Yogi Berra Keeps Swinging as He Takes Job as Irreverent TV Critic of Movies

Yogi Berra isn’t catching balls anymore, just movies.

Once a month, he leaves the dugout for the balcony to become one of the most irreverent film critics the movie industry has ever known on TV’s “Yogi at the Movies.”

With his delightful malapropisms, Berra doesn’t examine artistic merit or a film’s plot but just tells viewers if he enjoyed it.

“I love movies, if I like them,” quips the plump, 206-pound, 5-foot-8 Berra, the Houston Astros’ dugout coach and former New York Yankees catcher and manager.

The 30-second TV spot was the brainchild of sports marketing director Tom Villante, a batboy for the Yankees when Berra first joined the major league team in 1946. Villante had wanted to transform Berra into a movie critic since his days in the Yankees’ clubhouse.

“The players would ask Yogi, ‘Hey, Yogi what movie did you go see?’ And he would give the most interesting reviews, probably better than the movie itself. This got to be a daily thing, and I remember thinking that I was going to do something with it someday,” said Villante, former executive director of marketing and broadcasting for Major League Baseball.

Berra, a Baseball Hall of Famer who holds World Series records for most series as a player (14), most games played (75), most at-bats (259) and most hits (71), said he was somewhat shocked when Villante suggested the enterprise.

“I thought he was crazy,” Berra recalled. “He said, ‘Lets try it.’ So why not, there’s not much to it, except go to a movie.

“It’s fun and it does pass the time away. If you’re on the road, you go to the movie at 12 o’clock or 1 o’clock. You’re out by 3 and then go to the ballpark instead of laying around like I was today.”

The reviews begin with a simple head shot of Berra against a black backdrop. An off-screen voice--Villante’s--asks questions.

“Yogi, did you get scared?” Villante asks of the movie “Fatal Attraction,” which served as Berra’s movie critic debut.

“No, I only get scared when it’s scary,” Berra answered.

Berra rates movies with “Yogi’s Scoreboard.” He gave “Fatal Attraction” a home run. Those he doesn’t like get a strikeout. Other ratings range from a single, double or triple.

His other reviews include:

--”Good Morning Vietnam”: “I’ve always been a fan of Roger Williams.” He meant Robin Williams.

--”Three Men and a Baby”: “Proves three men can be just as good as one woman.”

--”Casual Sex”: “No sex is safe, unless you’re over 85.”

--”Biloxi Blues”: “It reminded me of being in the Army--even though I was in the Navy.”

Could he guess the ending in “Masquerade?”

“No,” he said, “but towards the end you could.”

Berra missed this year’s Academy Awards because of a game but agreed with the outcome.

“And the supporting actress, is that--’Du-Cactus,’ or what’s her last name?” he asked. “She’s our neighbor. She did a good job.” Olympia Dukakis won best supporting actress for her role as Cher’s mother in “Moonstruck.”