America's First Yogi

[Guest guest]

l settled in to watch "The American Experience" last nite, one of my favorite

pbs programs. The subject was former New York Yankee immortal Joe Dimaggio,

hardly a new subject -- one of my idols as a kid. This show promised to

present a troubled, private side of Joe D, and so it did.

 

Altho he was flawless and elegant on the diamond

-- and certainly tried to appear that way off it as well -- he was revealed

to be extremely insecure, egocentric and selfish. He sabotaged both of his

marriages (including the one to Marilyn Monroe) with his obsessive jealousy,

and had no relationship with his only son or his brothers. He had millions of

fans and aquaintances but no friends. He charged exorbitant sums for

autographs and endorsements, altho he was getting old with no one to leave

his money to, and he died a lonely man.

 

"Okay" l yawned to myself, as the program ended, " ...another flawed hero."

Then, curiously, another program immediately followed, this one about Yogi

Berra, a Yankee teammate of Joe D's. Berra was never the big star, the

compelling figure Joe D was, and l only half watched the beginning of the

show. But as it went on, l increasingly became engaged and by the end, l had

tears in my eyes. l knew l'd just been blessed by meeting one of the most

genuine, humble and decent men to ever put on a baseball uniform. Not just

someone to be admired, but a man you could love.

 

A little league manager saw

the young Berra sitting cross-legged on the sidelines in the 1930's and said

he looked like an lndian yogi, thus giving birth to the nickname which he's

carried ever since. lt would be hard to find a less likely candidate. Yogi

was short, squatty, and crude in appearance. He looked and sounded more like

a mafia hit man than a spiritual adept.

Because

of his appearance and vocal articulation, people consistently dismissed and

undervalued Yogi Berra, both as a player and as a person. He was always a

secondary figure, overshadowed by more glamorous stars on the Yankee teams.

While Joe D danced in center field like a ballerina, Yogi squatted behind

home plate in anonymity, lumbering around under padding and a catcher's mask.

While Joe D escorted a bevy of beauties around New York nightspots, Yogi just

hoped to find a special girl.

 

Only as the seasons passed did he gain recognition as the

glue that subtly held the Yankee machine together. Yogi was always there when

they needed him. A fan said he could never remember Yogi striking out in the

clutch. lt was crazy: he'd swing at pitches nowhere near the plate -- and

amazingly hit them every time. A pitcher even tried bouncing the ball -- and

Yogi promptly hit it for a single and drove in a run. The umpires huddled,

trying to figure out what to call: no one had ever done that before. Photos

of the old Yankees slways show the players with their arms around a smiling

Yogi Berra. They had their pecadillos, as stars always do, but they were

united in their love for him.

 

lf you know nothing else about him, you've probably heard some of Yogi's

expressions, what became known as his malapropisms: " lt ain't over till it's

over." ... " lt's deja-vu all over again." ... " lt gets late earlier

here."

and " When you come to a fork in the road, ya gotta take it." His

malapropisms were interspersed throughout the show, and l laughed more each

time, as my heart softened. Somewhere out of Yogi's misuse of the language

emerged the koans of a master. Only this was a master without a trace of

guile or self importance. When he first got to the Yankees and a rude

reporter suggested that he was ugly, Yogi smiled sheepishly and softly

replied, " You don't hit the ball with your face."

Of

all the Yankee stars, Yogi was the one who became the best manager. Of

course, once again no one thought he would be -- they said he wasn't smart

enough. But he won, and his players loved him. His only misfortune was to

manage the Yankees under George Steinbrenner, who treated managers like sales

clerks. ln 1985 Steinbrenner, after promising Yogi he'd manage through the

season, outrageouly fired him after only 2 weeks. His son, who was on the

team, sobbed; the players were furious. But Yogi, who was never one to

complain, told them: " Don't worry ... l'll play golf tomorrow." And when

Steinbrenner finally apologized 13 years later, Yogi simply said, " lt's ok,

George, l've made mistakes too."

Unlike Joe D, Yogi's still

alive, surrounded by his wife of over 50 years, his adoring sons and

grandchildren. Although he never compained about the Steinbrenner firing, he

stayed away from Yankee Stadium for 13 years. When he returned in 1998, a

standing room only crowd wept and cheered. The most beloved Yankee of all

had come home.

 

 

jerry

[Guest guest]

On Tue, 9 May 2000 15:14:52 EDT GCWein1111 writes:

>

[snipped]

 

Thanks for the wonderful words,

Jerry. I had the privilege of

an on-the-air telephone chat

with the redoubtable Lawrence

Peter Berra during an NPR

call-in show last year, and he

was as gracious and unaffected

as ever. I thanked him for

proving to several generations

of young people that you could

be a champion even if you

weren't the strongest, fastest,

tallest, or handsomest kid on

the block. The late Casey

Stengel used to refer to Berra

as "my man," and was often

heard to say "I can't feel

right about starting a game

without my man." History will

record him -- and not Ruth,

Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, or

Maris, as wonderful as they all

were -- as the essential and

quintessential Yankee Hall Of

Famer, a true Yogi of a game he

approached with as much love

and dedication as any of his

namesakes brought to their

ancient spiritual practices.

 

 

http://come.to/realization

http://www.atman.net/realization

http://www.users.uniserve.com/~samuel/brucemrg.htm

http://www.users.uniserve.com/~samuel/brucsong.htm

 

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[Guest guest]

Thanks Jerry,

 

Rousing and inspirational! Thanks for taking the time to write this up.

I'll look to see if there's anything like this on video (there's a good

video store by my house, this sounds like the kind of bio show that might

end up on video).

 

--Greg

 

At 03:14 PM 5/9/00 EDT, GCWein1111 wrote:

>"Okay" l yawned to myself, as the program ended, " ...another flawed hero."

>Then, curiously, another program immediately followed, this one about Yogi

>Berra, a Yankee teammate of Joe D's. Berra was never the big star, the

>compelling figure Joe D was, and l only half watched the beginning of the

>show. But as it went on, l increasingly became engaged and by the end, l had

>tears in my eyes. l knew l'd just been blessed by meeting one of the most

>genuine, humble and decent men to ever put on a baseball uniform. Not just

>someone to be admired, but a man you could love.

 

....

[Guest guest]

jerry, jerry, jerry..you are quite a writer..this one deserves publication!!

Truly,

please do say you will send it to your newspaper or some inspirational type

magazine

would love to print this story..if you don't do it, I will have to..and it will

be

awkward. Uh, this is something my friend wrote..

 

Love, Gloria

 

PS. Hope you don't mind, I am already forwarding it to my sons and everyone I

know.

 

-

<GCWein1111

 

Tuesday, May 09, 2000 3:14 PM

America's First Yogi

 

snipped

[Guest guest]

l've been swamped with spring garden stuff yesterday and today and don't

have the time to be online but for a few moments. Otherwise, l'd try to

address individually those who have expressed appreciation for the story

about Yogi. For those who did respond, thank you for the feedback. lt means

so much to me to know that others were moved by the story of this simple and

wonderful man as l have been.

 

love,

jerry