Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee [Hardcover]

Allen Barra (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2009

The gripping biography of the legendary Hall-of-Famer and one of the most quotable figures in American culture.

Yogi Berra is one of the most popular former athletes in American history, and the most quoted American since Abraham Lincoln. Part comedian, part feisty competitor, Berra is also the winningest player (fourteen pennants, ten World Series, three MVPs) in baseball history. In this revelatory biography, Allen Barra presents Yogi's remarkable life as never seen before, from his childhood in "Dago Hill," the Italian-American neighborhood in St. Louis, to his leading role on the 1949-53 Yankees, the only team to win five consecutive World Series, to the travails of the '64 pennant race, through his epic battles and final peace with George Steinbrenner. This biography, replete with nearly one hundred photos and countless "Yogi-isms," offers hilarious insights into many of baseball's greatest moments. From calling Don Larsen's perfect game to managing the 1973 "You Gotta Believe" New York Mets, Yogi's life and career are a virtual cutaway view of our national pastime in the twentieth century. 98 photographs

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the introduction to his latest effort, Barra (The Last Coach: A Life of Paul Bear Bryant) says that one of his goals was to create the first comprehensive work written about Yogi Berra, the greatest ballplayer never to have had a serious biography. The result is not only comprehensive but also incredibly engaging, as Barra narrates the life of one of the most eccentric ballplayers of the 20th century. Starting with his modest Italian upbringing in St. Louis, Mo., Berra quickly took a liking to what his father called a bum's game. And after a short career in the navy, he parlayed his talents into one of the most decorated athletic careers in history, leading the New York Yankees to 10 World Series championships and winning three MVPs. Each of Berra's baseball highlights is meticulously described, as are his stints as a manager for both the Yankees and crosstown Mets, his relationships with men like Casey Stengel, Mickey Mantle and George Steinbrenner, and his ability to create some of the most famous catchphrases of our time, Yogiisms, as they're called. Barra's love of the catcher with the similar name is evident throughout this deserving biography of Yogi. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Barra brings to his sporting version of the Everyman story an encyclopedic knowledge and warm understanding of the game of baseball; meticulous research into business, sociology, and history; and a fluid writing style. The rough gem in this setting is Lorenzo Pietro Berra, the most beloved Yankee and one of the greatest players of all time. Barra makes that argument forcefully as he tells the story of the boy on “Dago Hill” in St Louis who only ever wanted to play ball. We are amazed again at how young Berra was and how cannily he played. The author calls 1947–58 the Yogi Berra era (a period that produced 10 pennants and 8 World Series championships) while giving ample credit to Casey Stengel as manager and Berra’s teammates, from DiMaggio to Mantle. The chapter on Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, which Yogi caught, is worth the price of admission. No anecdote is left unchecked, and the famous koans (“It ain’t over til it’s over”) are traced, investigated, and illuminated like holy writ. From Yogi on D-Day (he was there, on the beaches) to Yogi Bear the cartoon to Yogi’s postplayer roles as manager and coach, Barra covers it all, and what we embrace throughout is a great athlete and a good guy. Baseball biography taken to a higher level. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (March 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393062333
• ISBN-13: 978-0393062335
• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and informative biography of the Yankee great! January 7, 2009

By Archie Mercer VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Yogi Berra was arguably one of the greatest catchers to ever play the game of baseball, and probably one of the most well-known names in all of sports. There have been many books written about him including a couple (Ten Rings: My Championship Seasons, Yogi: It Ain't Over: Yogi: It Ain't Over) co-authored by Yogi himself. In my opinion this biography, "Yogi Berra, Eternal Yankee" by Allan Barra may be the most comprehensive of them all. Starting from Yogi's childhood days growing up in St. Louis and moving through his stint in the Navy during World War II, his couple of years in the minor leagues, and all through his playing, coaching, and managing years in Major League Baseball, the author doesn't skimp when detailing each and every period of Yogi's life. Unfortunately this is not always a good thing as at times the writing style has the same feel of a text book. Lots of information but sometimes delivered in a dry, sterile style. I had the hardest time getting through Part I, childhood to 1947 (about 80 pages). If you can get past the occasional dryness of the text then this becomes an extremely interesting life story of the Yankee Great.

For me, what made this an enjoyable read were some of the details of Yogi's life I was unaware of. For instance, I didn't know that as a 17 year old he turned down a contract offer from Branch Rickey, then of the St. Louis Cardinals, because Rickey wouldn't give him the same signing bonus ($500) as he gave Yogi's childhood friend, Joe Garagiola. Or that Yogi was most definitely in harm's way during the Normandy Landings on D-Day. The author continues to take us in great detail through the events in Yogi's life, both on-&-off the field. From his early playing days with the championship Yankee teams of the 1950's, to his days as a manager or coach for the Yankees, Mets, and Astros, and into his self-imposed 14 year estrangement from the Yankees because of George Steinbrenner's 1985 broken promise to him.

