Ahhh.
Here's the statement on the NY Yankee website, along with a nice picture. An excerpt below the link.
"On behalf of the entire New York Yankees organization, we offer our deepest condolences to the Berra family," managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said. "Having known Yogi and Carmen for so long, it is almost impossible to imagine two people who complemented each other better than they did.
"We will always remember Carmen's smile and sense of humor, and her kindness and generosity will be dearly missed."
Berra died at the Crane's Mill Assisted Living Facility in West Caldwell, N.J., near the family's home in Montclair, where she and the legendary Yogi spent most of their lives together.
A moment of silence was observed prior to the Yankees' Grapefruit League game Friday night against the Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.
"It's sad. Really, really sad," manager Joe Girardi said. "I often talk about Yogi as being one of the greatest baseball players ever, but being one of the most humble and approachable guys I've ever been around. And Carmen happened to be the wife of one of the greatest baseball players ever, and probably as nice of a lady as you could ever be around.
"She was just a sweetheart; so nice always to be in her presence. She truly cared about so many people. It's sad. We're really going to miss her."
And here's the NY Times report –
Carmen Berra, Yogi’s Wife, Dies at 85
Carmen Berra, Yogi’s companion for nearly 70 years, was one of the famous Yankees baseball wives who could be identified by their first names, like Eleanor (Gehrig), Merlyn (Mantle) and Cora (Rizzuto).
Carmen Berra, who died Friday at 85, met Yogi after the 1947 season at Biggie’s steakhouse in St. Louis. She was a 19-year-old waitress and a local beauty. He had just played in 83 games for the Yankees in what amounted to his rookie season in the majors.
“I was bashful, nervous, not good-looking,” Yogi wrote in one of his books. “I could hardly believe my luck that Carmen liked me as much as I liked her.”
He romanced her with love letters from the road. They wed in early 1949 at St. Ambrose Church in St. Louis. Joe Garagiola was the best man. They formed a married team for 65 years, a union that produced 3 sons, 11 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson. They recently moved from their Montclair, N.J., home to an assisted-living facility.
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In their own way, Yogi and Carmen were a boldface couple. She was among those at the Copacabana club in 1957 during a melee involving Yankees players and members of a bowling team who were heckling the entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.
When M. Donald Grant, the miserly Mets chairman, called the Berra home in 1975 to inform Yogi that he was to be fired as manager, Carmen asked for a two-week reprieve because her mother was visiting. Grant agreed.
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