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

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition, First Printing. edition (March 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393062333
• ISBN-13: 978-0393062335
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #577,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 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 "Archie" (Yorba Linda, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee (Hardcover)

(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.

16 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 "Allman Brothers obsessive" (Manassas, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee (Hardcover)

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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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars St. Louis, Basball, Yankees, Yogi!, February 25, 2009

By 

James Gallen (St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee (Hardcover)

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"Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee" is an excellent biography of perhaps the greatest catcher in baseball history. It is well written and makes the point of Yogi's greatness and, yes, intelligence.

Yogi Berra was born in "The Hill", the Italian neighborhood in St. Louis. Amazingly this tightly knit neighborhood of small yards spawned, at the same time, Yogi and his friend Joe Garagiola. Their fathers had come from the same town in Italy. For a St. Louisan, the early parts of the story are filled with familiar venues and personalities. Yogi worked at Ruggeri's and Biggie's, how many times was I there? The colorful phrases associated with Yogi started with others. When he first became famous a proud Hill matron told him "You the firsta boy what comes from the Hill with a name witha ends a, e, I, o getta name in the paper and no killa somebody." He went to Saint Louis University basketball games, as I did last week, and went to many other places with which we are all familiar.

The interesting thing about Yogi's early career is that he was not signed by either the Cardinals or the Browns. The probable reason is that Joe Garagiola was a better catcher at that time. Yogi signed with the Yankee organization and worked his way up to New York. On the way up he spent time in the Navy and was aboard ship off shore on D-Day.

Yogi's era with the Yankees lasted from 1946-64. Starting in the DiMaggio era, Yogi was the mainstay who bridged the gap into the Mantle era. Although a "Berra Era" is not often thought of, that is what the 1950s were. The 50s were an era of Yankee dominance, largely because of Yogi. Although the Yankees dominated in the end, this book shows how each season was a struggle in which Yogi's contribution was crucial.

Author Allen Barra takes the reader through the highlights of season after season. He makes several good points. Besides going through Yogi's offensive milestones, Barra explains Berra's valuable contribution by handling pitchers so as to maximize their effectiveness. We often focus on the pitchers, but overlook the catchers who made them great. Yogi's unofficial role as Casey's "assistant manager" contributed to keeping the team working together to achieve the results which all remember.

Eventually Yogi had to quit as a player but, with his extensive knowledge of baseball, went on to a career as a coach and manager. His first manager's job was the Yankees in 1964, after which he was fired for losing the World Series to his home town Cardinals. He then went over to the Mets where he served as coach and manager. It was there that the famous Yogism, "It ain't over till its over" was born.

Eventually he came back to the Yankees where he tangled with George Steinbrenner and, like most who tangle with George, lost. It left Yogi with a bitter taste in his mouth, but they eventually they made up.

Barra does a good job of using Yogisms to tell his story. Many times he mentions that someone "taught him all of his experience" and observed that "you can observe a lot just by watching. The reader will learn where several of the others originated. Where was the place that "nobody goes there any more, it's too crowded? Ruggeri's!

Yogi's family, his parents, brother, wife Carmen, sons and some just friends all get their supporting roles in the story.

For any fan of Yogi Berra, The Yankees, baseball or St. Louis, this book is a great read!