Consider the facts:

• Played on more pennant-winning teams (14) and more World Series winners (10) than any player in baseball history
   
• Won three (3) Most Valuable Player Awards (MVP)
   
• Caught three (3) no-hitters, including the only perfect game in World Series history (1956)
   
• Was the key player on the only team to win five (5) consecutive World Series, the 1949-1953 New York Yankees
   
• Was voted to seventeen (17) consecutive All-Star games from 1948 through 1961
   
• Is one of three (3) managers (along with Joe McCarthy and Tony La Russa) to win pennants in both the American League and National League

Yogi Berra is one of the most beloved men in baseball history. The son of immigrants who settled in St Louis's Italian-American "Dago Hill" neighborhood, Yogi dropped out of school in the 8th grade and refused to sign with Branch Rickey and the hometown Cardinals because of a low bonus offer. In 1942 Yogi signed instead with the mighty New York Yankees, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Author Barra digs deep into Yogi and his dangerous work off the beaches of Normandy during World War II for the US Navy and his subsequent short minor league career before being called up as a replacement for legendary Yankee catcher Bill Dickey. Many books have been written about Yogi, but none have given us such a complete portrayal of the man, the athlete, and the comedian. Speaking with former team mates, rivals, and journalists, and analyzing his career statistics and clutch hitting in the World Series, the author makes a compelling case for Yogi Berra as the greatest catcher ever, and one of the most underrated stars to ever play the game.

Did you know that Yogi Berra is the most quoted American since Abraham Lincoln and ranks with Winston Churchill as the most quoted figure of the 20th century? Here are some examples of Yogiisms:

• "It ain't over till it's over..."
• "When you come to the fork in the road, take it..."
• "You can observe a lot just by watching..."
• "Half this game is 90 per cent mental..."
• "We made too many wrong mistakes..."
• "It gets early late out there..."

As glorious autumn approaches and another World Series looms on the horizon, let us remember the original 'Mr. October' Yogi Berra and all his accomplishments. Only in America, land of opportunity, could someone like Yogi, rise to the top of his profession and be loved by millions world wide. One of the best baseball books of 2009.

Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee
By Allen Barra (W.W. Norton & Company)

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Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee

Article by Scott Acton:
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