NORFOLK, Va. — "Love is the most important thing in the world, but, baseball is pretty good too."
So said the great Yogi Berra.
He never played here.
But many of his fellow Hall of Famers did at -- of all places -- Naval Station Norfolk. It happened on hallowed grounds, where some immortals of the national pastime once roamed, at the now-99-year-old McClure Field.
It was World War II and for Bob Feller, Dom DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Pee Wee Reese, and Eddie Robinson, their job in the Navy ended up being what they already knew by heart.
"During those times they needed morale, and baseball was number one," said Anthony Benning, Naval Station Norfolk's Morale Welfare and Recreation Fitness Director. "During that time, they had a Navy World Series, best of seven, best two teams on the base. And we're re-creating that right here today."
Two years ago for the 100th-anniversary celebration of the base, sailors suited up and played ball. Now, they got to do it again. Navy personnel donned 1940's-vintage baseball uniforms and staged a throwback game.
Fireman Jackson Burke won the home run derby.
"It's pretty crazy," he said. "Just as long as I can participate, I'm happy."
The Airmen and the Blue Jackets stuck with slow pitch softball. There were no big leaguers in sight.
Still, for everyone involved, including the umps, it was a chance to re-live glory days. They wouldn't have missed it for the world.
"It's very special," said first base umpire Otis Sanders. "It's a historical field where all of the superstars and some of the Major League baseball players played on this field. It makes me feel like a legend sometimes."
In the end, of course, it was just a game. But participants said it was so much more.
James Earl Jones' character in "Field of Dreams," may have put it best: "It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again."