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SPORTSThursday 24 September
Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra dies at 90
MIKE STEWART In this March 6, 2008, file photo, New York Yankees hall of fame catcher Yogi Berra watches He was inducted into the
Associated Press spring training baseball action against the Cincinnati Reds in Sarasota, Fla. Hall of Fame in 1972.
NEW YORK (AP) — Yogi Ber- “You never think of that
ra, the Hall of Fame catch- Associated Press when you’re a kid,” Berra
er renowned as much for said. “But egads, you gotta
his dizzying malapropisms the Yankees, New York In this Aug. 3, 1974, file photo, New York Yankees greats, from be somethin’ to get in.”
as his record 10 World Se- Mets and Houston Astros. left, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Joe DiMaggio and Lawrence Peter Berra was
ries championships with He led both the Yankees Casey Stengel gather on the steps of Shea Stadium in New York born in St. Louis on May 12,
the New York Yankees, has and Mets to pennants. before an Old Timer’s game. 1925, the son of Pietro, a
died. He was 90. In 1985, his firing as man- laborer in a brickyard, and
Berra died of natural ager by the Yankees 16 Associated Press Pauline Berra. He grew up
causes Tuesday at his games into the season in “The Hill,” or Italian dis-
home in New Jersey, ac- sparked a feud with owner Yankee scout recognized he compiled a .989 fielding trict, with three older broth-
cording to Dave Kaplan, George Steinbrenner. Ber- his potential and signed percentage and did not ers and a younger sister.
the director of the Yogi ra vowed never to return him. make an error in the All-Star Berra was forced to drop
Berra Museum. to Yankee Stadium as long He reached the major Game or World Series. out of school in the eighth
“While we mourn the loss was Steinbrenner owned leagues late in the 1946 “I don’t care who the hit- grade and go to work to
of our father, grandfather the team. season and homered in his ter is,” New York manager help support his family. He
and great-grandfather, we But in 1999, Berra finally re- first at-bat. The next year, Casey Stengel told the took jobs in a coal yard, as
know he is at peace with lented, throwing out the he continued to hit well, New York Journal-Amer- a truck driver and in a shoe
Mom,” Berra’s family said ceremonial first pitch of the but his throwing was so er- ican. “(Berra) knows just factory.
in a statement released by Yankees’ season-opening ratic he was shifted to the how he should be pitched He continued to play
the museum. game. outfield, then benched. to.” amateur baseball, which
“We celebrate his remark- Berra, the son of Italian im- His breakthrough season Berra was AL Most Valu- brought him to the at-
able life, and are thank- migrants, got his nickname came in 1948, when he hit able Player in 1951, 1954 tention of major league
ful he meant so much to while growing up in St. .315 with 14 homers and 98 and 1955. He holds World scouts.
so many. He will truly be Louis. Among his amateur RBIs while continuing to im- Series records for most hits In 1943, his first professional
missed.” baseball teammates was prove his fielding. In 1949, (71) and most games (75). season with the Yankees’
Short, squat and with a Jack McGuire, another fu- farm team in Norfolk, Vir-
homely face, Berra was ture MLB player. ginia, was interrupted by
a legendary Yankee who “Some of us went to a World War II. He joined the
helped the team reach 14 movie with a yogi in it and Navy and later served on a
World Series during his 18 afterwards Jack began gunboat supporting the D-
seasons in the Bronx. calling me Yogi. It stuck,” Day invasion.
Berra played in more World Berra told the Saturday Berra married his wife, Car-
Series games than any oth- Evening Post. men, in 1949. The couple,
er Major League Baseball He was a fan favorite, es- who met in St. Louis, had
player, and was a three- pecially with children, and three sons, including Dale
time American League the cartoon character Berra, who played in the
Most Valuable Player. Yogi Bear was named after major leagues as an in-
But his name appears al- him. fielder.
most as often in Bartlett’s Berra, who played in 15 Berra published three
Famous Quotations as it straight MLB All-Star Games, books: his autobiography
does in baseball’s record never earned more than in 1961, “It Ain’t Over ...” in
book. “It ain’t over ‘til it’s $65,000 a season. 1989 and “The Yogi Book:
over” is among eight “Yogi- Growing up, he was any- I Really Didn’t Say Every-
isms” included in Bartlett’s. thing but a natural. thing I Said” in 1998. The
“When I’m sittin’ down to Chunky and slow, Berra last made The New York
dinner with the family, stuff was rejected by his home- Times’ best seller list.
just pops out. And they’ll town St. Louis Cardinals af- In 1996, Berra was award-
say, ‘Dad, you just said an- ter a tryout in 1943. But a ed an honorary doctorate
other one.’ from the state university
And I don’t even know in Montclair, New Jersey,
what the heck I said,” Berra where he and his family
insisted. lived.
Berra played for the Yan- The university also named
kees from 1949-65. His its baseball stadium for Ber-
teammates included fel- ra. The adjoining Yogi Berra
low Hall of Famers Joe Museum opened in 1998.
DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle The museum houses Berra
and Whitey Ford. memorabilia, including
In 1956, he caught the only what he said was his most
perfect game in World prized possession, the mitt
Series history and after he used to catch Larsen’s
the last out leaped into perfect game.
pitcher Don Larsen’s arms. His wife once asked Berra
The famous moment was where he wanted to be
captured in photographs buried, in St. Louis, New
published in newspapers York or Montclair.
around the world. “I don’t know,” he said.
After his playing days, Ber- “Why don’t you surprise
ra coached or managed me?”q
