A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from September 25, 2015
“I always thought the record would stand until it was broken”

On July 15, 1980, Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench hit his 314th career home run, passing New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra (1925-2015) to become the all-time home run leader among major league catchers. On July 16, 1980, Berra sent Bench a telegram:
 
CONGRATULATIONS ON BREAKING MY HOME RUN RECORD LAST NIGHT. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE RECORD WOULD STAND UNTIL IT WAS BROKEN. IT COULDN’T HAPPEN TO A NICER GUY. BEST OF LUCK THE REST OF THE SEASON, BUT TAKE IT EASY ON DALE AND THE PIRATES. (Yogi’s son, Dale Berra, played for the Pittsburgh Pirates.—ed.) MAYBE WE’LL SEE YOU IN OCTOBER.
YOGI
 
“I always thought the record would stand until it was broken” (sometimes given as “I knew my record would stand until it was broken”) is frequently mentioned as one of Yogi Berra’s top sayings.
 
   
Wikipedia: Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–63, 1965), all but the last for the New York Yankees. An 18-time All-Star and 10-time World Series champion as a player, Berra had a career batting average of .285, while compiling 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. He is one of only five players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award three times. Widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
     
Wikipedia: Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Bench, a 14-time All-Star selection and a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, was a key member of The Big Red Machine, which won six division titles, four National League pennants, and two World Series championships. ESPN has called him the greatest catcher in baseball history.
 
Google Books
The Morning After:
American Successes and Excesses, 1981-1986

By George F. Will
New York, NY: Free Press
1986
Pg. 70:
Or, as Yogi Berra wired Johnny Bench when Bench broke Yogi’s career record for home runs by a catcher. “I always thought the record would stand until it was broken.”
 
Google Books
The Yogi Book:
I Really Didn’t Say Everything I Said!

By Yogi Berra
New York, NY: Workman Publishing
1998
Pg. 91:
“Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.”
I sent this in a telegram to Johnny Bench after he broke my record for most home runs by a catcher.
   
ForTheWin
The 50 greatest Yogi Berra quotes
By: Nate Scott | September 23, 2015 7:30 am
Yankees legend Yogi Berra passed away on Tuesday at the age of 90. An 18-time All-Star, Berra appeared in 14 World Series as a member of the Yankees and won 10 of them.
(...)
10. Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
 
Twitter
Johnny Bench ‏@Johnny_Bench5 Sep 23
@MLB @BaseballHall @Yankees Yogi sent me a telegram when I hit a HR to pass him, “I knew my record would stand until it was broken”.

Johnny Bench
‏@Johnny_Bench5
@BaseballHall, the telegram Yogi sent me when I broke his home run record. @MLBNetwork #RIPYogi
Embedded image permalink
12:02 PM - 23 Sep 2015
   
Yahoo! Sports
Big League Stew
Here’s the telegram Johnny Bench got from Yogi Berra after breaking his home-run record

By Mike Oz
September 23, 2015 2:43 PM
As memories of the late, great Yogi Berra flooded the baseball world on Wednesday morning, after news of Berra’s death at 90 years old, one thing stood out.
 
It came to us from another legend of the game, Johnny Bench, who tweeted the telegram he got from Berra on July 16, 1980. The previous night, Bench had hit his 314th home run to pass Berra as the all-time home-run leader among catchers.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CitySports/Games • Friday, September 25, 2015 • Permalink


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