MVP Profile: Yogi Berra, 1955

Catcher, New York Yankees

Age:  30 (May 12)

9^th season with Yankees

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 5’7”    Weight: 185 

Prior to 1955:

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. 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.

1955 Season Summary

Appeared in 147 games

C – 145, PH – 6

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 615 [12, tied with Jim Finigan, Gil McDougald & Minnie Minoso]

At Bats – 541 [11, tied with Billy Klaus]

Runs – 84 [12]

Hits – 147 [14]

Doubles – 20

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 27 [4, tied with Al Kaline & Norm Zauchin]

RBI – 108 [3]

Bases on Balls – 60

Int. BB – 6 [10, tied with nine others]

Strikeouts – 20

Stolen Bases – 1

Caught Stealing – 0

Average - .272

OBP - .349

Slugging Pct. - .470 [10]

Total Bases – 254 [8]

GDP – 13 [18, tied with Al Kaline, Billy Goodman & Red Wilson]

Hit by Pitches – 7 [7, tied with Sammy White]

Sac Hits – 2

Sac Flies – 5 [18, tied with nine others]

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 13, HR - 15, RBI - 62, AVG - .288, OBP - .358, SLG – .498

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Most hits, game – 3 on five occasions

Longest hitting streak – 10 games

HR at home – 20

HR on road – 7

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. Baltimore 5/22, (in 4 AB) vs. KC A’s 9/8, (in 5 AB) vs. Boston 9/16

Multi-HR games – 3

Most RBIs, game – 6 vs. KC A’s 9/8

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 4 (.250) with 2 R, 1 HR & 4 RBI

Fielding

Chances – 815

Put Outs – 748

Assists – 54

Errors – 13

Passed Balls – 3

DP – 10

Pct. - .984

Postseason Batting: 7 G (World Series vs. Brooklyn)

PA – 28, AB – 24, R – 5, H – 10, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 2, BB – 3, IBB – 0, SO – 1, SB – 0, CS – 1, AVG - .417, OBP - .500, SLG - .583, TB – 14, GDP – 0, HBP – 1, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star (Started for AL at C)

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

Yogi Berra, NYY.: 218 points - 7 of 24 first place votes, 65% share

Al Kaline, Det.: 201 points – 4 first place votes, 60% share

Al Smith, Clev.: 200 points – 7 first place votes, 60% share

Ted Williams, Bos.: 143 points – 1 first place vote, 43% share

Mickey Mantle, NYY: 113 points – 34% share

(2 first place votes for Gil McDougald, NYY who ranked 12^th &1 first place vote apiece for Ray Narleski, Clev., who ranked sixth, Hank Bauer, NYY, who ranked eighth & Vic Power, KCA, who ranked ninth)

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The Yankees went 96-58 to win the AL pennant by 3 games over the Cleveland Indians while leading the league in triples (55), home runs (175), slugging (.418), and total bases (2156). With an infusion of young talent and the combination of Berra and CF Mickey Mantle in the middle of the lineup, the Yankees were 30-13 by the end of May. They slipped a bit in June and early July as they battled the Indians and White Sox into September, regaining first place to stay thanks to an eight-game winning streak that included a three-game sweep of the Red Sox at home in the middle of the month. Lost the World Series to the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4 games to 3, with Brooklyn LHP Johnny Podres winning two games, including the climactic seventh, in which his shutout was preserved when Brooklyn LF Sandy Amoros made an outstanding catch on a line drive by Berra in the sixth inning.

Aftermath of 1955:

The highest-paid player on the Yankees in 1955 at $48,000 Berra was 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.

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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.