Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee »

Allen Barra is the best-selling author of The Last Coach: A Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant. His writing appears regularly in the Wall Street Journal, the Village Voice, Playboy, Interview, and Salon. He lives in South Orange, New Jersey.

The gripping biography of the legendary Hall-of-Famer and one of the most quotable figures in American culture.

Publishers Weekly

In the introduction to his latest effort, Barra (The Last Coach: A Life of Paul "Bear" Bryant ) says that one of his goals was to create the first comprehensive work written about Yogi Berra, the greatest ballplayer never to have had a serious biography. The result is not only comprehensive but also incredibly engaging, as Barra narrates the life of one of the most eccentric ballplayers of the 20th century. Starting with his modest Italian upbringing in St. Louis, Mo., Berra quickly took a liking to what his father called a bum's game. And after a short career in the navy, he parlayed his talents into one of the most decorated athletic careers in history, leading the New York Yankees to 10 World Series championships and winning three MVPs. Each of Berra's baseball highlights is meticulously described, as are his stints as a manager for both the Yankees and crosstown Mets, his relationships with men like Casey Stengel, Mickey Mantle and George Steinbrenner, and his ability to create some of the most famous catchphrases of our time, Yogiisms, as they're called. Barra's love of the catcher with the similar name is evident throughout this deserving biography of Yogi. (Mar.)

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Introduction Inventing Yogi Berra

Ch. 1 King of the Hill (1925-1942) 3

Ch. 2 Larry Bernt, They Call Him Yogi... (1943-1946) 25

Ch. 3 A Silly Hitter (1947) 52

Ch. 4 A Rather Strange Fellow of Very Remarkable Abilities (1948-1949) 83

Ch. 5 Mister Berra... My Assistant Manager (1950-1951) 123

Ch. 6 Residue of Design (1952-1953) 163

Ch. 7 The House That Yogi Built (1954-1956) 186

Ch. 8 The Silver Age (1957-1960) 232

Ch. 9 Manage Who? (1961-1964) 278

Ch. 10 It Ain't Over (1965-1973) 317

Ch. 11 Deja vu All Over Again (1976-1985) 346

Ch. 12 Eternal Yankee (1986- ) 360

App. A Was Yogi the Greatest? Yogi Berra, Jonny Bench, Roy Campanella, Mickey Cochrane, and Bill Dickey Compared 379

App. B Yogi Berra and the Great Minds: A Comparative Study 396

App. C Casey Interviews Yogi 400

App. D Distant Replay: Watching the 1956 Perfect Game with Yogi and Don Larsen 402

Acknowledgments 405

Notes 411

Bibliography 429

Index 437