Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra

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On 12 May 1925, a child was born in St. Louis, Mississippi. He was named Peter Lawrence Berra. Born of parents of Italian descend and with a father working in a brickyard, Berra was not inspired into sports by his parents. It was his own and his friends’ interests in baseball that led them to spend most of their time in the neighborhood sandlot. This interest in baseball eventually yielded fruits when at age 14, Berra started playing in the youth league sponsored by the American Legion. His exemplary sports career and his contribution to society especially in New Jersey will be the central theme of this paper (Academy of Achievement parag. 3).

When the manager of his youth team realized the potential of this player, he introduced him to Branch Rickey, the manager of St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately, the manager’s interest was centered on Garagiola one of Berra’s teammates. He, therefore, signed Garagiola for $500 per week and offered Berra half of that amount something that Berra refused and turned down the offer. Later, the manager came back to him after he had moved from Cardinals to Brooklyn Dodgers. He offered to give Berra the $500 per week the deal could not go through because Berra had already signed up for New York Yankees with the same amount. This marked the beginning of Berra’s long career with the Yankees and an exemplary career in baseball that would inspire many of the fans of the game (Academy of Achievement parag. 3).

As a patriotic citizen, Berra was forced to join the Army during the Second World War. This did not wane his love for the game. He continued playing for the navy team. After the war, he retired back to New York where he was assigned to the Yankees New London, Connecticut club where the manager took a keen look at the talent of the player and offered him a place in the Newark Bears of the International League. It was in that autumn of 1946 that Berra moved to the Major League where he played for New York Yankees for the next 17 seasons (Academy of Achievement parag. 3).

The Yankees then turned him into a catcher, a position which he had never played before. Though he experienced difficulties during his transition, he later came to be one of the best catchers of the era. As a hitter, he came to break most of his records during this time. That was 1946. Berra then spent his entire playing career with the Yankees winning 14 major League Titles and 10 World series. This was a performance unequaled by any other player. To this moment, Berra holds several records both in the World Series and the Major Series. He holds the World Series’ record of many games played by a catcher. In addition to this, he holds the records of most times at-bat, most hits, and finally most doubles. At some point, Berra played for a record 148 games without an era as a catcher. In 1951, 1954, and 1955, Berra was voted the most valuable player (Academy of Achievement parag. 3).

After his last season with the New York Yankees in 1962, Berra moved to the New York Mets where he joined as a coach-player before ascending to the position of a manager in 1972. It is this same year that he was elected into the baseball hall of fame. Among his achievements is the catapulting of Mets from the last position to claim the national league championship. Yogi then returned to coach the team in 1976 and later managed the team in 1984 and 1985. Finally, Yogi coached the Houston Astros team from 1986 until he retired in 1992 (Academy of Achievement parag. 3).

Berra’s Exemplary Contributions

The New Jersey State University is one of the Institutions that recognized Berra’s exemplary performance and as a result, named their stadium after the player. In addition to this, a museum and an educational center were also enacted to carry on the legend so that the great spirit that catapulted Yogi from a seemingly triple-A player into a record breaking World series player does not fade (Thomas parag. 5).

What are the major characteristics of Yogi that have made him an icon in not only the realms of baseball but also in other academic fields? It remains indisputable that the contributions of Yogi are great in inspiration of young talent to achieve heights (Thomas parag. 6). One of the most pronounced efforts of the legend was his devotion to children. As known, children are the foundation of the future of any community. Therefore, the effort that Yogi put in place to promote diversity and innovation was the core inspiration of the formation of the Yogi museum and learning center. This is a center whose main objective is to promote the importance of education and sports. It is expected to teach on the role of sports in the general wellbeing of the society.

Another thing that is to be taught in this institution is the positive attributes of the Yankees legend that had to go against the current and emerge a legend that goes ahead to break several records in the World Series and the major league. According to Dillard (parag. 5), the major objective of the learning institution was to do several educative programs and conferences to “enhance public awareness of sports and its role in the society.” This is to be achieved through the enhancing the characteristics of Berra’s life into the lives of the young at heart and up coming talent.

