TORONTO — It made no difference who you asked Wednesday about Yogi Berra. The consensus from every corner of the Yankees’ vast universe was the same: Yogi was a Hall of Fame player and a better person.
Berra died Tuesday evening at 90 and left the entire baseball fraternity tapping brains to recall what the 10-time World Series champion meant to the game and to them.
“He will be missed by not only me but by a ton of people,’’ Don Larsen told The Post via telephone. “He changed our lives. He was well-appreciated and why not? That’s the way it should be.’’
Despite being locked in a sternum-to-sternum battle with the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East, with the hosts now up 3 ½ games after their 4-0 win over the Bombers Wednesday night at Rogers Centre, the Yankees had Yogi on the mind.
“He was the most special one I ever met,’’ Brett Gardner said about the bevy of big names who have worn the pinstripes. “Not on the field but off the field. I miss seeing him.’’
Because of leg problems, Berra stopped going to spring training in 2014. His last appearance at Yankee Stadium was for last season’s Joe Torre Day.
Larsen said he last saw Berra, who caught his perfect game against the Dodgers during the 1956 World Series, two years ago. In New York for Old-Timers’ Day, which Berra couldn’t attend, Larsen traveled to New Jersey to see his buddy.
“We got a chance to visit with him,’’ Larsen said. “It wasn’t a long visit but it was OK.’’
Don Mattingly, who had Berra as a Yankees manager in 1984 and for 16 games the following season, loves telling a story that describe how humble the Hall of Famer and three-time AL MVP was.
“He came to Evansville for a function and Yogi stayed at our house,’’ Mattingly said by phone. “We had a little guest house and Yogi said, ‘I love that house.’ He talked about it often.’’
Like others, Mattingly, who wears No. 8 on his Dodgers’ jersey to honor Berra, was down about losing a friend.
“It makes me sad,’’ Mattingly said. “We got beat 8-0 [Tuesday night]. How weird is that? I love him. Everything about him and Carmen was genuine, real and a lot of goodness.’’

































Jorge Posada, who shared the distinction of being a Yankee catcher who played on multiple World Series winners, remember the teacher and prankster Berra was.
“In spring training in 2000 he spent a lot of time with the catchers. He talked to me a lot because he wanted me to get better,’’ Posada said by phone. “He made everything fun.’’
And Berra had a sense of humor.
“We built a home in Avila in 2004 on the golf course and Yogi used to play there. He would see me later that day or the next day and he would ask me if I had been in the pool,’’ Posada said. “That’s because when he went by the house he threw a ball in the pool. You knew it was his ball because it had Y-O-G-I on it.’’
Fellow Hall of Famer Goose Gossage said he believes we will never see another Yogi.
“He is just one of a kind of man,’’ Gossage said by phone. “And there will be never another one like him.’’



