Sports
YOGI Taking A Serious Look At
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: March 21, 2008
Fans of Yogi Berra should thank Carlo DeVito for making his biography necessary.
Berra's fractured language sometimes overshadowed his Hall of Fame baseball career. In "Yogi: The Life and Times of an American Original," (Triumph, $25.95), DeVito strips away the cartoon character and digs deeper into the real person. The result is a well-balanced, serious look at one of the game's all-time greats.
Berra did not get to Cooperstown because of his earthy (but generally insightful) sayings. He wielded a dangerous bat during his career, hitting 358 homers, and was one of the game's best clutch hitters. He played in 14 World Series and won 10 titles. He also managed the Yankees (1964) and Mets (1973) to the World Series before losing in seven games each time.
"He is as much a part of New York as dirty-water dogs and cheesecake," DeVito writes.
With plenty of detail and anecdotes, DeVito traces Berra's burning desire to succeed in baseball from his childhood in St. Louis. He reveals a canny businessman who was not afraid of tough negotiations in contract talks with the Yankees' front office.
While his teammates threw their money into frivolous schemes, Berra became wealthy through his involvement with Yoo-hoo chocolate drinks. He enjoyed the boom in bowling and got out before that market crashed.
Berra also was savvy enough to play off his reputation as a malapropism master, much to the dismay of the AFLAC duck.
"On the one hand, they media created a character that didn't exist; on the other, he cashed in on it," DeVito writes.
DeVito looks at Berra's signature phrases: "It ain't over till it's over," "When you get to a fork in the road, take it" and "I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary," sifts fact from fiction and puts them in their proper context.
DeVito's research is thorough and his prose, while not glittering, is workmanlike. It reflects his subject perfectly.
DINNER DISCUSSION: Authors Larry Burke, Peter Thomas Fornatale and Jim Baker wanted to pinpoint some of baseball's key changes during the last half-century, but not in a formal setting. The result is like a discussion at a baseball fan's dinner table. In "Change Up: An Oral History of 8 Key Events that Shaped Modern Baseball" (Rodale, $24.95), the authors did extensive interviews with the people involved.
The subjects are fascinating: the birth of the players' union, Jim Bouton's groundbreaking book "Ball Four," the designated hitter and Frank Robinson becoming the first black major-league manager. There are lots of opinions, and the "conversation" jumps back and forth easily.
WORTH FIGHTING FOR: With memories of the Rays-Yankees brawl still fresh, new books on fighting and baseball's "unwritten rules" are worth a read. Spike Vrusho travels the historic route in "Benchclearing: Baseball's Greatest Fights and Riots" (The Lyons Press, $16.96 paperback) with a humorous slant and puckish headlines ("Horton Serves Up a Tanana Split"). The Juan Marichal-John Roseboro fight is included, and pugilists like Leo Durocher and Ty Cobb get their due. Billy Martin merits an entire chapter.
Ross Bernstein takes a more cerebral look in "The Code: Baseball's Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct" (Triumph, $22.95). Backed by interviews with more than 50 players, managers and media, Bernstein breaks down baseball's unwritten rules. Topics include breaking up double plays with hard slides, bunting late in a game against a pitcher with a no-hitter, charging the mound and excessive celebration. It's smartly written with great insights.
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
