Remembering Yogi Berra’s Hall of Fame career and equally immortal quotes

New York Yankees great Yogi Berra defined the sound bite before the ravenous media machine was ever built.

"It ain't over 'till it's over," is of course one of his most famous quips.

Long before he transitioned to being a full-time verbal baseball ambassador, Berra was one heck of a ballplayer.

Yogi's career

Born in 1925, Berra was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1943. He first appeared in pinstripes with them in 1946 and retired after a brief appearance with the New York Mets in the 1965 season.

Berra's Yankees won ten World Series championships between 1947 and 1962, five of which came against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Five of the Yankees titles were won consecutively, from 1949 to 1953, when they beat the Dodgers three times, the Philadelphia Phillies once and New York Giants once.

During his 19-year career, the Missouri native hit 358 home runs, drove in 1,430 runs, hit .285 and had a .988 fielding percentage. The fifteen-time All-Star was also a three-time American League Most Valuable Player.

His five best quotes

Among the many memorable comments Berra has made in his life, here are five great ones:

5. "If you come to a fork in the road…take it."

4. "I didn't really say everything I said."

3. "The future ain't what it used to be."

2. "It's like deja vu all over again."

1. "It ain't over 'till it's over."

Berra's voice was also heard during his Hall of Fame induction speech in 1972.

After earning a Communications degree from Penn State in 1990, I started my career in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons front office. At that time they were the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A farm team. Read my Sports Blog: Insight and follow me on Twitter @ SeanyOB

More from Sean O'Brien and the Yahoo Contributor Network:

When Baseball Cards were King

A Yogi Berra movie and four other baseball pitches

Rising NBC star Erin Como reveals her true model for success

Unique sports talk show set to go global

A Model's Life: An interview with Kourtney Elizabeth

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.