It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over - Yogi Berra

Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra (born May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. He played almost his entire career for the New York Yankees and was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

Arguably the most beloved baseball player since Babe Ruth, Berra was one of only four players to be named the Most Valuable Player of the American League three times, and one of only six managers to lead both American and National League teams to the World Series.

Berra, who quit school in the eighth grade, has a tendency toward malapropism and fracturing the English language in highly provocative, interesting ways. Simultaneously denying and confirming his reputation, Berra once stated, “I never said half the things I really said.”

Born in a primarily Italian neighborhood of St. Louis called “The Hill”, Berra was the son of Pietro and Paulina Berra, immigrants from Italy. Pietro, originally from Milan in northern Italy, arrived at Ellis Island on October 18, 1909 at the age of 23, and later met Paulina in the U.S. Yogi’s parents originally nicknamed him “Lawdie,” derived from his mother’s difficulty pronouncing “Lawrence” or “Larry” correctly.

He grew up on Elizabeth Avenue, just across the street from his boyhood friend and later competitor Joe Garagiola (that block, also home to the late baseball broadcaster Jack Buck, has subsequently been renamed “Hall of Fame Place”).

Yogi and Joe also attended the same High School, South Side Catholic, now called St. Mary’s High School, in South St. Louis. Berra has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

He picked up his more famous nickname from a friend who said he resembled a Hindu holy man (yogi) they had seen in a movie, whenever Berra sat around with arms and legs crossed waiting to bat, or while looking sad after a losing game. Years later, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yogi Bear was named after Berra, something Berra did not appreciate after he started being periodically addressed as “Yogi Bear.”

He began playing baseball in local American Legion leagues, where he learned the basics of play as a catcher. Berra also played for a Cranston, RI team under an assumed name.

In 1942 the St. Louis Cardinals spurned Berra in favor of his boyhood best friend, Joe Garagiola. On the surface, the Cardinals seemed to think Garagiola the superior prospect — but team president Branch Rickey actually had an ulterior motive: knowing he was soon to leave St. Louis to take over the operation of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and more impressed with Berra than he let on, Rickey apparently planned to hold Berra off until he could sign him for the Dodgers.

The plan was ruined when the Yankees got to him first, signing him for the same $500 bonus the Cardinals offered Garagiola.

Berra is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history. According to the win shares formula developed by sabermetrician Bill James, Berra is the greatest catcher of all time and the 52nd greatest non-pitcher in major-league history. Late in his career, some sportswriters and baseball announcers affectionately nicknamed Berra “The Little Squat Man.”

Following a stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II where he served as a Gunner’s Mate in the D-Day invasion, Berra played minor league baseball with the Newark Bears before being called up for seven games in the major leagues in 1946 and was taught under the mentorship of Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, whose number Berra took. The following season he played 86 games for the Yankees, and he would play more than a hundred in each of the following fourteen years.

During his nineteen-year career as a Yankee, Berra’s teams dominated baseball. Berra appeared in fourteen World Series, winning ten championships, both of which are records.

Because Berra’s playing career coincided with the Yankees’ most consistent period, it enabled him to establish the major league records for World Series games (75), at-bats (259), hits (71), doubles (10), singles (49), games caught (63), and catcher putouts (457).

In Game 3 of the 1947 World Series, Berra hit the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca (who later served up Bobby Thomson’s famous home run in 1951).

Though Berra played in 14 World Series, he played a full game in just nine of them, one fewer than Joe DiMaggio, who played full games in all ten of his Series appearances.

Berra has become a beloved figure in American sport, which in some ways has obscured his immense talents as a competitive athlete. Berra was a fifteen-time All-Star, and won the league’s MVP award three times, in 1951, 1954 and 1955.

From 1950 to 1957, Berra never finished lower than 4th in the voting. He received MVP votes in fifteen consecutive seasons, tied with Barry Bonds and second only to Hank Aaron’s nineteen straight seasons with MVP support. (Ted Williams also received MVP votes in every year of his career, but it was twice interrupted by military service.)

Between 1949 and 1955, on a team filled with stars such as Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, it was Berra who led the Yankees in RBI for seven consecutive seasons.

Berra was excellent at hitting bad pitches, covering all areas of the strike zone (as well as beyond) with great extension. He was simultaneously able to swing the bat like a golf club to hit low pitches for deep home runs, and chop at high pitches for line drives.

However, despite this wide plate coverage, he also had great bat control. Five times, Berra had more home runs in a season than strikeouts.

In 1950, Berra struck out twelve times in 597 at-bats. This combination made him a feared “clutch hitter”; rival manager Paul Richards once called Berra “the toughest man in the league in the last three innings.” When asked about swinging at “bad pitches”, Berra was reported to say, “If I can hit it, it’s a good pitch.”

