Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees during their glory years of the 1950s-early 60s, passed away Tuesday at the age of 90.
Needless to say, Berra was one of a kind. One of the last great players of his generation as well as a “colorful character,” the media is full of stories, especially in the New York market. Here are just a few:
- Bruce Weber wrote one of the longest New York Times obituaries I can recall.
- Harvey Araton, who, like me, was a Montclair neighbor of the Berra family (although I wouldn’t claim to know Berra, having met him a couple of times at the museum that bears his name at the campus of Montclair State University), wrote this appreciation, also in the Times. Araton is author of the former best-seller Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest Gift
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- Berra was born and raised in St. Louis, so here’s a piece from the Post Dispatch website.
- Roger Angell, the venerable baseball writer for The New Yorker (and five years Berra’s senior), weighed in. As did David Sims in The Atlantic
Dave (“No Relation”) Kaplan, director of the Yogi Berra Museum, wrote several books with Berra, including:
When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom From One of Baseball’s Greatest Heroes- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All
- You Can Observe A Lot By Watching: What I’ve Learned About Teamwork From the Yankees and Life
- Ten Rings: My Championship Seasons
Other bios have been written about Berra including those from the mind of Allen Barra (included in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die
I’m sure many of these titles will jump significantly in the Amazon rankings in the days to come.
is available on Amazon.com,
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