Happy Birthday to the late and great Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, one of the game’s greatest catchers and figures. Despite only having an eighth-grade education and being 5′ 7”, Yogi took on the challenge of playing for the Yankees in 1946 as the next Catcher.

Career Statistics:

.285 BA, 2,150 HITS, 358 HR, 1,430 RBIS, .348 OBP, 1,175 RUNS

  • 18x All-Star
  • 10x World Series 
  • 3x MVP

If I had to describe Yogi Berra in one word, I would say “Winner.” No player in baseball history has won more as a player than Yogi Berra. He played in the most significant era in Yankees history and was there for the entire time.

Despite being small, he was offensively excellent when it came to outside-the-strike-zone pitches. Yogi also was able to swing his bat like a golf club to hit low slopes and had no problem hitting high pitches for line drives. With excellent bat control, he had five seasons in which he struck out less than he homered. Along with the three MVPs, between 1950-1957, Yogi never finished lower than 4th in the MVP voting. 

Defensively, the most demanding position to play is Catcher, and it’s even harder to play when you aren’t the biggest. But he was quick, mobile, a hard thrower, and excellent at handling the pitchers; all are traits of a great catcher. Multiple times Yogi led all Catchers in Games Caught, Chances Accepted, Double Plays, Putouts, & Assists. Until age 37, Yogi had the mindset of getting behind the plate 125-plus times a year. He is one of the four catchers to ever field for 1.000 % in a season, and at 37, he caught an entire 22 Inning game.

Offensively and defensively, he is among the five greatest Catchers of all time. The most remarkable thing you can say about the playing career of Yogi Berra is that he won a World Series ring for each one of his ten fingers. After playing, he’d win three more World Series as a coach for the Mets and Yankees. While he never won a World Series as a manager, he was no scrub; he was above .500 and took the Yankees to the World Series in 1964 and the Mets in 1973. At the end of his career as a player and manager, he collected 13 rings, so I call him a “Winner.”

We all know that Yogi is one of the most notable players ever played with his signature quotes like “It ain’t over til it’s over.” Watch the documentary coming out for those who don’t know much about Yogi on and off the field.

References:

  1. Yogi Berra Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/berrayo01.shtml
  2. Yogi Berra via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra#