My Dad, Yogi: A Memoir of Family and Baseball

by Dale Berra

Overview

A candid and nostalgic father-son memoir by Dale Berra, providing a unique perspective on his legendary Hall of Fame dad, the inimitable and highly quotable Yogi Berra.


Everyone knows Yogi Berra. The American icon was the backbone of the New York Yankees through ten World Series Championships, managed the National League Champion New York Mets in 1973, and had an ingenious way with words that remains an indelible part of our lexicon. But no one knew him like his family did. My Dad, Yogi is Dale Berra's chronicle of his unshakeable bond with his father, as well as an intimate portrait of one of the great sports figures of the 20th Century.


When Yogi wasn't playing or coaching, or otherwise in the public eye, he was home in the New Jersey suburbs, spending time with his beloved wife, Carmen, and his three boys, Larry, Tim, and Dale. Dale presents — as only a son could — his family's history, his parents' enduring relationship, and his dad's storied career. Throughout Dale's youth, he had a firsthand look at the Major Leagues, often by his dad's side during Yogi's years as a coach and manager. The Berra's lifelong family friends included Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford. It's no coincidence that all three Berra sons were inspired to play sports constantly, and that all three became professional athletes, following in their dad's footsteps.


Dale came up with the Pittsburgh Pirates, contributing to their 1979 championship season and emerging as one of baseball's most talented young players. After three strong seasons, Dale was traded to New York, briefly united with his dad in the Yankee dugout. But there was also an extraordinary challenge developing. Dale was implicated in a major cocaine scandal involving some of the biggest names in the sport, and his promising career was ultimately cut short by his drug problem. Yogi supported his son all along, eventually staging the intervention that would save Dale's life, and draw the entire family even closer. My Dad, Yogi is Dale's tribute to his dad — a treat for baseball fans and a poignant story for fathers and sons everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316525442
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	514,549
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Dale Berra, the son of Yogi Berra, is a former Major League Baseball infielder who played from 1977 to 1987 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Yankees, and the Houston Astros. He is one of the principles of LTD Enterprises, which maintains the brand and legacy of his Hall of Fame dad. Dale lives in New Jersey with his wife and their two daughters.

Table of Contents

Introduction: B-E-R-R-A ix

Chapter 1 The Redoubtable Mr. Berra 1

Chapter 2 Number 8 29

Chapter 3 "Carmen, Let Him Go" 61

Chapter 4 A Work in Progress 90

Chapter 5 Ten Feet Tall 111

Chapter 6 Eight Miles High 127

Chapter 7 A Bronx Jeer and a Snowstorm in Pittsburgh 146

Chapter 8 Going, Going, Gone 168

Chapter 9 Requiem for a Heavyweight 182

Chapter 10 Last of the Ninth 204

Editorial Reviews

"Dale, who had a 10-year MLB stint, reports on his father from a singularly intimate perspective....Dale Berra's memoir both illuminates baseball history and adds to Yogi's life story."—The Washington Post

"Dale Berra's My Dad, Yogi lets us in on things we may not have known. But this endearing book also confirms what we always knew: Yogi Berra, the Hall of Famer, the American treasure, was a genuinely wonderful human being."—Bob Costas

"Baseball is a game that fathers teach their sons how to play. Life lessons are a lot tougher, for that's where they have to both learn from each other. Dale Berra's honest, humorous, and touching story is an intimate look at a relationship that was at times difficult, complicated, and tense, but true to who Yogi Berra was...always loving."—Billy Crystal

"My Dad, Yogi is a beautifully depicted love story between Father and Son. Dale shares funny and unique reflections of what it was like growing up in the shadow of one of the most recognizable and beloved public figures of all time. I had such great respect for Yogi as a New York Yankee. I had tremendous adoration for Yogi as a Man. Dale captures the essence of both in this book."—Joe Torre

"Dale Berra hits it out of the park with his memoir...The youngest son has an important tale to tell of how his love of family helped him triumph, and that is a grand slam."—The New Jersey Star-Ledger

