When it comes to baseball legends, few are more beloved than Yogi Berra.
The New York Yankees stalwart won 10 World Series titles, more than any other player in MLB history, was an 18-time All-Star and is one of only six players to have been named the American League MVP on three separate occasions.
After his Hall of Fame playing career he went into coaching and added another three World Series titles to his honours list, yet he is arguably remembered as much for what he said as for what he did.
Berra's utterings are as big a part of his legend as his qualities as a player, and with today marking what would have been his 95th birthday, it gives us a perfect chance to look back at some of his best quotes.
Some of them have passed into common parlance, the source of others have been contested, but the confusion around them is perhaps best summed up by Berra himself: "I really didn't say everything I said."
Here, Sports Mole rounds up the best Yogi-isms.
© Reuters"It seems like deja-vu all over again."
"We made too many wrong mistakes."
"Baseball is 90% mental; the other half is physical."
"You've known me all these years, Jack, and you still don't know how to spell my name."
Yogi Berra receiving a cheque that said "Payable to Bearer."
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
"If people don't want to come out to the park, nobody's gonna stop them."
"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
"Better make it four. I don't think I can eat eight."
Yogi Berra, asked if he wanted his pizza cut into four or eight slices.
"I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four."
"It ain't the heat, it's the humility."
"Never answer an anonymous letter."
"Closed."
His response when asked how he liked school as a boy.
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
"No one goes to that restaurant anymore. It's too crowded."
"There's one word that describes baseball: you never know."
"I gotta shake hands with himǃ That's one guy I know I'm better lookin' than."
On Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh.
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
"Slump? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hitting."
Reporter: "Has first baseman Don Mattingly exceeded expectations?"
Yogi Berra: "I'd say he's done more than that."
"I'd like to thank all those who made this night necessary."
Yogi Berra as a guest of honour at an awards banquet.
"Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise they won't go to yours."
"I looked like this when I was young, and I still do."
"If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."
"It ain't over till it's over."
"It gets late early out there."
"Little things are big."
"Pair up in threes."
Barney Corkhill
