Catcher, New
York Yankees
Age: 26 (May 12)
5th season
with Yankees
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’7” Weight: 185
Prior to 1951:
Born and raised
in St. Louis, Missouri Lawrence Berra, who dropped out of high school, starred
on his American Legion baseball team along with his neighbor Joe Garagiola.
Christened with the nickname “Yogi” as a youth, Berra was short and stocky and
had an awkward batting style. The Cardinals signed Garagiola to a contract with
a bonus and when they made an offer to Berra that didn’t include a bonus, he
turned them down. He also turned down the other St. Louis team, the Browns of
the AL. The Yankees offered a $500 bonus along with a salary of $90 per month,
so Berra signed with them in 1942. He played for the Norfolk Tars of the Class
B Piedmont League in 1943, hitting .253 in 111 games, after which he enlisted
in the Navy. Following the completion of his World War II military service,
Berra reported to the Newark Bears of the Class AAA International League in
1946 where he hit .314 with 15 home runs and 59 RBIs in 77 games. A raw talent
who was defensively limited as a catcher at this point, he received a late
September call-up to the Yankees following the completion of Newark’s season.
Appearing in seven games, Berra hit .364 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. He was
used primarily as an outfielder during spring training in 1947, where he was a
defensive liability. Splitting time between the outfield and catcher, he played
in 83 games and hit .280 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs. In the World Series against the Dodgers,
Berra was benched after getting off to an 0-for-7 start at the plate in the
first two games, but came on to hit the first pinch home run in World Series
history as he batted .158 overall. He followed up with a .305 average with 14
home runs and 98 RBIs in 1948 and was chosen to his first All-Star Game along
the way, while appearing in 125 games (71 at catcher) for the third place
Yanks. With the arrival of Casey Stengel as manager in 1949, ex-Yankee great
Bill Dickey was given the task of tutoring Berra on his technique behind the
plate. Berra hit .277 that season with 20 home runs and 91 RBIs and was again
selected as an All-Star. Much improved as a catcher, Berra had a strong year in
1950, producing 28 home runs and 124 RBIs with a .322 batting average. He
placed third in AL MVP voting in addition to garnering All-Star honors once
again.
1951 Season Summary
Appeared in 152
games
C – 141, PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 594 [20, tied with Sam Mele]
At Bats – 547 [12]
Runs – 92 [8,
tied with George Kell, Gus Zernial & Billy Goodman]
Hits – 161 [9,
tied with Eddie Yost]
Doubles – 19
Triples – 4
Home Runs – 27
[4, tied with Luke Easter & Vic Wertz]
RBI – 88 [8]
Bases on Balls
– 44
Int. BB – N/A
Strikeouts – 20
Stolen Bases – 5
Caught Stealing
– 4
Average - .294
[13]
OBP - .350
Slugging Pct. -
.492 [7]
Total Bases – 269
[4]
GDP – 16 [6,
tied with five others]
Hit by Pitches
– 3
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – N/A
Midseason
snapshot: HR - 12, RBI - 40, AVG - .302, OBP - .367
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 6 AB) at St. Louis Browns 5/5
Longest hitting
streak – 13 games
HR at home – 12
HR on road – 15
Most home runs,
game – 1 on 27 occasions
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 4 vs. St. Louis Browns 8/4, at Washington 8/15, vs. Detroit 9/14
Pinch-hitting –
0 of 1 (.000)
Fielding
Chances – 788
Put Outs – 693
Assists – 82
Errors – 13
DP – 25
Pct. - .984
Postseason
Batting: 6 G (World Series vs. NY Giants)
AB – 23, R – 4,
H – 6, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 1, SB – 0, CS –
0, AVG - .261, OBP - .320, SLG - .304, TB – 7, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF –
N/A
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star (Started
for AL at C)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Yogi Berra, NYY.:
184 pts. - 6 of 24 first place votes, 55% share
Ned Garver,
St.LB.: 157 pts. – 6 first place votes, 47% share
Allie Reynolds,
NYY.: 125 pts. – 6 first place votes, 37% share
Minnie Minoso,
Clev/Chi.WS.: 120 pts. – 1 first place vote, 36% share
Bob Feller, Clev.:
118 pts. – 35% share
(2 first place votes for Ellis Kinder, BosRS, who ranked seventh, 1 first place
vote apiece for Ferris Fain, PhilaA's., who ranked sixth, Phil Rizzuto, NYY, who
ranked 11th & Ed Lopat, NYY, who ranked 12th)
---
Yankees went 98-56
to win the AL pennant by 5 games over the Cleveland Indians while leading the
league in home runs (140) and slugging (.408). Won World Series over the New
York Giants, 4 games to 2.
Aftermath of ‘51:
Berra had
another strong season in 1952, hitting 30 home runs with 98 RBIs and a .273
average. The Yankees won their fourth straight pennant and World Series and
Berra finished fourth in the AL MVP balloting. The Yanks made it five straight
in 1953 with Berra contributing 27 home runs, 108 RBIs, and a .296 average,
placing second in the league MVP vote. The ungainly-looking Berra was a notorious
“bad-ball” hitter who rarely struck out and performed well in clutch
situations. While the Yankees lost the AL pennant to the Indians in 1954, Berra
won his second MVP award after batting .307 with 22 home runs and 125 RBIs,
also performing well behind the plate. He made it three MVP awards in 1955, as
the Yankees returned to the top of the American League and the star catcher hit
.272 with 27 home runs and 108 RBIs. He was also the highest-paid player on the
team that year at $48,000. An amiable and colorful character noted for his
malapropisms that came to be known as “Yogi-isms”, he was also referred to as
the “assistant manager” by manager Casey Stengel in recognition of his level of
baseball knowledge. Berra tied his career high with 30 home runs in 1956 and
hit .298 with 105 RBIs while finishing second to teammate Mickey Mantle in AL
MVP voting. In the World Series he caught Don Larsen’s Game 5 perfect game. He
continued to be a perennial All-Star with a team that typically topped the American
League until his retirement following the 1963 season. In later years he was
utilized more in the outfield as Elston Howard became the team’s primary
catcher. Overall with the Yankees Berra hit .285 with 2148 hits that included
321 doubles, 49 triples, and 358 home runs. He drove in 1430 runs and scored
1174, while only striking out 411 times. Thanks to the team’s success, Berra
appeared in a record 75 World Series games and produced 71 hits in 259 at bats
(also records) for a .274 average with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs. He excelled as
a fielder after his rough start behind the plate and in one stretch of 148
games handled 950 chances without an error. Berra was an 18-time All-Star and
was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. After his initial
retirement in 1963 he became manager of the Yankees in 1964 and was fired
following their World Series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He was hired by
the Mets as a player/coach in 1965 and played in just four games, hitting .222
in what proved to be his final year as a player. He remained a coach with the
Mets until being elevated to manager in 1972 after the death of Gil Hodges
during spring training. The Mets won the NL pennant in 1973 and Berra stayed on
as manager until being relieved during the ’75 season, the club having produced
an overall record of 292-296 under his guidance. He returned to the Yankees as
a coach for several years until being elevated once again to manager in 1984.
His tenure came to a bitter end 16 games into the ’85 season. Overall in two
stints with the Yankees Berra’s managerial record was 192-148. He returned to
coaching with the Houston Astros through 1989 until finally retiring from
baseball for good. An iconic and popular figure, Berra lived until 2015 when he
died at age 90 after which he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal
of Freedom by President Obama. The Yankees retired his #8 and further honored
him with a plaque in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American
leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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