Yogi's legendary personality shines through in new documentary

When the average person hears the name Yogi Berra, chances are it produces a recollection of a famed phrase like, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” any number of entertaining television commercials, or perhaps even a cartoon bear with an affinity for picnic baskets.

That is why "It Ain’t Over" exists.

An intimate and revealing 98-minute portrait directed by Sean Mullin and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, this emotional and engaging documentary takes viewers beyond the caricatures and “Yogi-isms,” painting a complete picture of a sports legend.

“It’s very important to me to keep Grandpa’s legacy alive,” said Lindsay Berra, his oldest grandchild. “Most important to me is to have people remember truly what a great baseball player he was, because I feel that a lot of his on-the-field accomplishments have been eclipsed by the Yogi-isms and the fact he was this short, kind of funny-looking guy later in life.”

On Friday -- what would have been Yogi's 98th birthday -- "It Ain’t Over" will be in more than 100 movie theaters in the New York tristate area and Los Angeles. It will open in cities throughout the country a week later.

The film’s opening scene depicts a ceremony before the 2015 All-Star Game in which Henry Aaron, Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays were introduced as baseball’s greatest living players. Lindsay Berra recalls nudging her grandfather and asking, “Are you dead?” To which Berra, as only he could, grunted: “Not yet.”

A labor of love that took more than four years to reach the screen and debuted last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, "It Ain’t Over" tells Berra’s story from humble beginnings in a working-class St. Louis neighborhood known as "The Hill."

It was his starting point for a journey that featured 10 World Series championships, three American League Most Valuable Player Awards and 18 All-Star appearances.

Berra served his country on a rocket boat stationed off the coast of Normandy in 1944, caught the only perfect game in World Series history in '56 and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in '72. He was more than a source for amusing quotes like, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” or, “No one goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”

“Ultimately, my goal is for audiences to laugh a little, learn a little and maybe even tear up a bit -- all while recognizing that Yogi was one of baseball’s all-time greatest players,” said Mullin, “despite society’s unwillingness to view him as anything other than a caricature.”

The film features interviews with a legion of baseball greats, including Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi, Tony Kubek, Ron Guidry and Nick Swisher. Also featured are Billy Crystal, Bob Costas, Suzyn Waldman and Vin Scully, plus photos and eye-opening archival footage from on and off the diamond.

“I want people to have a new appreciation for how good he was on the field,” Lindsay Berra said. “What I always say about Grandpa is, as good as he was as a ballplayer, he was an even better human. Even though he was the very best at what he did, he never for a moment thought he was better than anyone else. That’s a refreshing thing in our heroes.”