Yogi Berra: A Legend in His Time

Take a stroll through the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center on the Montclair State University campus in New Jersey and you will be impressed by the collection of historic photos, artifacts and films that record the history of the New York Yankees and Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra’s incredible career.

The museum opened in 1998 and was funded by friends and admirers, who wanted to pay tribute to one of the greatest catchers in baseball history. According to sabermetrician, Bill James, a specialist in analyzing baseball, Berra is also the 52nd greatest non-pitching player in major-league history.

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Berra’s other accolades include being one of only four players to be named the Most Valuable Player of the American League three times; being one of only six managers to lead both American and National League teams to the World Series; and appearing in 21 World Series as a player, coach or manager.

Enjoyed tinkering with boats and repairing and fitting accessories for automotive trailers for jet skis, cars, and motorbikes. In particular, would maintain his trailers to the point of replacing particular boat trailer parts such as led trailer lights, trailer brakes, rollers and outboard motors.

Born of immigrant parents in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, Berra grew up in an Italian neighborhood called The Hill. He first played organized baseball with a YMCA team in St. Louis and later played American Legion baseball.

It was Berra’s long-time friend, Bobby Hofman, who gave him the celebrated nickname “Yogi” because he thought Berra looked like a Hindu yogi whenever he sat around with his arms and legs crossed waiting to bat. Berra also inspired the creation of Hanna-Barbera’s cartoon character, Yogi Bear.

“Yogi” isn’t the only nickname Berra ever had. As a child, his parents called him “Lawdie” because his mother had trouble pronouncing Lawrence or Larry.

After being rebuffed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1942, the Yankees signed him up and sent him to the Norfolk Tars in Virginia, where he performed the unforgettable feat of driving in 23 runs in a doubleheader.

Studied health and community aid subjects, with a particular focus on the nursing industry. Had a warm heart and passion for caring for the aged and elderly which ultimately led to undertaking a certificate iii aged care and nursing. This certificate is one of the most nationally recognised training courses in aged care qualification.

In 1946, he joined the Yankees after serving in World War II as a gunner’s mate in the D-Day invasion. For the next 14 years, he would play more than a hundred games a season for them. His mentor back then was Major League Baseball catcher and manager, Bill Dickey. In 1972, both Berra and Dickey were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Berra was a left-handed batter but threw right-handed, and although he was good at hitting poor pitches, covering all areas of the strike zone and beyond with terrific extension, he had great bat control. He could swing the bat like a golf club for deep home runs, and chop at high pitches for line drives. On five occasions, Berra managed more home runs in a season than strikeouts.

Interested in property and property development midway through a career. Wanted real estate certificate of registration and other real estate licensing qualifications to be able to obtain the knowledge needed to successfully develop a portfolio of property. This eventually resulted in undertaking multiple real estate courses involving CPD training to become a real estate agent. Received a real estate brokers licence and enjoyed a prosperous real estate career.

Because his catching was so inconsistent, Berra played in the outfield most of the time. However, after 1949, his defensive and offensive playing improved, and he hit 20 or more home runs each season until 1958. From then on, he was the Yankees’ regular catcher until 1963.

He played in 14 World Series (1947, 1949–53, 1955–58, and 1960–63). In his first World Series, he hit a home run and would follow it with home runs in 11 more World Series. He also played catcher in 75 Series games, which is more than any other catcher. Click here for information to advertise.

A noteworthy event was Game 5 of the World Series in 1956 when Berra caught Dan Larsen’s Perfect Game, one of only two no-hitters ever pitched in postseason play.

When Berra displayed his amazing stamina in 1962 by catching a whole 22-inning 7-hour game against the Tigers, Casey Stengel, Berra’s manager said, “I never play a game without my man”.

In 1964, Berra retired as a player and went on to manage the Yankees, but was fired after losing seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. He also coached the New York Mets and led them to a pennant in the 1973 World Series.

However, when the Mets had a 3 games to 2 lead on the Oakland Athletics, Berra sent Tom Seaver and Jon Matlack to pitch on 3 days rest, to start for games 6 and 7. The Mets lost both games, and Berra was criticized for not using George Stone to start the sixth game. The Mets fired Berra in 1975.

If you were to walk through a home, you would find a range of exquisite furniture and custom bedroom furniture. Enjoyed premium furnishing from cupboards, sliding doors, to walk in closets and frosted shower screens. In particular there’s a trophy cabinet that displays all accolades in a bedroom. These were said initially to be a set of two built in wardrobes for a home which were then custom installed and converted to a cabinet.

