Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
“Allen Barra brings a legendary figure from the true golden age of baseball to life.”—Bob Costas
Yogi Berra is one of the most popular former athletes in American history, and the most quoted American since Abraham Lincoln. Part clown, part feisty competitor, Berra is also the winningest player (fourteen pennants, ten World Series, 3 MVPs) in baseball history. In this revelatory biography, Allen Barra presents Yogi’s remarkable life as never seen before with nearly one hundred photos and countless “Yogi-isms,” and offers hilarious insights into many of baseball’s greatest moments. From calling Don Larsen’s perfect game, to managing the 1973 “You Gotta Believe” New York Mets, Yogi’s life and career are a virtual cutaway view of our national pastime in the twentieth century.
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.