uncle, John, was a huge Yankees fan back in the day.  Lance's grandfather decided to take them to see a Yankees series (you'll have to forgive Lance because he doesn't remember where the series was at, but it was an away series) and somehow or another they were able to get a room on the same floor that the Yankees were staying.  This was great for Uncle John because he was able to collect almost all of their autographs on a ball, but the one he was missing was Yogi Berra.  Apparently Yogi stayed in his room most of the trip and when he did come out it was late at night, so getting his autograph was difficult.

One day they got lucky though because Lance's grandmother and uncle saw Yogi getting onto the elevator, so they rushed real quick and got onto the elevator with him.  Lance's uncle went up to Yogi and asked him for an autograph and he said no which devastated him.  What Yogi did next is what caused Lance's grandmother to lose it and start yelling at Yogi:  he turned to a couple of good looking women in the elevator and flirt with them and signing autographs on whatever they gave him.  Lance's grandma didn't react real well to this and proceeded to start yelling at Yogi and telling him what a bad role model he was and how he should be ashamed of himself (now remember this is what Lance's grandma told him, so the words may have been a little stronger).

When the elevator finally got to the bottom floor, Yogi stepped out and looked at Lance's grandmother and told her to give him the damn ball to sign.  They gave him the ball and afterwards he looked at Lance's grandmother and asked her if there was anything else she wanted him to sign so she would shut up.  My grandmother told him no, thanked him, and walked away.  This is by far one of our favorite grandma stories.

Now this story has never been verified by anybody, but Lance's grandmother is quite spunky so it wouldn't be surprising if it was true.