Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center honors Yogi’s 100th birthday and announcement of Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge in September

LITTLE FALLS, NJ —  The Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center honored Yogi Berra’s 100th birthday with a celebration attended by community members, Museum supporters, elected officials, baseball players and fans of all ages. Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Bob Costas emceed the event, which featured a family tribute by Yogi’s three sons — Larry, Tim, and Dale Berra — as well as remarks by Museum Executive Director Eve Schaenen. Highlights of the afternoon included a video with happy birthday wishes from many current and former NY Yankees, and a rousing performance from Hillside Elementary School’s Drums of Thunder, a local drum corps that performed at many Museum events during Yogi’s lifetime. 

Culminating the birthday celebration was the announcement by Costas of the Museum’s plans for an official Guinness World Records attempt for the Largest Game of Catch, set to take place on Sunday, Sept. 21, in Yogi Berra Stadium, directly adjacent to the Museum. Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge, as the event is called, will require the Museum to bring together at least 973 pairs — 1,946 players — to play catch simultaneously for five minutes. The Sept. 21 event date is significant, marking one day before Berra’s first major league game in 1946, (he hit a home run,) as well as one day before the anniversary of his passing 10 years ago. 

Accompanying the announcement of Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge, the kick-off to an event-related social media campaign appeared on the stadium’s jumbotron, featuring NY Yankees superstar Aaron Judge asking, “Wanna Have a Catch?’ — the campaign’s theme – and inviting players to take part in Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge and to spread the word. Dozens of players from local youth teams then took the field to have a catch in Yogi’s honor. The social campaign promises other surprise guest appearances and more fun content to roll out over the coming months.

Registration for the record attempt, which will be adjudicated by an official Guinness World Records representative, is now open at www.yogisbigcatch.org. All participants will receive a commemorative T-shirt and enjoy activities in the stadium and free admission to the Museum after the attempt. Cost to register is $25 per pair, $15 per single player and $5 for spectators.

“Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge is much more than a world record attempt,” said Schaenen. “Our true goal is to recognize Yogi’s centennial year with a joyful, unifying tribute that brings community together around the values Yogi stood for his entire life: respect, teamwork, sportsmanship and excellence. We hope players of all ages across the country will join us on September 21st to play catch in their own communities in Yogi’s honor, while we shatter a world record here outside his Museum.”

For more information about Yogi’s centennial year contact the Museum at yogimuseum@montclair.edu or 973-655-2378.

To register for Yogi’s Big Catch Challenge, visit: www.yogisbigcatch.org

  Yogi Berra Museum