This charming little antecdote about Montclair’s favorite major leaguer comes to us via an interview with Ty Cline in The State.
He recalls his first at-bat at Yankee Stadium, leading off for the Indians.
“Whitey Ford was pitching, Yogi Berra was catching and I was scared to death,” he says. “Yogi was full of conversation, asking where I was from and everything. Then, on every pitch, I felt something hitting my shoes; (Berra) was tossing pebbles.
“I got back to the bench and they told me to ignore (Berra). I went up the second time and didn’t answer him. He said, ‘They told you not to talk to me, didn’t they?’”
As long as we’re telling Yogi stories, my personal favorite also includes Whitey Ford. One game Whitey starts off, the first pitch is hit for a single. Next pitch is a triple, next pitch is a homer, next pitch is another single. Casey Stengel can’t stand it anymore. He comes out to the mound and waves Yogi over and asks him “Tell me straight-what’s he got?” Yogi says “I dunno-I haven’t caught one yet!”