The institute therefore instills the qualities of the life of Berra into the young minds of New Jersey through programs like learning sportsmanship. In this cause, the young talents are taught the qualities of a real sportsman. This is inspired by Yogi’s qualities. According to Dominick (parag. 4), the strongest weapons that Yogi used to overcome his foes was the abundance of power to overcome the commends by the media to come up and play with power, retaliation, bravery, strength, and sportsmanship to come out as one of the greatest baseball players ever breaking several records in the long run.

There are other lessons taught by the institutions that help to build social; justice and the lives of sports heroes (Dillard parag. 3). Among them are:

Learning sportsmanship
Yogi Berra and life long lessons taught by sports
History and heroes
Baseball and social justice
Peer leadership
What the world’s greatest athletes can teach you
Sports medicine and nutrition
How the media works
Career in sports

The Yogi Berra Stadium is another implication of Yogi’s impact on the lives of New Jersey. In the good name of the legend, the stadium was named (Thomas parag 5). This is important because it offers the chance to the University students of New Jersey to exercise their talents and cultivate a culture of sportsmanship. This gives the students the opportunity to work out their talents and have a belief in success just like Yogi did. In addition to being a facility for the University students, the stadium is also home ground for teams like New Jersey Jackals and Red Hawks of MSU. The use of this name can also provide motivation to the young and coming players to know that one can succeed even when other people, media included are pessimistic about one’s performance.

Yogi had a strong influence on New Jersey people from his quotations that were refered to as Yogi-SMS (Rinkworks parag. 2). Although some people find them as senseless phrases that carry no meaning, the small phrases according to people who can analyze them mean a lot in terms of Yogi’s characters. The phrases show that yogi is a determined person who is ready to take life from whatever angle it comes. This is clearly evidenced from his perseverance under different circumstances to come up as a triumphant record-breaking sportsperson. Although the media tries to belittle him, he comes out as a strong person who can overlook the insinuations of the media as trivial and concentrate on the important issues of the game. Among the most popular of his quotations are, “It ain’t over till its over,” “ If you see a folk in the road, take it,” “ Never answer an anonymous letter,” “ I didn’t really say everything I said,” “ You can observe a lot by watching,” these quotations serve as strength bestowing lines that assist people to rise up in times of hardships.

Yogi Berra’s life has contributed to the creation of a program that is aimed at creating future stars through mentoring programs (Dominick parag 4). Yogi is among the stars who serve as role models for a younger generation of upcoming children. By becoming one of the role models, Yogi can therefore be a positive influence because most of the children will be given a chance to emulate and thus develop positive attitudes like perseverance and sportsmanship. In this program called The My Hero Project, children are given chance to choose sports heroes whose characters and success they try to emulate. This helps in bringing up a generation of people who appreciate the role of sports in society and also teach children a positive way of life amidst turmoil.

Yogi can also serve as an important role model to other sportsmen. Yogi has shown that a sportsperson is not just a hooligan who cannot be devoted to his state and country requirements. He proves that a sportsperson is just like any other citizen who can serve the nation and still come up and continue as a successful player (Academy of Achievement parag. 9). Yogi proved this when he joined the Army and served with devotion including being a participant in the D-Day landing in Normandy. He does not forget about his career in sports. He continues to play in the army even during service. This shows that he could still juggle between other needs but maintain his super performance in sports. This serves as a teaching factor for both parents and students who might think that one cannot juggle between education and sports. Yogi proves that it is possible to serve two masters and still excel.

Yogi is therefore a very important source of inspiration to the people of America and all other lovers of sports due to his exemplary performance. Through his qualities in the sports world, he inspired the formation of a learning center that is named after him to help instill positive thinking in young and promising youth. He has also shown that a low-rated player according to the eyes of others can still prove the critiques wrong by performing above the expectations. Yogi will therefore remain a strong role model through whom a generation of younger people can appreciate the role of sports in life and work hard to excel in whatever they do without concentrating on the negative aspects of the environments through which they operate.

References

Academy of Achievement. “Philosopher of the Diamond.” 2009. Web.

Dillard, David. “Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.” Temple University. 2009. Web.

Dominick. “Sports Hero: Lawrence Peter.” The My Hero Project. 2009. Web.

Jable, Thomas. “Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center.” William Paterson University. Journal of Sport History. 30:2 (2003). Web.

Rinkworks. “ Yogi Berra Quotes.” 2009. Web.

The Bushback.com. “Yogi Berra’s Quirky Sense of Humor.” 2009. Web.

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Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra

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