Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–1963, 1965), all but the last for the New York Yankees. He was an 18-time All-Star and won 10 World Series championships as a player—more than any other player in MLB history. Berra had a career batting average of .285, while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. He is one of only six players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award three times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Berra was a native of St. Louis and signed with the Yankees in 1943 before serving in the United States Navy as a gunner’s mate in the Normandy landings during World War II. He was wounded in his left hand, but declined to fill out the paperwork to receive the Purple Heart because he didn’t want his mother to get a notification telegram and worry he’d been hurt. Berra never received the medal. He made his major-league debut at age 21 in 1946 and was a mainstay in the Yankees’ lineup during the team’s championship years beginning in 1949 and continuing through 1962. Berra was a power hitter and strong defensive catcher, despite being shorter than most in the league at 5 feet 7 inches [1.70 m] tall. Berra played 18 seasons with the Yankees before retiring after the 1963 season. He spent the next year as their manager, then joined the New York Mets in 1965 as coach (and briefly a player again). Berra remained with the Mets for the next decade, serving the last four years as their manager. He returned to the Yankees in 1976, coaching them for eight seasons and managing for two, before coaching the Houston Astros. He is one of nine managers to lead both American and National League teams to the World Series. Berra appeared as a player, coach or manager in 13 of 15 World Series that New York baseball teams won from 1947 through 1981. (The Brooklyn Dodgers won the 1955 World Series and the NY Giants won the 1954 World series; Berra was neither a player, coach or manager of either team.) Overall, he played or coached in 21 World Series, 13 on the winning side. Berra caught Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. He also holds the all-time record for shutouts caught with 173.
The Yankees retired his uniform number 8 in 1972; Bill Dickey had previously worn number 8, and both catchers had that number retired by the Yankees. The club honored him with a plaque in Monument Park in 1988. Berra was named to the MLB All-Century Team in a vote by fans in 1999. For the remainder of his life, he was closely involved with the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, which he opened on the campus of Montclair State University in 1998. Berra quit school after the eighth grade. He was known for his malapropisms as well as pithy and paradoxical statements, such as “It ain’t over ’til it’s over”, while speaking to reporters. He once simultaneously denied and confirmed his reputation by stating, “I really didn’t say everything I said.
Yogi Berra Net Worth is $5 Million
Net Worth: $5 Million
Date of Birth: May 12, 1925 – Sep 22, 2015 (90 years old)
Place of Birth: The Hill
Gender: Male
Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.7 m)
Profession: Baseball player, Actor, Coach, Writer, Manager
Nationality: United States of America
What was Yogi Berra’s Net Worth?
Yogi Berra was an American professional baseball player and manager who had a net worth of $5 million. Yogi Berra played 19 seasons in the MLB and was an 18-time All-Star who won 10 World Series championships as a player, the most in MLB history. He played all but one of those years for the New York Yankees and is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in the history of baseball.
Early Life
Yogi Berra was born Lorenzo Pietro Berra in a primarily Italian neighborhood of St. Louis called The Hill. His parents were Italian immigrants Pietro and Paolina (née Longoni) Berra. Pietro was originally from Malvaglio near Milan; he arrived at Ellis Island on October 18, 1909, at the age of 23. In a 2005 interview for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Berra said, “My father came over first. He came from the old country. And he didn’t know what baseball was. He was ready to go to work. And then I had three other brothers and a sister. My brother and my mother came over later on. My two oldest brothers, they were born there—Mike and Tony. John and I and my sister Josie were born in St. Louis.”
