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Yogi: 1925-2015
Yogi Berra, the Yankees' beloved No. 8, passed away on September 22 at the age of 90. A Hall of Fame catcher who was not only one of baseball's great players—winner of three Most Valuable Player awards and numerous World Series rings—but also one its most colorful and appealing characters, well-known for his everyman demeanor and occasional adventures into syntax. A mainstay on the great Yankees teams of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, Berra was an 18-time All-Star and the American League MVP in 1951, 1954, and 1955. He finished with 358 home runs and 1,430 RBIs, earning induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. After retiring as a player, Berra managed both the Mets and Yankees and led the 1973 Mets to the National League pennant. This commemorative tribute features stories and photographs from the New York Times' archives, with an eloquent foreword by Ron Guidry, one of Berra's closest friends. Compiled and edited by longtime New York sportswriter Dave Anderson, this collection celebrates the life of an American original. Whether re-living Berra's clutch home runs or telling the story behind "It ain't over 'til it's over," this book is an extraordinary tribute to a player everyone loved
- GenresBaseball
128 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2015
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August 20, 2021
I am not a fan of the New York Yankees; in fact, I usually root against them for various reasons. But I read a very good biography of Berra, Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask that placed him in the context of national and world affairs as well as going well beyond his baseball statistics and career highlights https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I wanted to delve a little deeper into how this was chronicled by a daily newspaper and the New York Times seemed an excellent way to do that with the publication of this retrospective.
The Times had top-notch sportswriters all through Berra’s career; from Red Smith through Dave Anderson (who compiled and edited this book as well). And let’s also acknowledge the sports photographers. This book is as much a product of their work with action photos (such as the disputed Jackie Robinson slide home during the Dodgers-Yankees 1955 World Series) to candids (including Yogi autographing baseballs as his little son, Larry, looks on).
Berra doesn’t make some greatest of all-time (G.O.A.T.) lists. Not the Bleacher Report Top 25, nor the Britannica Top 10. The Sporting New places him well within its Top 50 of the 20th Century.
Why? Berra played on very good teams and he was willing to be the nicest guy in the room (and the butt of both ethnic and personal slurs). He let it all wash over him and became the most popular Yankee for decades. He was far and away a better team player than many above him on those lists from Ty Cobb to Barry Bonds.
But, my recent reading tells me that they (and I) might have to give this ranking further consideration. Even considering the great Bill Dickey and Elston Howard, Berra should be considered the greatest Yankee catcher of all time. Casey Stengel says that only Joe DiMaggio should be considered as an equal. Ralph Houk has Berra far ahead of any other Yankee as a “clutch hitter” and at the top of all the hitters he has seen including: Johnny Mize, Carl Yastrzemski, Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline, Stan Musial, Tommy Henrich, Ted Williams, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson.
Berra was a fixture in the All-Star games (15) and played for 10 World Series champions. He was the American League most valuable player three times. He was a notorious bad-ball hitter but had very few strikeouts for his times at bat. That made his times at the plate even more vexing for pitchers.
Questions of his place in Major League Baseball aside, this book also touches on why Berra merits all his renown. Part of that is his respect for the sport and for its spectators that certainly was evident to his fans. Part of that renown recognizes that he was at Normandy Beach during the Allies WW II invasion covering the assault behind a machine gun on a small Navy boat. Part is his efforts to provide interest and inspiration for the sport in succeeding generations. That support includes the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in New Jersey.
This book is a fine way to experience the arc of Berra’s life.
I wanted to delve a little deeper into how this was chronicled by a daily newspaper and the New York Times seemed an excellent way to do that with the publication of this retrospective.
The Times had top-notch sportswriters all through Berra’s career; from Red Smith through Dave Anderson (who compiled and edited this book as well). And let’s also acknowledge the sports photographers. This book is as much a product of their work with action photos (such as the disputed Jackie Robinson slide home during the Dodgers-Yankees 1955 World Series) to candids (including Yogi autographing baseballs as his little son, Larry, looks on).
Berra doesn’t make some greatest of all-time (G.O.A.T.) lists. Not the Bleacher Report Top 25, nor the Britannica Top 10. The Sporting New places him well within its Top 50 of the 20th Century.
Why? Berra played on very good teams and he was willing to be the nicest guy in the room (and the butt of both ethnic and personal slurs). He let it all wash over him and became the most popular Yankee for decades. He was far and away a better team player than many above him on those lists from Ty Cobb to Barry Bonds.
But, my recent reading tells me that they (and I) might have to give this ranking further consideration. Even considering the great Bill Dickey and Elston Howard, Berra should be considered the greatest Yankee catcher of all time. Casey Stengel says that only Joe DiMaggio should be considered as an equal. Ralph Houk has Berra far ahead of any other Yankee as a “clutch hitter” and at the top of all the hitters he has seen including: Johnny Mize, Carl Yastrzemski, Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline, Stan Musial, Tommy Henrich, Ted Williams, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson.
Berra was a fixture in the All-Star games (15) and played for 10 World Series champions. He was the American League most valuable player three times. He was a notorious bad-ball hitter but had very few strikeouts for his times at bat. That made his times at the plate even more vexing for pitchers.
Questions of his place in Major League Baseball aside, this book also touches on why Berra merits all his renown. Part of that is his respect for the sport and for its spectators that certainly was evident to his fans. Part of that renown recognizes that he was at Normandy Beach during the Allies WW II invasion covering the assault behind a machine gun on a small Navy boat. Part is his efforts to provide interest and inspiration for the sport in succeeding generations. That support includes the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in New Jersey.
This book is a fine way to experience the arc of Berra’s life.
Displaying 1 of 1 review