Quoted in Sporting News, 7 Aug. 1971. Berra says in The Yogi Book (1998) that he was referring here to the difficulty of playing left field in Yankee Stadium in late autumn when "the shadows would creep up on you and you had a tough time seeing the ball off the bat."
Quoted in Time, 31 July 1973. Usually attributed to Robinson, but slightly earlier evidence is found in the Guthrian (Guthrie County, Iowa), 26 Jan. 1970, which printed "Close only counts in horse shoes and grenades."
Mary Schmich (2012). “The Best of Mary Schmich: Selected Writings by the Chicago Tribune's Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary”, p.220, Agate Digital