As a fielder, Berra was truly outstanding. Quick, mobile, and a great handler of pitchers, Berra led all American League catchers eight times in games caught and in chances accepted, six times in double plays (a major league record), eight times in putouts, three times in assists, and once in fielding percentage. Berra left the game with the AL records for catcher putouts (8,723) and chances accepted (9,520).

He was also one of only four catchers to ever field 1.000 for a season, playing 88 errorless games in 1958. Later in his career, he became a good defensive outfielder in Yankee Stadium’s notoriously difficult left field. In June 1962, at the age of 37, Berra showed his superb physical endurance by catching an entire 22-inning, seven-hour game against the Tigers.

One of the most notable days of Berra’s playing career came when he caught Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the only no-hitter ever thrown in postseason play.

The pictures of Berra leaping into Larsen’s arms following the 27th out are among the game’s most memorable images.

In 1946, Berra wore uniform No. 38 on the Yankees, switching to 35 the next year. In 1948, he changed to No. 8, which he kept for the rest of his career on the Yankees (and later, the Mets).

The No. 8 was retired in 1972 by the Yankees, jointly honoring Berra and Bill Dickey, his predecessor as the Yankees’ star catcher.

Berra’s uniform number and stocky build were familiar enough to baseball fans that Sports Illustrated once used a photo of Berra facing away from the camera as its cover, with the blurb “YOGI’S BACK.” Yankee television announcer Michael Kay has introduced Berra on Old Timers Day as “one of the best known faces on the planet.”

After Berra’s Yankee playing career ended with the 1963 World Series, he was hired as the manager of the New York Yankees. Much was made of an incident on board the team bus in August. Following a loss, infielder Phil Linz was playing his harmonica, and Berra ordered him to stop.

Seated on the other end of the bus, Linz couldn’t hear what Berra had said, and Mickey Mantle impishly informed Linz, “He said to play it louder.”

When Linz did so, an angry Berra slapped the harmonica out of his hands. All was apparently forgotten when Berra’s Yankees rode a September surge to return to the World Series. But the team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, after which Berra was fired. It was later learned that general manager Ralph Houk had been ready to discharge Berra since midseason, apparently for a perceived loss of control over the team.

In 1999, Berra appeared at No. 40 on The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and fan balloting elected him to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

At the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, Berra had the honor of being the last of the 49 Hall of Famers in attendance to be announced. He received the loudest standing ovation of the Hall of Famers due to playing and managing both New York ballclubs.

Coaching and managing timeline

* 1963 – New York Yankees player-coach
* 1964 – New York Yankees manager (won American League pennant)
* 1965 – New York Mets player coach
* 1965–1972 – New York Mets coach (won World Series in 1969)
* 1972–1975 – New York Mets manager (won National League pennant in 1973)
* 1976–1983 – New York Yankees coach (won American League pennant in 1976 & 1981 and World Series in 1977 & 1978)
* 1984–1985 – New York Yankees manager
* 1986–1989 – Houston Astros coach

Berra is also well known for his pithy comments and witticisms, known as Yogiisms.

* As a general comment on baseball: “Ninety percent of this game is half mental.”
* On why he no longer went to a popular St. Louis restaurant: “Nobody goes there no more, it’s too crowded!”
* “It ain’t over till it’s over.” - After Berra’s 1973 Mets trailed the Chicago Cubs by 9½ games in the National League East; the Mets rallied to win the division title on the next-to-last day of the season.
* When giving directions to his New Jersey home, which was equally accessible via two different routes: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
* On being the guest of honor at an awards banquet: “I’d like to thank all those who made this night necessary.”
* “It’s like déjà vu all over again”
* “It’s tough making predictions, especially about the future”
* “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”
* On a trip to Cooperstown, to attend a dinner, Phil Rizzuto commented to Yogi, “I think we’re lost.” To which Yogi responded “Yeah, but we’re making great time.”
* “Never answer an anonymous letter”
* ” I usually take a two hour nap from one to four”
* ” I didn’t really say everything I said “
* Yogi on the 1969 NY Mets…..” overwhelming underdogs “
* When asked what time is was……” you mean now?”
* On why NY lost the 1960 series to Pittsburgh ” We made too many wrong mistakes”
* “You can observe a lot by watching “
* “The future ain’t what it used to be “
* “It gets late early out here”
* “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be “
* “If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them “

Berra has frequently appeared in advertisements for Yoo-hoo, AFLAC, Entenmann’s, and Stovetop stuffing, among others, frequently demonstrating his famous “yogiisms.” He is among the longest running commercial pitchmen in the U.S.; his television commercials span the early 1950s to the present day.

Based on his style of speaking, Yogi was named Wisest Fool of the Past 50 Years by the Economist magazine in January 2005.

Yogi has got to be one of my all-time favorite personalities in the game of baseball. I laughed at his quotes and antics as a child, and now my children are laughing at his quotes and antics in AFLAC commercials - giving me an opportunity to teach them about one more golden legend in the greatest game of all time. Thank you, Yogi.

Sources:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.yogiberra.com/