Along with the biography the author includes four Appendixes'. Appendix A tries to answer the question whether Yogi Berra was the greatest catcher of all-time, comparing him with Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Roy Campanella, and Johnny Bench. Not sure I agree with his opinion as it's hard to compare players from the 1920's to those playing in the 1950's or 1970's. It's just not "apples-to-apples" in my humble opinion. Appendix B has a list of "Yogi-ism's" as they compare to other famous quotes. Appendix C is an interesting transcript of a short 1960 radio broadcast that has Casey Stengel interviewing Yogi. The final appendix is titled "Distant Replay: Watching the 1956 perfect game with Yogi & Don Larson." This appears to have happened in 2007 and is the first time either player had watched a complete replay of the game. It's interesting to read their comments along with others who attended the showing.

All-in-all, I would strongly recommend this to baseball fans. While the writing style is at times dry the subject never is. It's a great book about a baseball legend during an era long gone.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book About a Great Player December 29, 2008

By J. Johnson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Ted Williams was once quoted as telling a prospective biographer of Yogi Berra "If you don't write a good book about Mr. Yogi Peter Berra I will have you killed!" Alan Barra has nothing to worry about from Teddy Ballgame. His new book Yogi Berra-The Eternal Yankee, along with his excellent biography of Bear Bryant establishes him as one of the premier sports biographers in the market.

The book is lovingly written in an excellent prose style. He covers Yogi's life from childhood, dwells extensively on his Yankee career, and gives us a great picture of Yogi's post managerial career. He writes with a clear point of view-Yogi Berra is the greatest catcher in the history of the game and if you don't like it I'll prove it. He doesn't avoid Yogi's weaknesses, but he clearly shows his strengths as person, husband, player and businessman. He covers the controversies in detail and tries to draw conclusions about events such as the Copacabana incident and Jackie Robinson's steal of home in 1955. He takes time to tell stories about significant games-especially Don Larsen's perfect World Series game. He also deals with Yogi's firing by Steinbrenner and the 20 year feud that followed.

Barra touches all the basis in this excellent biography. I highly recommend it to any baseball fan and anyone who loves a well written and researched Biography

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All three sides of Yogi Berra, the great baseball player, the alleged buffoon and the solid citizen December 30, 2008

By Charles Ashbacher HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Yogi Berra is a former baseball player that has always presented two distinct personalities. There was the baseball superstar that some argue with justification was the best catcher in the history of the game. Yogi was not only a solid offensive player, he was also superb on defense and his knowledge of the opposing hitters and ability to call a game made many mediocre pitchers good to great. For years, Yankee manager Casey Stengel regularly referred to Yogi as his assistant manager.
However, the other side of Yogi was that of the clown, a man who supposedly uttered ridiculous phrases that somehow made sense and that are repeated on a regular basis. Statements like, "It gets late early out there", "Deja vu all over again" and "It ain't over till it's over" are repeated by people talking about sports to politics. This personality was even captured in a cartoon character, Yogi Bear, whose catchphrase was "Smarter than the average bear."
There is also a third side of Yogi Berra, the solid citizen that avoided the wild nightlife of other Yankees such as Billy Martin, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. While Yogi himself may not have understood business, he was smart enough to seek out those who did and as a consequence, his business activity off the field was a success. He has been married to his wife Carmen for decades and there has never been a hint that he was ever anything but a faithful and loving husband and father.
All three sides of this man are presented in roughly equal portions in this biography of one of the greatest players and Yankees of all time. Barra does an excellent job in summarizing the amazing run of the Yankees while Yogi was a player without bombarding the reader with details and statistics. Entire books have been written about single seasons of those years, so the temptation to be more specific must have been great. Barra also praises Yogi for his contributions and pushes him a little higher on the baseball recognition ladder. When Yogi first joined the Yankees Joe Dimaggio was the penultimate Yankee and his place was immediately taken by successor Mickey Mantle with Roger Maris included for a few seasons.
Yet, through all the glory years where Casey Stengel was at the helm, Yogi was consistently the most valuable player on the Yankee team. There is also a somewhat bitter streak to this story based on the actions of Yankee management. The modern follower of sports generally has no idea how poorly paid baseball players were until the seventies when the reserve clause was finally overturned. In the fifties, Yankee management was ferocious in keeping salaries down, even to the point that it was detrimental to the team. There were some seasons when the money the players received from making the World Series was nearly equal to their salary for the entire season, even for some of the stars of the team. This is an aspect of the history of baseball that is often overlooked and it was pleasing to see Barra deal with it.
Despite the caricature that he was a bit of a buffoon, Yogi Berra was a class act all through his years in and out of baseball. The way he was treated while he was a manager, both by management and his players, was atrocious and Barra also deals with that fairly and honestly. This is one of the best and most honestly accurate biographies of a sports figure ever written.