MLB – REMEMBERING YOGI BERRA (1925-2015)
Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra died this past week at the age of 90.
Topping off at only 5’7, he is considered by some experts as the greatest MLB catcher of all time.
He was also a manager, coach, war hero, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and Yankees legend.
Here are some amazing facts about Yogi worth noting:
- Played almost his entire 19 year baseball career for the NY Yankees (1946-65);
- Appeared in 21 World Series collectively as a player, manager & coach and won 13 times;
- Led the Yankees to 5 consecutive WS as a player (1949-53);
- Played on more pennant winning teams (14) and WS winning teams (10) than any other player in the history of the game;
- Had 71 hits collectively in the WS, still a record;
- Selected for the All-Star team 18 times, appeared in 15;
- Elected to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1972;
- 1 of only 4 players to be named the Most Valuable Player of the AL 3 times (1951, 1954, and 1955);
- Received MVP votes in 15 consecutive seasons;
- 1 of only 4 catchers to ever field 1.000 for a season;
- Set record for 148 games without an error as a catcher;
- Career BA: .285;
- 5 times, he had more home runs than strikeouts in a season, striking out just 12 times in 597 at-bats in 1950;
- Led all American League catchers 8 times in games caught and in chances accepted, 6 times in double plays (a major league record), 8 times in putouts, 3 times in assists, and once in fielding percentage;
- He caught 2 no hitters by Allie Reynolds during the 1951 season;
- He caught Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the first of only two no-hitters ever thrown in postseason play;
- Hit the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history;
- First catcher to leave a finger outside his glove;
- Best season was 1956: batted .273 with 30 homers and 98 RBIs as the Yankees won the pennant & beat the Dodgers in the WS. He finished 2nd in the MVP balloting that season to Mickey Mantle, who won the Triple Crown;
- Managed both the Yankees (1964) and Mets (1973) to the WS, and is 1 of just 6 to have managed teams to pennants in both leagues;
- Batted left, threw right;
- He quit school after the 8th grade to help support his family;
- Nicknamed Yogi by a boyhood friend who thought, by the way he often sat with his legs folded under him and his arms hanging by his side, that he resembled an Indian holy man (yogi);
- At age 18, he put his baseball career on hold & joined the Navy in 1943 during World War 2;
- During WW2, he was trained as a gunner’s mate and volunteered to work on a rocket launching boat, considered a very dangerous position; he saw action and participated in the landing at Utah Beach on D-Day; he went on to serve in a 2nd assault on France for which he received a medal from the French government;
- Married 65 years to Carmen;
- Uniform Number (8) retired in 1972.
R.I.P.
Sources :
MLB Stats Page - Yogi Berra: http://m.mlb.com/player/110925/yogi-berra
BaseballReference.com - Yogi Berra: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/berrayo01.shtml
Baseball Hall of Fame: http://baseballhall.org/hof/berra-yogi
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