Berra, Yogi

Berra, Yogi
orig. Lawrence Peter Berra

born May 12, 1925, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.

U.S. baseball player, manager, and coach.

Berra joined the New York Yankees in 1946 and served as the team's regular catcher from 1949 until his retirement in 1963. He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1951, 1954, and 1955. He caught in more World Series games (75) than any other catcher and hit 20 or more home runs a season through 1958. He managed the Yankees in 1964 but was fired and became a coach and manager (1965–75) with the New York Mets. He returned to the Yankees as a coach (1976–82) and later manager (1983–85). He was known for idiosyncratic remarks such as "It ain't over till it's over" and "It's déjà vu all over again." The American cartoon character Yogi Bear was named for him.

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▪ American athlete
byname of  Lawrence Peter Berra  
born May 12, 1925, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
 
 American professional baseball player, manager, and coach who established records (all since broken) for catchers of his era; he held the records for most home runs hit while playing in the position of catcher (313), most consecutive errorless games (148), and most consecutive chances handled (950; a chance constitutes any play in which a player can make a put out, an assist, or an error; when a chance is “handled,” either a put out or an assist is the result).

      As a boy in the Italian district of St. Louis, Missouri, Berra played softball, baseball, soccer, football, and roller hockey. He first played organized baseball with a YMCA team and later played American Legion baseball. He batted left-handed and, like most catchers, threw right-handed (the traditional reason for right-handed catchers predominating being that because most batters are right-handed and therefore stand to the left of home plate, a left-handed catcher is blocked from throwing out base runners). In 1942 he signed a contract with the American League New York Yankees. After a season in the minor leagues, he served in the United States Navy during World War II (1943–46) and played minor league baseball again in 1946. He moved up to the New York Yankees toward the end of the 1946 season and played with them as their regular catcher through 1963. Because Berra's catching was erratic, he played mostly in the outfield until 1949. His defensive and offensive playing then improved; he hit 20 or more home runs a season through 1958. He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player, an honour seldom bestowed on catchers, in 1951, 1954, and 1955. He played in 14 World Series (1947, 1949–53, 1955–58, and 1960–63), catching in more series games (75) than any other catcher. He hit a home run in his first World Series appearance; he hit 12 World Series home runs in all.

      After retiring as a player, Berra managed the Yankees in 1964, winning the pennant and losing the World Series, and was fired. He was a coach for the New York Mets in the National League (1965–72) and then became team manager (1972–75). Thereafter he was a coach with the Yankees until 1983, when he was once again made their manager. He was fired during the 1985 season. Berra was one of the few men to manage pennant winners in both leagues, and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

      Berra was well known for amusing non sequiturs that are termed “Yogi-isms.” Examples include statements such as “It's déjà vu all over again,” “You can observe a lot by watching,” and “Baseball is 90 percent mental, the other half is physical.”

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Berra, Yogi — orig. Lawrence Peter Berra (n. 12 may. 1925, St. Louis, Mo., EE.UU.). Jugador, gerente y entrenador de béisbol estadounidense. Berra se unió a los New York Yankees en 1946 y jugó como receptor titular desde 1949 hasta su retiro, en 1963. Fue… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Yogi Berra — Lawrence Peter “ Yogi “ Berra ( 12 de mayo de 1925) en San Luis (Missouri), es un beisbolista retirado de las grandes ligas que jugó la mayor parte de su carrera con los New York Yankees, su posición primaria en el campo fue la de catcher. Fue… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Yogi Bear — a US television cartoon character created in 1958 by Hanna and Barbera. Yogi is a cheerful bear who wears a flat hat and white collar and lives in Jellystone National Park with his small bear friend Boo Boo. He is always trying to steal food. See …   Universalium

  • Yogi (disambiguation) — The word Yogi can mean either: * an advanced practitioner of Yoga (Yogi) in Eastern religions * a person who got Yogam, i.e. a blessed or gifted person, a person with knowledge, talent, ability or luck. * Yogi Berra, a baseball player, named… …   Wikipedia

  • Berra — noun United States baseball player (born 1925) • Syn: ↑Lawrence Peter Berra, ↑Yogi, ↑Yogi Berra • Instance Hypernyms: ↑ballplayer, ↑baseball player …   Useful english dictionary

  • Yogi Berra — noun United States baseball player (born 1925) • Syn: ↑Berra, ↑Lawrence Peter Berra, ↑Yogi • Instance Hypernyms: ↑ballplayer, ↑baseball player …   Useful english dictionary

  • yogi — /yoh gee/, n., pl. yogis / geez/. a person who practices yoga. Also, yogin /yoh gin/. [1610 20; < Skt yogi, nom. sing. of yogin, deriv. of yoga YOGA] * * * (as used in expressions) Berra Yogi Kanphata Yogi Maharishi Mahesh Yogi * * * …   Universalium

  • Yogi Berra — Catcher, Outfielder, Manager Geboren am: 12. Mai 1925 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Yogi — bezeichnet: jemanden, der Yoga praktiziert; wird in den westlichen Ländern meistens nur für Yoga Meister und Lehrer verwendet. Yogini ist die weibliche Form von Yogi, und bezeichnet eine weibliche Person, die Yoga ausübt. einen Praktizierenden… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Berra — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Christophe Berra (* 1985), schottischer Fußballspieler Pietro Berra (1879–1976), italienischer Komponist und Dirigent Reto Berra (* 1987), schweizerischer Eishockeytorhüter Tim Berra (* 1943), emeritierter …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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