Hall of Famer Yogi Berra passed away late Tuesday at the age of 90, precisely 69 years after he made his major league debut. In memory of a man who served baseball and the country with distinction, here are 10 of the greatest moments in his unforgettable life:

10. After St. Louis native Berra tried out for his hometown Cardinals in 1942, manager Branch Rickey reportedly told him he would never make it out of Triple-A. He ended up signing with the Yankees for $500, and got sent to the Norfolk Virginia Tars in 1943. Sure, he made 16 errors in his first season playing catcher, but he had 23 RBIs. Not in the season — in a two-day stretch.

9. Berra flashed even more potential in his major league debut, crushing a home run in a 4-3 Yankee win. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics at the original Yankee Stadium, Berra appeared wearing No. 38 and went 2-for-4 with a two-run shot off Jesse Flores. It was the first of 358 career homers, the most by any player 5-foot-8 or shorter.

8. By Berra’s second year, in 1947, he started building his postseason legend. He came off the bench in Game 3 of the World Series and hit the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history off Brooklyn’s Ralph Branca. The Bombers won the game and the title, the first of 10 rings for Berra.

7. In 1951, Berra claimed the first of his three MVP awards. He had 27 home runs and 88 RBIs, with his work behind the plate and as a clubhouse leader helping the Yankees to another World Series. He also collected MVP honors in 1954 and ’55.

6. The 1956 World Series couldn’t have been any more perfect for Berra or Don Larsen. On Oct. 8, Larsen pitched the only perfect game in World Series history, with Berra — one of the best at calling and framing pitches — behind the plate. Larsen threw exactly what Berra called on every single pitch that day, and the image of Berra leaping into the pitcher’s arms is one of the most famous in baseball history. Two days later, Berra hit two homers to lead the Yankees to a 9-0 rout in Game 7. Berra later said, “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.” But on that day, it was for him and Larsen.

5. Berra became the most decorated player in major league history in 1962, when his Yankees outlasted the San Francisco Giants in seven games in the 1962 World Series. It marked Berra’s 10th championship as a player and the last one the Bombers would win for 15 years, a long stretch by their lofty standards.

4. After Berra won two World Series with the Yankees as a coach, he was brought across town to the expansion Mets by Casey Stengel. He stayed on after Stengel retired in 1965, was on the staff in the 1969 “Miracle” season and took over when manager Gil Hodges died immediately before the 1972 season. On Aug. 5, 1973, the Mets were in last place in the NL East, 11½ games out. A few days earlier, Berra had proclaimed: “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” They proceeded to win 34 of their last 53 — and 24 of their final 33 — to finish first and upset the Reds in five games for the NL pennant.

3. The Grudge and the Reconciliation. Berra never had a beef with the Mets, who fired him in 1975. But when George Steinbrenner fired him just 16 games into the 1985 season — after publicly promising he’d have the entire year, then not facing Berra himself but sending scout Clyde King to swing the ax — Berra vowed never to set foot in Yankee Stadium again as long as Steinbrenner was the owner. Berra stayed away despite getting a plaque in Monument Park in 1988, and getting invitations to throw out the ceremonial first pitch in the 1996 postseason.

It wasn’t until a dying Joe DiMaggio told Steinbrenner to make peace with Berra that a 1999 meeting was set up at the Yogi Berra Museum. George said, “I’m sorry,” and Berra replied, “It’s over.” He made his return to the Stadium, and watched with Larsen as David Cone pitched a perfect game.

2. Seaman 1st Class Lawrence Peter Berra, USN, wasn’t just a great servant of the game. He was a decorated veteran, one of 156,000 men in the Allied landing force in Normandy on June 6, 1944, for D-Day. Berra was a gunner’s mate on the USS Bayfield, an attack transport ship. Just turned 19, he was part of the fighting for 15 consecutive days. Two months later, in Operation Dragoon, Berra got shot during an Allied assault on Marseilles, for which he earned a Purple Heart.

1. After spending almost his entire 19-year career in the Bronx, Berra made it to Cooperstown in 1972 as a unanimous inductee to the Hall of Fame. He had 15 All-Star appearances, three MVP awards and 21 World Series appearances as a player, coach and manager. He was named to the Major League Baseball All­-Century Team via fan vote in 1999.