Yogi, Jon Pessah
Yogi, Jon Pessah
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Yogi
A Life Behind the Mask

Author: Jon Pessah

Narrator: Oliver Wyman

Unabridged: 21 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/14/2020

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

Discover 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.

Reviews

"“Kid, you can do this—you’re going to be a great catcher,” Dickey keeps telling him. “Good catchers are scarce. You have a big edge on fellows who are just receivers—you can hit with anyone in the league. Now improve yourself behind the plate, and you’ll have a job for years.”" Yogi Berra listened t......more

Goodreads review by Jim on July 19, 2023

"It ain't over till it's over." Lawrence Berra (1925-2015), who became known as Yogi Berra, is perhaps best known today for his sayings, his "Yogi-isms." But as Jon Pessah shows in this definitive biography, Yogi was one of the greatest and most iconic ballplayers of all. Certainly he was one of the......more

Goodreads review by Craig on May 08, 2020

I won a copy of this biography from a Goodreads giveaway and would like to thank them and the publisher for their Herculean efforts in getting it to me in these crazy-Covid times. I find that baseball is one of the simple and casual things that I miss most, not only catching occasional Yankees games......more

Goodreads review by Steve on April 15, 2020

Lawrence Peter Berra, better known to the American public as Yogi, may be one of the most misunderstood professional athletes in all of sports. To millions, non-baseball fans and even some sporadic followers of the National Pastime, Berra is a lovable, somewhat comical figure who has uttered some of......more

Goodreads review by John on November 11, 2020

(3.5 stars) This book suffers from the weakness of many sports biographies and that is if the book just covers the subject's playing career as if it were one long sporting event, it gets boring fast. I mean, I don't care how many fans were in attendance when Yogi hit two home runs in one World Serie......more


Quotes

"If you're a lifetime baseball fan, you'd rather be watching an early-season major-league game now instead of recycled classics during this plague year. But Mr. Pessah's book is as good a proxy for baseball pleasure as you're going to find. It's a relaxed, sprawling affair-like those Yankee Stadium Sunday double-headers...This is a heart-warming narrative with a heroic protagonist who overcomes every imaginable obstacle to achieve greatness."—Edward Kosner, Wall Street Journal

"Now, when the baseball season would normally be in its early days, Jon Pessah's biography Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask arrives to help fill the void. It's a book that covers the funny quotes and the exceptional career, but also the complicated and sensitive person often obscured by the image."—John Williams, New York Times

"Pessah proves to be the only writer of baseball books who you would stand on line for hours to get copies of his work, on the day the publisher stocks store shelves."—Observer-Dispatch

"An incredible read."—Pittsburgh Post Gazette

"Better reading could hardly be found."—The Spectator

"Pessah provides a gripping account of the Yankees' postwar dynasty, but he also generates excitement for Berra's stint with the Mets, most notably the 1973 Amazin's. Where he excels is in probing the relationships in Berra's baseball career... The book also expertly situates Berra's life in historical context. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask lives up to a Herculean task, offering a fresh look at a player ubiquitous in American culture. It will fit nicely on any Yankees fan's bookshelf."—Pinstripe Alley/SB Nation

"While a number of books have been written about Yogi Berra, none are as comprehensive as this in-depth account by sportswriter Pessah ...A thorough, engaging read for Berra fans and Yankee admirers."—Library Journal

"The funny anecdotes and exciting play-by-play from baseball's golden age will keep Berra's legions of fans happy."

Publishers Weekly

"A vigorous biography of the New York Yankees legend... Yogi emerges as a man who was more thoughtful than many give him credit for...A welcome life of the Yankees icon and worthwhile reading for any baseball buff."—Kirkus

"Yogi Berra is a poster boy for the greatest generation; both a man of great character and a ... great character! His journey from "The Hill" to Normandy to Yankee hero to American icon is inspiring. Thank you Jon Pessah for making this book necessary!"—Marty Appel, Yankee historian and author of Pinstripe Empire,Munson and Casey Stengel