Berra’s parents originally gave him the nickname “Lawdie”, which was derived from his mother’s difficulty pronouncing “Lawrence” or “Larry” correctly. He grew up on Elizabeth Avenue, across the street from boyhood friend and later competitor Joe Garagiola Sr. That block was also home to Jack Buck early in his Cardinals broadcasting career, and it was later renamed “Hall of Fame Place”. Berra was a Catholic, and he attended South Side Catholic, now called St. Mary’s High School, in south St. Louis with Garagiola. Berra has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
He began playing baseball in local American Legion Baseball leagues, where he learned the basics of catching while playing both outfield and infield positions. While playing in American Legion Baseball, he received the nickname “Yogi” from his friend Jack Maguire, who, after seeing a newsreel about India, said that he resembled a yogi from India whenever he sat around with arms and legs crossed waiting to bat or while looking sad after a losing game
Baseball Career
In 1942, both Yogi and his childhood friend Joe Garagiola were offered minor league contracts by the St. Louis Cardinals. The only problem was that Joe’s contract came with a $500 bonus while Yogi’s came with a $250 bonus. Yogi felt slighted and turned the contract down. He was quickly picked up by the New York Yankees who offered to match the $500 bonus that Garagiola received from the Cardinals.
Yogi played for the Norfolk Tars for a few years in the Development League before heading overseas to fight in WWII. After returning from the war, he played for the Newark Bears until he was called up to the Major Leagues in 1946. He would go on to become one of the most successful players and managers in baseball history. He was an All-Star selection 18 times while with the New York Yankees (15 of those All-Star selections occurred in consecutive years). He also won 13 World Series Championships as a player and manager (10 as a player, 3 as a manager). He is one of only six players to be named an AL MVP three times, and his Yankees’ No. 8 is retired. As a player, Berra’s peak salary was the $61,000 he received in 1961. That’s the same as around $520,000 today after adjusting for inflation.
Yogi Berra had a career batting average of .285 to go along with 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. Berra is also an honoree of Monument Park in Yankee Stadium.
Personal life
Berra married Carmen Short on January 26, 1949. They had three sons and were longtime residents of Montclair, New Jersey, until Carmen’s declining health caused them to move into a nearby assisted living facility in West Caldwell. Berra’s sons also played professional sports: Dale Berra played shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees (managed by Yogi in 1984–85), and Houston Astros; Tim Berra played pro football for the Baltimore Colts in the 1974 NFL season; and Larry Berra played for three minor league teams in the New York Mets organization. Carmen Berra died on March 6, 2014, of complications from a stroke, at age 85; the couple had recently celebrated their 65th anniversary. Following Carmen’s death, the house in Montclair was listed for sale at $888,000, a reference to Yogi’s uniform number.
Death
Berra died in his sleep at the age of 90 of natural causes in West Caldwell, New Jersey, on September 22, 2015.
The Yankees added a number “8” patch to their uniforms in honor of Berra, and the Empire State Building was lit with vertical blue and white Yankee “pinstripes” on September 23. New York City lowered all flags in the city to half-staff for a day in tribute. A moment of silence was held before the September 23 games of the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros, Mets, Nationals, Tigers, Pirates, and his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, as well as the ALPB‘s Long Island Ducks.[92] The Yogi Berra Museum held a tribute on October 4.
Berra’s funeral services were held on September 29, and were broadcast by the YES Network. His ashes were interred next to his wife Carmen at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey. Berra’s longtime friend, Joe Garagiola Sr., who lived directly across the street from Berra when they were young, died six months later on March 23, 2016. Berra’s Yankee teammate Don Larsen, who pitched the only perfect game in World Series history and was the only surviving member of the 1956 game at the time of Berra’s death, died on January 1, 2020.
Montclair Home
At the time of his death, Yogi lived in 4,500 square foot home in Montclair, New Jersey. About a year before his death, Yogi sold this home for $988,888
Yogi Berra Earnings
- New York Mets (1965-66)$30 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1963-64)$52.5 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1962-63)$57.5 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1961-62)$57.5 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1960-61)$57.5 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1959-60)$57.5 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1958-59)$60 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1957-58)$65 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1956-57)$58 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1955-56)$50 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1954-55)$40 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1953-54)$36 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1952-53)$33 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1951-52)$28.5 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1950-51)$17.5 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1949-50)$14 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1948-49)$9 Thousand
- New York Yankees (1947-48)$5.1 Thousand
- Total Earnings$728.6 Thousand
