Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born May 12, 1925) is a retired baseball player and, later, team manager. Born on the Hill in St. Louis, he picked up his nickname from a friend who said he resembled a Hindu holy man (see yogi), and began playing baseball in local American Legion leagues, where he learnt the basics of play as a catcher. After rejecting an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals he signed with the New York Yankees in 1942.
Playing Career
Following a spell in the US Navy during World War II he played minor league baseball with the Newark Bears before being called up for 7 games in the major leagues in 1946. The following season he played 86 games for the Yankees, and he would play 100+ for each of the following 14 years. During his 19-year career as a Yankee the Bronx Bombers dominated baseball, appearing in 14 World Series and winning ten championships. Yogi himself was a 15-time All-Star, and won the league MVP award three times (in 1951, 1954 and 1955) and caught Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 Series.
In 1946, he wore uniform number 38 on the Yankees, switching to 35 the next year. In 1948 he changed to number 8, which was to be made famous as his number for the rest of his career on the Yankees and Mets. The number 8 was retired in 1972 by the Yankees, jointly honoring Berra and Bill Dickey, his predecessor as the Yankees' star catcher.
In 1972 he was elected to the United States Baseball Hall of Fame.
Managing Career
Yankees - Mets - Yankees - Fired by Steinbrenner - Astros,
Career Statistics
| G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 2,120 | 7,555 | 2,150 | 321 | 49 | 358 | 1,175 | 1,430 | 704 | 49 | 414 | 9 | 44 | 52 | .285 | .348 | .482 |
Berra was also famous for fracturing the English language in provocative, interesting ways. See also: Colemanballs, Damaging quotation
Books
Four books by Yogi Berra (with co-authors):
- ISBN 0761110909; (April 1998) The Yogi Book: 'I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said'
- ISBN 0786867752; (May 2001) When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes
- ISBN 0743237684; (October 1, 2002) What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All
- ISBN 0070969477; (April, 1989) "Yogi: It Ain't Over"
Trivia
Yogi has a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character named after him. See Yogi Bear.
See also
External Links
Referenced By
12 May | 12th May | 1925 | 1950s | Atlanta Braves | Baseball/Most Valuable Player Award | Baseball Most Valuable Player Award | Baseball slang | Biographical Listing/BE | Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers | Cartoon characters named after people | Colemanballs | Damaging quotation | Johnny Bench | List of major league baseball players | List of people by name: BE | List of people from Missouri | List of translatable Bushisms | Los Angeles Dodgers | MLB Most Valuable Player award | May 12 | May 12th | Mets | Milwaukee Braves | Miracle Mets | New York Mets | New York Yankee | New York Yankees | Saint Louis, Missouri | Saint Louis, USA | Saint Louis Missouri | Sandy Koufax | St. Lewis, Missouri | St. Louis | St. Louis, Missouri | St Louis, Missouri | The Hill | Yankees | Yogi Bear | Yogiisms | Yoo-Hoo
|
