Yogi Berra, New York Yankee

Everybody loves Yogi Berra, if not for all his dedicated years as a professional baseball player and manager, then his command of the English language and unique delivery of it. Born May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, Laurence Peter Berra grew up in an Italian neighborhood known as The Hill. He had 3 older brothers and an older sister. His original nickname was "Lawdie" due to his mother's difficulty in pronouncing Larry correctly. Interesting to note; Berra grew up in the same neighborhood as Joe Garagiola and both attended South Side Catholic School. Berra quit school after the 8th grade.

His got his famous nickname from a friend who thought Berra resembled a Hindu holy man or yogi that they had seen in the movies together. His famous and unusual nickname together with his flair for the English language earned him a special spot in the hearts of sports fans everywhere.

Yogi first played baseball in the American Legion Leagues. This is where he learned the basics playing both in the outfield and infield positions. In 1942 Yogi was turned down to play with the St Louis Cardinals in favor of his neighborhood friend Joe Garagiola. It was later revealed that the head of the St Louis ball club Branch Rickey, was leaving the organization to head up the Brooklyn Dodgers team and he wanted to sign him up for this organization. The New York Yankees beat Rickey to it when they they signed Berra up giving him a $500 signing bonus.

Due to his stint in the US Navy during WWII his baseball career was put on hold. It wasn't until 1946 that Berra was playing in the major leagues. He excelled with the Yankees and became the games best catcher. His accomplishments in baseball are numerous; he played in 14 World Series with 10 championships. He played in 75 World Series games he and was at bat 259 times with 71 hits, a.274 battling average. Yogi was a 15 time All Star, received the leagues MVP award 3 times. It should also be noted that this very capable professional player received MVP votes for 15 consecutive years never finishing below the fourth position. He was and still is loved by the professional baseball players and the fans.

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