Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The definitive biography of the most quotable player in baseball history: New York Yankees icon Yogi Berra, winner of thirteen World Series championships.
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is at once one of America's best-loved and least known heroes. The Yankees' Everyman to Joe DiMaggio's Royalty, he is famous for winning titles -- thirteen World Series championships -- for his leadership, and for the superlative play that put him in the Hall of Fame. And his paradoxical quotes are nothing less than national touchstones. He is the ultimate American success story: a first generation immigrant from a poor but determined family who went on to become one of the greatest players in baseball history.
Now, Jon Pessah, founding editor of ESPN the Magazine and author of The Game, will separate fact from fiction to reintroduce us to a brilliant but misunderstood ballplayer, one who became not only a hall-of-fame catcher but also a war hero and cultural icon of such enormity that his fame transcended the baseball diamond. Drawing from years of research and dozens of new interviews, Yogi promises to become the definitive portrait of a Yankees legend, as well as a necessary addition to any baseball fan's bookshelf.
Synopsis
The definitive biography of Yogi Berra, the New York Yankees icon, winner of 13 World Series championships, and the most-quoted player in baseball history
He is at once one of America's best-loved-and least known-heroes. The Yankees' Everyman to Joe DiMaggio's Royalty, Lawrence "Yogi" Berra is famous for winning titles, his leadership, and the superlative play that secured his spot in the Hall of Fame. And his paradoxical quotes are nothing less than national touchstones. He is the quintessential American success story: a first-generation immigrant from a poor but determined family who went on to become one of the greatest players in baseball history.
But Yogi was never supposed to be a major league player. That's what his immigrant father told him. That's what Branch Rickey told him, too-right to Berra's face, in fact. Even the lowly St. Louis Browns of his youth said he'd never make it in the big leagues.
Yet baseball was his lifeblood. It was the only thing he was ever good at. Heck, it was the only thing he ever thought about. Berra couldn't allow a constant stream of ridicule about his appearance, taunts about his speech, and scorn about his perceived lack of intelligence to prevent him from becoming one of the best to ever play the game-at a position requiring the very skills he was told he did not have.
These are but a few of the rich ironies of a life well lived, as author Jon Pessah reveals in this meticulously reported and superbly written biography. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews and four years of reporting, Pessah delivers a transformational portrait of how Berra handled his hard-earned success-on and off the playing field-as well as his failures; how the man who insisted he didn't say half the things he said nonetheless shaped decades of America's culture; and how Berra's humility and grace redefined what it truly means to be a star.
Overshadowed on the field by Joe DiMaggio early in his career and later by a youthful Mickey Mantle, Berra emerges as not only the best-loved Yankee but one of the most appealingly simple, innately complex, and universally admired men in all of America.
Synopsis
The definitive biography of Yogi Berra, the New York Yankees icon, winner of 10 World Series championships, and the most-quoted player in baseball history Lawrence "Yogi" Berra was never supposed to become a major league ballplayer.
That's what his immigrant father told him. That's what Branch Rickey told him, too-right to Berra's face, in fact. Even the lowly St. Louis Browns of his youth said he'd never make it in the big leagues.
Yet baseball was his lifeblood. It was the only thing he ever cared about. Heck, it was the only thing he ever thought about. Berra couldn't allow a constant stream of ridicule about his appearance, taunts about his speech, and scorn about his perceived lack of intelligence to keep him from becoming one of the best to ever play the game-at a position requiring the very skills he was told he did not have.
Drawing on more than one hundred interviews and four years of reporting, Jon Pessah delivers a transformational portrait of how Berra handled his hard-earned success-on and off the playing field-as well as his failures; how the man who insisted "I really didn't say everything I said " nonetheless shaped decades of America's culture; and how Berra's humility and grace redefined what it truly means to be a star.
Overshadowed on the field by Joe DiMaggio early in his career and later by a youthful Mickey Mantle, Berra emerges as not only the best loved Yankee but one of the most appealingly simple, innately complex, and universally admired men in all of America.