Yogi stories a good way to spend an evening

I may never hear my favorite craftsman of the English language Yogi Berra speak, or see him, but I may have had the next best thing recently. One of the Yankee great's best friends, Clyde King, spoke at Campbell University and shared some of his favorite Yogi stories. It was almost like sitting in the room with the man himself, and was a great experience for any sports fan.
Mr. King, still a valued consultant to the New York Yankees and the Steinbrenner family, played and coached alongside Berra during their careers with the Yankees. He told numerous stories about some of his favorite Yogi sayings, or Yogiisms as they have come to be known He told of the night he and his wife ate dinner with Yogi and his wife. At one point in the evening Yogi looked at his wife, Carmen, and said “If we don’t start going to some of our friends funerals, they are not going to come to ours.”
On another occasion Mr. King was with Yogi when someone asked him about his opinion of a local restaurant. Yogi said, in all seriousness, that “nobody goes there anymore because it is to crowded.”
Mr. King says Yogi doesn’t know why people think he is funny because he is not trying to be humorous. Maybe that is why he is. His sayings don’t make logical sense but in a weird sort of way they convey a message. If nothing else they have pure entertainment value.
One of the other speakers at Campbell was Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Jim Perry. For whatever reason he didn’t mention his hall of fame brother, Gaylord, but Mr. Perry didn’t need to. He has reason enough to be proud of his own career.
He was brought to the “Legends of Baseball” event at Campbell because of this connection to the school. He is a former standout pitcher for the Camels. Before striking batters out in Cleveland and Minnesota, he was mowing them down in Buies Creek. He also brought some interesting perspectives from a legendary career in the game. He specifically mentioned ties to greats such as Mickey Mantle. He told the crowd the best hitter he ever faced was Stan Musial. He obviously knows much more about hitters of his generations than I do but it would be hard to argue with his choice.
He did something else, which was the point of the night, he promoted Campbell University baseball. The Fighting Camels want to add to Taylor field to make it more suitable for a NCAA regional in the near future. That is a lofty goal for a school that is used to achieving at a high level. I can’t think of a better shot in the arm for the local sports world than Buies Creek becoming a stop on the road to the college world series in Omaha.
Yogi once said if you don't know where you are going you will never get there. Campbell knows exactly where it is going, to a higher level in its athletic endeavors.