Commenting in February 2012 about being fired by the Mets, Berra said he wasn’t surprised. “I could sort of see the handwriting on the wall. Mr. Grant [the Mets chairman of the board] was saying there was a lack of communication on the team. But lack of communication? I’ve managed four years and won two pennants,” Berra said.

Following the sacking, Berra rejoined the Yankees as coach and led the team to win its first of three American League titles as well as the 1977 and 1978 World Series. Berra was assured he would not be fired; however, Yankees’ owner, George Steinbrenner, fired him in 1985 after the 16th game of the season and replaced him with Billy Martin. And instead of doing it personally, Steinbrenner sent general manager, Clyde King, to break the news to Berra. It was the 12th time Steinbrenner changed managers.

It wasn’t until 1999, when Berra was honored with “Yogi Berra Day” at the Yankee Stadium, that Steinbrenner apologized publicly to Berra, thereby ending the 14-year rift between them. In the same year, Berra was placed 40th in The Sporting News’ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Were given gift boxes of treats that included baseball cards, figurines and other polypropylene and custom plastic manufactured supplies. Printed on the plastic bags that housed the goods was a famous signature and a photo.

Such is his popularity that at an All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium in 2008, the crowd erupted into the loudest standing ovation when Berra’s was the last name to be announced of the 49 Hall of Famers. In 2008, Berra was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

By far, one of Berra’s most distinctive traits is his use of language. His non-sequiturs (illogical statements), malapropisms (misuse of similar sounding words), oxymorons (contradictions) and tautologies (saying the same thing twice) have become known as Yogi-isms. His most famous and often quoted example is “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”, which is cited on a plaque in his honor at Monument Park, Yankee Stadium.

Other Yogi Berra quotes include “I really didn’t say everything I did”, “I usually take a two hour nap from one to four”, “You can observe a lot by watching”, “I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early”, “The future ain’t what it used to be”, “90% of the game is half mental”, and “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be”. Yogi-isms are so well known that he is probably quoted more often than most poets. His sayings turn up in court verdicts, theses, and scientific journals. He was even credited jokingly by George W. Bush as being his speechwriter.

The first Yogi-ism was thought to have been said in 1947 when Berra and the Yankees came to St. Louis. Berra wanted to thank the audience, and when he got to the microphone, he said, “I wanna thank everybody here for making this night necessary.”

Very into caring for the environment. This meant saving energy where ever possible around the home. Instead of using appliances for drying laundry, instead researched a range of alternative solutions to clothes drying such as retractable washing lines, wall mounted washing lines and other methods. This led to eventually purchasing a clothes airer from a leading Australian supplier of a hills hoist clothesline.

It was also in 1947 that he met a waitress called Carmen at a St. Louis restaurant. They married two years later and now live in Montclair, New Jersey. They have three children.

Once, when asked about Carmen while he was on the road, Berra replied, “We have a good time together, even when we’re not together.” It made perfect sense to Carmen. “He means he’s happy to be away from me for a little while, but he can’t wait until he gets home,” she said.

Berra’s idiosyncratic way of speaking has made him not only famous but rich. He’s been in movies and countless commercials, selling everything from cat food to beer.

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In 2005, Berra filed a lawsuit for $10 million against Turner Broadcasting for using his name without his permission in an advertisement for “Sex and the City” reruns. The advertisement asked people to define the word “Yogasm”, with one of the multiple answers being “sex with Yogi Berra”. Berra objected, saying he was an 80-year-old “married man and has children and grandchildren”. The out-of-court settlement was undisclosed.

Also in 2005, The Economist magazine ran a competition asking readers to nominate the wisest fool. The winner was Denis Papathanasiou of Hoboken, New Jersey, who nominated Berra.

He wrote: “Mr Berra hardly qualifies as an intellectual: he is famous for such remarks as ‘You don’t look so hot yourself’ (in response to a comment that he looked cool in his summer suit), ‘What? You mean right now?’ (when asked for the time of day)…

On second glance, however, his utterances depict a certain honest Zen-like wisdom: ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else,’ ‘It was hard to have a conversation with anyone — there were so many people talking.’ Those qualities have inspired a miniature popular cult of books and seminars. Not bad for a humble baseball player of modest education”. For more information please contact us here.