Remembering No. 8: Yogi Berra's most impressive accomplishments

In 1972, when the New York Yankees retired his No. 8, Yogi Berra - the gnomish but amiable catcher who authored a laundry list of memorable quips, peddled Yoo-hoo, and inspired cartoon characters - was more a legend than a baseball player.

In honor of the beloved icon, who died Tuesday at the age of 90, here are eight of Berra's most impressive on-field accomplishments:

Who says 13 is unlucky?

Between his famous wit and often perplexing turns of phrase, it's easy to forget that Berra - over more than four MLB decades as a player, coach, and manager - won a whopping 13 World Series championships. Berra, one of the most celebrated players to ever lace up the cleats for baseball's most celebrated franchise, won a record 10 championships during his playing days with the Yankees; only one other player, Joe DiMaggio, has ever won more than eight World Series titles.

"He leaps on Larsen ..."

In the 1956 World Series, Berra was behind the plate for one of the most iconic performances in baseball history, catching all nine innings of Don Larsen's perfect game that lifted the Yankees past the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-0, in Game 5. No other player has ever caught a perfect game in the World Series, because no other pitcher has ever thrown a perfect game in the World Series.

A perennial All-Star

Throughout his illustrious playing career with the Yankees, Berra represented the American League at the Midsummer Classic 15 times, a record for All-Star appearances by a catcher. (In 1959, the league began holding two All-Star games per season in an effort to bolster the players' pension fund - the tradition was discontinued after the 1962 campaign.)

"If I can hit it, it's a good pitch"

A notoriously proficient "bad-ball hitter," Berra's contact skills were largely unmatched: over parts of 19 seasons in the majors, the three-time MVP never struck out more than 38 times in a year. Berra is also one of just 15 players since 1920 to receive at least 5,000 career plate appearances while posting an OPS above .825 and a strikeout rate below five percent.

Mistake-free in '58

In 1958, his 13th season in the Bronx, Berra logged 755 innings behind the plate without committing an error, while also throwing out a ridiculous 55 percent of potential base-stealers. To this day, Berra remains one of four catchers to post a 1.000 fielding percentage over an entire season.

Third time's the charm

Other than a plaque in Cooperstown, what does Berra have in common with Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Mickey Mantle, and Mike Schmidt? They were all named league MVP three times, with Berra taking home the award in 1951, 1954, and 1955. The only other players with three (or more) MVP awards - who aren't in the Hall of Fame - are Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, and Barry Bonds, who earned the honor a record seven times.

Coming through in the clutch

"It ain't over 'til it's over," right? Berra's lasting words bespoke his knack for delivering in high-pressure situations. Unfazed by the moment, Berra's numbers with runners in scoring position throughout his career, or in the late innings of a close game, are markedly better than his context-neutral stats.

Speaking of which ...

His penchant for coming through in the clutch was readily apparent on Oct. 2, 1947, when Berra, then still a rookie, clobbered the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history, a Game 3 solo shot off Brooklyn Dodgers right-hander Ralph Branca. Though the Yankees fell 9-8 that afternoon at Ebbets Field, Berra's seventh-inning blast marked the first in a litany of unforgettable World Series moments for the young catcher.

(Videos courtesy: MLB.com)