Yogi Berra, Yankee Legend, 1925-2015

Sean Smith, Reporter

Yogi Berra, 90, a hall of fame baseball catcher for the Yankees died on September, 23 2015, the same day as his MLB debut 69 years ago. Berra was born on May 12, 1925. Berra is known as one of the best baseball catchers in history of the Yankees. Later on as a manager he led the New York Yankees and Mets to the World Series.

Yogi is the second most recognized nickname in baseball along with Babe Ruth, Berra’s given name is Lawrence Peter Berra. Yogi became his nickname while growing up in Saint Louis, Missouri. Berra went to a movie with future teammate Jack McGuire. One of the characters in the movie was called Yogi. McGuire started calling Berra, Yogi and from then on it stuck. Berra played on the Yankees for 17 years starting at 21 years old.

It wasn’t until 1965 that Berra was traded to play on the Mets at 40 years old. He was manager of the Yankees in 1964 and also 1984 and 1985. He also was manager of the Mets from 1972 – 1975. Berra was well known for his quotation, known as Yogiisms. One of his most popular sayings is “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Berra’s wife Carmen passed away on March 7, 2014 and they had three sons together, Tim, Larry and Dale Berra. Dale played shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tim played professional football for the Baltimore Colts in 1974. Over Yogi Berra’s baseball career he hit 358 home runs and batted in 1,430 runs with a batting average of .285. Berra was famous for batting left, but throwing right. Berra played in the most World Series than any other major league baseball player. Also, Berra was awarded American League’s Most Valuable Player in the years 1951, 1954 and 1955.

It is a loss for New York baseball fans that legend Yogi Berra passed away.