Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Those who know me know that I am a bit of a political junkie, given my long career in politics.  In retirement, however, I also find other stuff to do with my time.

I don’t watch much political news on television, preferring the well-written articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

I often grow tired about how politics is played these days.  Rarely in the middle.  Often the left and right extremes.  Sometimes even violence or threats of the same.

So it was today that I noticed a story on my laptop – good quotes from Yogi Berra, the great New York Yankee catcher who died in 2015.

Besides being a solid baseball player, he was known for good quotes and malapropisms – and, if you don’t know what that word means, here is a definition:

“The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect.”

For Berra, he found a way to be terribly funny, while also delivering his message. 

Consider these famous Berra-isms:

1. “It’s like deja vu all over again.”

2. “We made too many wrong mistakes.”

3. “You can observe a lot just by watching.”

4. “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”

5. “He hits from both sides of the plate.  He’s amphibious.”

6. “If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.”

7. “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up some place else.”

8. Responding to a question about remarks attributed to him that he did not think were his: “I really didn’t say everything I said.”

9. “The future ain’t what it used to be.”

10. “I think Little League is wonderful.  It keeps the kids out of the house.”

11. On why he no longer went to Ruggeri’s, a St. Louis restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.”

12. “I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.”

13. “We have deep depth.”

14. “All pitchers are liars or crybabies.”

15. When giving directions to Joe Garagiola to his New Jersey home, which is accessible by two routes:  “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

16. “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”

17. “Never answer anonymous letters.”

18. On being the guest of honor at an awards banquet:  “Thank you for making this day necessary.”

19. “The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.”

20. “Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.”

21. As a general comment on baseball:  “90 per cent of the game is half mental.”

22. “I don’t know if they were men or women running naked across the field.  They had bags over their heads.”

23. “It gets late early out there.”

24. “Yogi, you are from St. Louis, we live in New Jersey, and you played ball in New York.  If you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?” — Carmen Berra, Yogi’s wife.  “Surprise me.” – Yogi

25. “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Now, don’t you feel better?  I do.