"Touching on everything from Yogi's career and personal life to his relationship with Dale, My Dad, Yogi gives an intimate look at the life of an American icon."—AskMen.com, Best Books for Father's Day

"A short, winsome memoir and biography of a winning American icon."—Library Journal

"Candid...a loving reflection on his famous father's achievements as baseball legend and family man."—New Jersey Monthly

From the Publisher

12/24/2018

In this heartfelt family memoir, Berra offers a peek into the private life of his father, the famous New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra. The author, who himself played infield for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros from 1977 to 1987, details the towering role model of his father, who played in 10 World Series championships in the 1940s and ’50s and was known for his malapropistic “Yogi-isms.” Berra recalls his father as the proud manager of the 1973 National League champion Mets, as well as for the pain he endured when he was unceremoniously dismissed as Yankees manager in 1986. While Berra praises his mother, Carmen, as a “hands-on parent” for her three children, he describes his father as “stoic, contained but full of fire inside.” Berra tells of how his own addiction to cocaine derailed his baseball career and ended his marriage in 1989; his father intervened, saying, “I want to be your dad, but if you keep doing this you’re not a Berra anymore.” In one of the book’s most memorable scenes, Berra describes the moment when Yankee owner George Steinbrenner apologized to Yogi for firing him 14 years earlier: “It’s the worst mistake I made in baseball.” Candid and touching, Berra’s love letter will resonate with fathers and sons alike. (May)

Publishers Weekly

04/01/2019

To the general public, Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (1925–2015) was an amiable author of witty malapropisms ("It ain't over 'til it's over"; "90 percent of baseball is mental; the other half is physical"). To baseball fans, he was the legendary New York Yankee and three-time American League MVP, 18-time All-Star, and 13-time World Series Champion catcher, coach, and manager. But to author Dale Berra, Yogi's son, he was "the most humble man who's ever lived," with true feelings and pain under his lovable façade. Beyond his reputation as an exceptional hitter and catcher, Yogi was a beloved celebrity. He was also Dale's inspiration for getting sober after living with a cocaine addiction amid his own career with the Yankees in the 1980s. The mix of Yogi's career and stardom, Dale's admirably frank recollections of his drug use and personal struggles, and plenty of insider baseball details will most appeal to bleacher bums and fans of father and son stories. VERDICT A short, winsome memoir and biography of a winning American icon.—Chad Comello, Morton Grove P.L., IL

Library Journal

2019-02-13

A son polishes his famous father's legend while confessing how and why he fell short of his own potential.

Nobody ever thought Dale Berra would be another Yogi, but Dale wasn't just riding his father's coattails. As he tells it, "I was the best prospect in the Pirates organization, the best minor league prospect in the country. Triple-A is filled with the best prospects, and I was better than all of them." Even more than his father, who had faced considerable resistance from his Italian immigrant father about making a living by playing a game, Dale was set on playing major league ball—and there was no Plan B. Though he made it to the majors before he was 22, he was out of baseball less than a decade later. Even if it hadn't been for the cocaine, he likely wouldn't have been good enough to fulfill the expectations of a first-round draft choice. This memoir is really two stories: First is the familiar one of the famous father as seen through the eyes of the sons who loved him. (Dale's brothers are quoted extensively, and they all loved and respected their father even if he didn't play catch with them and wasn't around much during the baseball season.) Those who want to learn about Yogi Berra will get a good introduction here, but there are better biographies, along with plenty of accounts of the Yankee championship teams of which he was such an integral part. That leaves Dale's story, and it is no more exceptional as a drug recovery story than his baseball career was. He used cocaine "because, literally, everyone was doing it," and one of his arrests cost him his first marriage. His family staged an intervention when he continued using, and he has been sober for two decades since.

The author is to be commended for straightening out his life, but his memoir is not very reflective or illuminating.

Kirkus Reviews