Yogi Berra
Fitness
From: What Time Is It? You Mean Now?

Around World Series time, the sun in left field at Yankee Stadium would get awful tough. It wasn't so bad during the season, but in October it would just hang there in your eyes when you were trying to follow a fly ball. And what was true for the sun field in the Bronx is also true for everybody when it comes to their bodies and their health: You can get old pretty young if you don't take care of yourself.
Everybody needs exercise, I don't care who you are. Exercise is the best medicine, unless you're really sick and need something else. It's the best way not to feel old and fat, plus it's great for your mental health. Staying in shape, working out on the treadmill, and playing golf a lot are the best things that happened to me after I retired from baseball.
I feel OK, and people keep telling me I look good for my age, and that makes me feel OK, too. I like being active, and I pace myself because it feels crummy to feel worn down. Getting up at six every morning and doing different activities keeps me going, and so far, so good.
A lot of older people--people like me in their seventies--are living longer and healthier lives. Older people travel more, walk more, run more--heck, they even do marathons and hike mountains, like some people I know. They're doing things that seemed impossible only a few years ago. Being sixty-five used to seem like old age, but more and more guys I know feel pretty good when they get there, and they're willing to get physical therapy or medical help in order to keep exercising.
Look at today's athletes-not that they're senior citizens or anything, but these guys, and even the gals, care more about exercise and fitness than ever. That's something we never did. We only got in shape during spring training, but these guys work out year-round and you can see a difference in their longevity when they last longer. Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, they have those great workout ethics, which keep them as strong as ever when most fastball pitchers used to be slowing down. And Barry Bonds going from thirty-something home runs to seventy-three in two years tells you a lot about his health. He got real serious about it, using a nutritionist and a new workout regimen. You got to be serious about it or you can't expect good results.
A lot of people and athletes overdo it, though, so you got to be careful. Some of these guys are always getting some pulled muscle because they have more new muscle. It's not just about getting bigger, but getting bigger in ways you can use--stretching, flexibility, all that stuff. Every team today has fitness coaches-something we never had-and the players do more exercises, are bigger and stronger and mostly in better shape than ever before.
But while more older people are exercising, one big problem we have exercise-wise is kids. They need exercise, but they don't; they play video games or get stuck in front of the TV and the computer. Most kids in their teens aren't real active, and the truth is, you see a lot of overweight kids these days. This affects their bone development and probably raises their chance for heart problems. When we were their age we just played outside all the time. Kids may need a push to exercise, and if it's safe and enjoyable, it will help make them feel better, think better, and do better.
There's a good connection between exercise and an active mind. Look at Stan Musial, one of the best ever. He took over for my idol, Joe Medwick, on the Cardinals in the 1940s, and he's always been one heck of a guy. He was part of the reason I met Carmen, because she was a waitress in Biggie's restaurant, which Stan once owned with Biggie Garagnani.
My point is that Stan loved to play ball; he was a ballplayer's ballplayer, always in great shape, always a great attitude. I remember grumbling to him in the twelfth inning of the 1955 All-star Game how I was getting tired catching all those innings. And Bill Summers, the umpire, said, "How about me? It's just as tough back here." And Stan said, "Yeah, I'm tired, too," and then smacked the next pitch over the wall and we all went home.
Stan went on to play until he was forty-three and a grandfather. Boy, he could hit, too. Everybody liked him, and President Kennedy really admired him. Kennedy told him once, "A couple of years ago they told me I was too young to be president and you were too old to play baseball, but we fooled them." When Stan retired, Lyndon Johnson appointed him director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and he set a real good example for kids, talking about the importance of exercise and all those other important things kids need to know.
Stan is in his eighties now, and he hasn't lost any enthusiasm, and I think his exercising all the time helped him beat cancer ten years ago. Like I said, enjoying old age is half mental, half physical, and remaining active helps you remain active.

Who can refuse such logic?
Joel Parker