Yogi Berra - A Memoriam
By Kashawn Quick
(adapted from www.baseball-reference.com)
He was born May 12, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Italian immigrants. Signing with the Yankees in 1946, Berra joined a team that was recovering from losing some of its best players to World War II.
Baseball great Yogi Berra died Tuesday,September, 22, 2015 in West Caldwell New Jersey of natural causes at the age of 90. Berra was a New York baseball stalwart, playing for the Yankees for most of his career and the Mets for a single year. Then later he started coaching and managing both teams.
Berra’s father, Pietro, arrived in New York on October 18, 1909, at the age of twenty-three. He had left Robecchetto, Italy, a town about twenty-five miles south of Milan, where he was a tenant farmer. Pietro left behind Paolina Liguori, a young girl whom he planned to marry after earning enough money to pay her way to the United States.
Paolina (subsequently, Paulina) arrived on March 10, 1912, aged eighteen. Peter and Paulina married nine days later and settled in a largely Italian section of St. Louis called “The Hill.”
Their first child, Anthony, was born in 1914. The second child, Mario, was born in Malvaglio, Italy, as Paulina, pregnant and homesick, went back to her hometown in 1915 for a visit. While she was there, World War I escalated and mother and child did not return to the United States until September 3, 1919.
The Berra's had a third son, John, in 1922, and on May 12, 1925, Lorenzo Pietro came into the world. His parents’ desire to assimilate in their new homeland led them to the English translation of Lawrence Peter, which, due to their accent, they pronounced Lawdie.
As his Career was ending Yogi promoted numerous products—most famously Yoo-Hoo, the chocolate soft drink, and even had a cartoon bear named after him. The former catcher is also known for his Yogi-isms(Fans) are known worldwide. As one of the oldest and most recognizable Hall of Famers, Yogi Berra maintained a connection back to what many consider the Golden Era of baseball.
Famous Quotes:
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
You can observe a lot by just watching.
It ain't over till it's over.