Catcher, New
York Yankees
Age: 29 (May 12)
8th season
with Yankees
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’7” Weight: 185
Prior to 1954:
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. Berra received league MVP recognition in 1951 after batting .294 with 27
home runs, 88 RBIs, and a .350 on-base percentage as the Yankees made it three
straight titles. Berra had another strong season in 1952, hitting 30 home runs
with 98 RBIs, a .273 average, and a .358 OBP. 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, a .296 average, and .363 OBP, 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.
1954 Season Summary
Appeared in 151
games
C – 149, PH – 2, 3B – 1
[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 652 [10]
At Bats – 584 [6]
Runs – 88 [12]
Hits – 179 [6]
Doubles – 28 [4,
tied with Harvey Kuenn & Chico Carrasquel]
Triples – 6
[15, tied with eight others]
Home Runs – 22
[7]
RBI – 125 [2]
Bases on Balls
– 56
Int. BB – 6
[14, tied with four others]
Strikeouts – 29
Stolen Bases – 0
Caught Stealing
– 1
Average - .307
[6]
OBP - .367 [15]
Slugging Pct. -
.488 [6]
Total Bases – 285
[3, tied with Mickey Mantle]
GDP – 9
Hit by Pitches
– 4 [14, tied with six others]
Sac Hits – 1
Sac Flies – 7 [8, tied with six others]
Midseason snapshot: 2B – 14, 3B – 5, HR - 12, RBI - 65, AVG - .291, OBP - .348, SLG – .487
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) at Chi. White Sox 7/28, (in 5 AB) at Baltimore 8/1
Longest hitting
streak – 14 games
HR at home – 15
HR on road – 7
Most home runs,
game – 1 on twenty-two occasions
Multi-HR games
– 0
Most RBIs, game
– 6 at Boston 5/29
Pinch-hitting – 0 for 2 (.000)
Fielding
Chances – 788
Put Outs – 717
Assists – 63
Errors – 8
Passed Balls –
5
DP – 14
Pct. - .990
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star (Started
for AL at C)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Yogi Berra, NYY.:
230 points - 7 of 24 first place votes, 68% share
Larry Doby,
Clev.: 210 points – 5 first place votes, 63% share
Bobby Avila,
Clev.: 203 points – 5 first place votes, 60% share
Minnie Minoso,
ChiWS.: 186 points – 2 first place votes, 55% share
Bob Lemon, Clev.: 179 points – 5 first place votes, 53% share
---
Yankees went 103-51 to finish second in the AL, 8 games behind the pennant-winning Cleveland Indians, while leading the league in runs scored (805), RBIs (747), batting (.268), OBP (.348), and slugging (.408). Just 1.5 games behind the Indians at the end of July, the Yankees were unable to keep up the pace as their string of World Series titles ended at five despite posting their best record of Casey Stengel’s managerial reign.
Aftermath of 1954:
Berra 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, 108 RBIs, and a .349 OBP. 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. With the Yankees overall, 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. His son Dale was a shortstop and third baseman in the major leagues from 1977 to '87, primarily with Pittsburgh.
---
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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