VOA慢速英语2015 棒球传奇人物约吉·贝拉留下精彩表情

AS IT IS 2015-09-24 Baseball Legend Yogi Berra Leaves Wonderful Expressions 棒球传奇人物约吉·贝拉留下精彩表情

Yogi Berra – a baseball catcher who later managed the ever-winning New York Yankees -- died Tuesday. He was 90.

Yogi Berra was short, thick and had a plain face. But he was a legendary¹ member of the Yankees baseball team. He helped the team reach 14 World Series during his 18 seasons with the team.

Berra played in more World Series games than any other major league player. He was chosen Most Valuable Player for the American League three times.

Berra played for the Yankees from 1949 through 1963. He played for the New York Mets in 1965. His teammates were famous for their athletic² baseball talent: Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle³ and Whitey Ford⁴.

In 1956, he was the catcher behind the plate in the only perfect game in World Series history. When the last play ended, he leaped into pitcher⁵ Don Larsen's arms. The famous moment was captured in photographs published in newspapers around the world.

After he stopped playing baseball, Berra was a coach or manager for the Yankees, New York Mets and Houston Astros. He led both the Yankees and Mets to pennants⁷, the step just before the World Series.

Yogi Berra’s special way of speaking

Berra became as famous for how he spoke⁸ as his baseball talent. His name appears almost as often in “Bartlett's Famous Quotations” as it does in baseball's record books. Bartlett’s is a collection of well-known phrases and proverbs.

"It ain't over 'til it's over," is one of eight "Yogi-isms" included in Bartlett's.

Another of his famous expressions was “This is like déjà vu all over again.”  Déjà vu is the feeling that you’ve experienced a moment in time more than once. It feels as if you’ve seen the exact same thing before. Yogi Berra used it when he watched Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris hit home runs over and over in the 1960s.

"When I'm sittin' down to dinner with the family, stuff just pops out,” Berra said in an interview. “And they'll say, 'Dad, you just said another one.' And I don't even know what the heck I said!"

He amused TV viewers in recent years by using his malapropisms, or mixed-up words, on an advertisement for an insurance company.

“They give you cash,” says a duck, “which is just as good as money."

Cash is money. It usually takes a second to realize Berra fooled you for a moment or two. 

Yogi Berra, the philosopher

Some called Yogi Berra “the philosopher of baseball.” He gave good advice about life. “You can observe a lot by just watching.” Since “observe” means to watch, he probably meant that you could learn much by watching.

He once said, “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.” Since a funeral is a ceremony for someone who has died, it would be impossible for that person to attend someone else’s funeral. But he was right that he gained the good will of friends by attending important events with them.

Mr. Berra’s wisdom included, "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." This means that it is good to know your direction in life. If you don’t have a clear image of your goal, you will not achieve much in your life.

While his expressions seemed simple-minded, they carried a lot of wisdom. "When you come to a fork in the road, take it," he said. A fork in the road means you have a decision to make. When the time comes to make a choice, pick a direction and go forward, Berra meant.

Other Yogi-isms were:

''The other teams could make trouble for us if they win.”

"It ain't over 'til it's over."

Sometimes people thought Yogi Berra said clever expressions that someone else said. His comment on that was, "I didn't really say everything I said."

His unusual nickname⁹

Berra was the son of Italian immigrants. He got his nickname, “Yogi” while growing up in St. Louis, from a character in a movie.

He was a fan favorite, especially with children, and a popular cartoon character of the 1960s, “Yogi Bear,” was named after him.

Son of Italian immigrants

His real name was Lawrence Peter Berra. He was born May 12, 1925. Berra left school in the eighth grade to work to help support his family. He took jobs in a coal yard, as a truck driver and in a shoe factory.

He played amateur¹⁰ baseball before scouts¹¹ from major league teams found him. He played with a semi-professional team in 1943, until World War II.

He joined the Navy and served on a gunboat on a major invasion called D-Day. Troops landed on the coast of France to fight the Nazis¹².

In 1946, he played for the Yankees’ professional team. He hit a home run the first time he stepped up to bat.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.

"You never think of that when you're a kid," Berra said. "But egads, you gotta be somethin' to get in."

Berra married his wife, Carmen, in 1949. They had three sons, including Dale Berra, who played in the major leagues as an infielder.

He published three books that were very popular. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctorate¹³ degree from the state university in Montclair, N.J., where he and his family lived. The baseball stadium there is named for him. The Yogi Berra Museum opened beside the stadium in 1998.

His wife once asked him where he wanted to be buried: In St. Louis, New York or Montclair?

"I don't know," he said. "Why don't you surprise me?"

Words in This Story

legendary – adj. always used before a noun : told about in a legend

season – n. a period of time when a particular sport is being played

pennant⁶ – n. the last few weeks of the regular American professional baseball season are known as a pennant race (pennants are flags used to show support of a team)

déjà vu – n. a feeling of having already experienced the present situation.

home run – n. a hit that allows the batter¹⁴ to go around all the bases and score a “run” in baseball

malapropisms - n. an amusing¹⁵ error that occurs when a person mistakenly uses a word that sounds like another word but that has a very different meaning

mental – adj. existing or happening in the mind

induct – v. to officially make (someone) a member of a group or organization

amateur – adj. describing the act of doing something (such as a sport or hobby) for pleasure and not as a job

mitt¹⁶ – n. (baseball) a special type of heavy glove worn by the catcher

1 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

4 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

5 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

6 pennant   

n.三角旗；锦标旗

参考例句：

• The second car was flying the Ghanaian pennant.第二辆车插着加纳的三角旗。
• The revitalized team came from the cellar to win the pennant.该队重整旗鼓，从最后一名一跃而赢得冠军奖旗。

7 pennants   

n.校旗( pennant的名词复数 )；锦标旗；长三角旗；信号旗

参考例句：

• Their manes streamed like stiff black pennants in the wind. 它们的鬃毛直立起来，在风中就像一面面硬硬的黑色三角旗。 来自互联网
• Bud ashtrays, bar towels, coasters, football pennants, and similar items were offered for sale. 同时它还制作烟灰缸、酒吧餐巾、杯垫子、杯托子、足球赛用的三角旗以及诸如此类的物品用于销售。 来自互联网

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

10 amateur   

adj.业余的，非专业的；n.业余爱好者

参考例句：

• He made an amateur attempt to build a cupboard.他很外行地试做了一个碗柜。
• Although Tom's only an amateur he's a first-class player.虽然汤姆只是个业余爱好者，但却是一流的高手。

11 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

12 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

14 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

15 amusing   

adj.有有趣的，好玩的

参考例句：

• The girl was amusing herself with a doll.那女孩在玩洋娃娃自娱。
• He related some amusing stories in his childhood to his children.他向孩子们述说了他少年时代的一些趣事。

16 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。