Yogi Berra was one of - if not the - best catchers in baseball history, with career achievements that seem impossible to reach. While the New York Yankees legend became a fixture of the pop culture zeitgeist thanks to his world-famous Yogi-isms, the fact is that he wouldn’t have even been famous if his playing on the diamond wasn’t stellar.
Baseball was much different back then. The National League and American League didn’t meet until the World Series. There was no playoffs, with the World Series contenders being the teams with the best records at the end of the regular season. Even the League Championship series wasn’t introduced until 1969, after Yogi retired.
Berra died overnight at age 90. He was a great baseball player and, more importantly, a great man. There will be many stories written today about his witty ability to sum up everything in simple terms, but let’s let his career achievements do the talking.
These stats come from the Yogi Berra Museum and Baseball-Reference.com.
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His first game
Yogi made his Yankees debut on Sept. 22, 1946 in the first game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics (now the Oakland A’s). The Yanks won 4-3 and Berra hit a home run and had another hit. He went 2-4 with two RBIs. Yogi didn’t play in the second game.
But that was about to change. In future doubleheaders, Yogi would play catcher in both games. He caught both games in 117 doubleheaders.
Durability
The catcher is one of the toughest positions in baseball, but Yogi played the position for at least 100 games in 10 seasons. Amazingly, he committed just 110 errors as a catcher, a position he played a total of 1,699 times. He also played 260 games in the outfield.
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Pinch Hitter in World Series
Despite over 40 World Series being played before Yogi made his Series debut in 1947, he was the first pinch hitter in World Series history. During the 1947 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Yogi played in six of the games and finished with two hits. The Yankees won, four games to three.
Most Games in World Series
Yogi still holds the record for most games played in the World Series, appearing in 47 series games. He played on 10 championship teams and coached on three more championship Yankees teams.
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Catching the Perfect Game
During the 1956 World Series - again against Brooklyn - Yogi caught Don Larsen’s famous perfect game, the only perfect game in Series history. The Yankees won Game 5 of the series 2-0. The team won the Series, which also went to seven games.
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MVP
From 1950 through 1957, Yogi never finished lower than fourth in MVP voting. He won three - in 1951, 1954 and 1955. That’s the second most all-time. (Barry Bonds is still No. 1 with seven MVP wins.)
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As Manager
Yogi’s career as a manager wasn’t as great as his years as a player. However, the 1964 Yankees won the AL Pennant, but lost the World Series. He also managed the 1973 Mets, who went to the Series, but lost to the Oakland A’s.
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Home Runs
In 1965, Berra finished with the most home runs for a catcher ever, with 358 homers. Today, that puts him at 84th all-time. Mike Piazza, Carlton Fisk and other did pass Yogi’s mark for most homers by a catcher though. Piazza retired with 437 homers.
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1958 fielding
Amazingly, in 1958, Yogi played 88 games as a catcher. In those games, he had zero errors, making him one of only four catchers to go a whole season without an error. Yogi played the rest of the season in the outfield and played two games at first base, committing just two eerrors in the outfield.
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All Star
Yogi was a 15-time All Star, making the midsummer classic 15 years in a row, beginning in 1948. He made his last appearance at the All Star Game in 1962.