NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — As President Obama was traveling overseas, it seems the White House caught up on its homework and completed all outstanding responses to petitions on White House.gov.
One noteworthy petition called on the White House to consider awarding New York Yankees great Yogi Berra with the presidential medal of freedom for his military service and civil rights and educational activism. The petition was launched May 9 and received more than 111,000 signatures in a month.
On Tuesday, the White House finally responded, noting that while the award recipient is determined at the “sole discretion” of the president — Berra’s resume makes him deserving.
“[T]herefore our response to this petition cannot comment on whether any individual will receive the award in the future,” the response stated. “We can, however, say that throughout his career as a Hall-of-Fame catcher for the New York Yankees and beyond, Yogi Berra has done a lot more than hit and think at the same time.”
The White House then ticked off a number of Berra’s accomplishments beyond his hall of fame career before concluding in typical Yogi fashion:
“He’s demonstrated many of the qualities of past Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, so — as he might say — it ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
Berra’s granddaughter, Lindsay Berra, reacted via Twitter positively to the White House’s response.
“@WhiteHouse response to #YogiMedal petition. Not a yes yet, but seems @BarackObama is thinking on it! #Yankees,” she tweeted.
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
