Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra was born on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis.
Yogi got his "nickname"
from Bobby Hofman, a childhood friend. While watching a movie about an Indian
snake charmer,
Bobby noted that Yogi had a striking resemblance to the hindu man, saying
"That yogi walks like
Lawdie ( Larry) Berra."
"You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not
hungry enough to eat six." *
In 1942, Yogi was approached by Cardinals General Manager, Branch Rickey.
Rickey had
just signed Garagiola for $500, but Rickey offered Yogi $250 saying "He'll
never make anything more
than a Triple A ballplayer at best.". Yogi turned him down. Yankees
scout Leo Browne convinced
the Yankees that Yogi was worth $500 and signed him.
"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." *
In 1943, when Yogi turned 18, he joined the Navy. He
participated in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach,
served in North Africa and Italy.
"Never answer an anonymous letter." *
After the war, Yogi returned to baseball and played with the New
London, CT club. Mel Ott, the Giants
Manager saw him play and offered the Yankees $50,000 for Yogi's contract. Yankee
GM Larry MacPhail
had no idea who Yogi was, but figured that if Mel Ott wanted him that much, he
had to be worth
keeping. In 1946, Yogi began his career with the Yankees. He joined the team as
a platoon
catcher.
"I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so
I left early." *
When he was catching, Yogi used to talk to the opposing batters in order to
distract them. In the 1958
World Series, Yogi kept telling Hank Aaron to 'hit with the label up on the
bat'. Finally Aaron turned around
and said "Yogi, I came up here to hit, not to read."
"Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical." *
Yogi was named Yankees Manager in 1964 and went on to win the American League Pennant,
but
was fired after losing to the Cardinals in a seven-game series. Yogi then signed
with the
NY Mets as a player-coach. Following Gil Hodges's death in 1971, Yogi was named
as the
Mets manager in 1972. In 1973, Yogi brought the "You Gotta Believe"
Mets from last place in the final
month of the season to win the National League Pennant.
"I didn't really say everything I said" *
Yogi was dismissed from the Mets in 1975 and returned to the Yankees as a
coach the
following year. In 1984, George Steinbrenner hired Yogi to manage the Yankees;
they finished
third. After 22 games of the 1985 season, Yogi was replaced as manager. In 1986,
Yogi
signed on as a coach with the Houston Astros, and remained with them until his
retirement in
1992.
"You got to be very careful if you don't know where you're
going, because you might not get there." *
Yogi is one of the few managers to have won pennants in both the American and
National Leagues.
Yogi become a an Allstar 15 times, winning the American League MVP
three times, in 1951, 1954 and 1955.
He played in 14 World Series and World Series records for most games by a
catcher (63), hits (71), and
times on a winning team (10), first in at bats, first in doubles, second in
RBI's, third in home runs and BOB's. Yogi also hit the first pinch hit home run in World Series history in
1947. Yogi was elected the the National
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
* quotes by Yogi Berra
