Nobody Don't Like Yogi, Program Notes

“Talking to Yogi Berra about baseball is like talking to Homer about the gods.”
–A Bartlett Giamatti, former Commissioner of Baseball and President of Yale University

Lawrence “Yogi” Berra was born on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in an Italian neighborhood called "Dago Hill". His nickname comes from a childhood friend, who saw a Hindu snake charmer in a movie, and said "That yogi walks like Berra.”

In 1942, while playing in the minor leagues, Yogi was approached by the St. Louis Cardinals’ Branch Rickey, who had recently signed another local Italian kid, Joe Garagiola for $500.  Rickey offered Yogi only $250, and was turned down. The NY Yankees thought Yogi was worth the $500, and signed him, placing him with the Norfolk Tars of the Class B Piedmont League.

In 1943 Yogi turned 18, joined the Navy, and the next year took part in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, followed by service in North Africa and Italy. After the war, he returned to baseball joining the Yankees in 1946. He became their starting catcher in 1949.  The team grabbed 5 straight American League pennants, and Yankee manager Casey Stengel dubbed Berra “the man who holds us together.”  Yogi became a 15-time All Star, winning the American League MVP three times. He played in 14 World Series and holds World Series records for most games by a catcher (63), hits (71), and times on a winning team (10) among others. One of the most notable days of Berra's playing career came when he caught Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the only no-hitter ever thrown in postseason play. Berra leaping into Larsen's arms following the 27th out is one of baseball’s most memorable images. Named the Yankees Manager in 1964, Yogi went on to win the American League pennant, but was fired after losing to the Cardinals in a seven-game series. He signed with the NY Mets (reuniting with Stengel, then the Mets Manager) and was named Mets manager, himself in 1972. In 1973, the Mets won the National League pennant. Dismissed from the Mets in 1975, Yogi returned to the Yankees as a coach. In 1984, George Steinbrenner made Yogi manager, promising him “a full chance”.  The team finished third. The next year Steinbrenner fired him 21 days and 16 games into the season, and Berra vowed never to return to Yankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner was the owner. Yogi signed on to coach the Houston Astros, and remained with them until his retirement in 1992. Yogi is one of only a few managers to have won pennants in both the American and National Leagues. He was elected the the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

Nobody Don't Like Yogi takes place in 1999 in the Yankee’s empty clubhouse.  That season, after 14 years, Berra broke his vow and (stepping in for the late Joe DiMaggio) threw out the first ball at Yankee Stadium. And Steinbrenner scheduled “Yogi Berra Day” on July 18, 1999. Brooklyn born playwright Tom Lysaght, for whom Mickey Mantle was a boyhood hero, calls the play neither biographical nor fictitious: ''I go after the truth, not the facts.'' Even so, most of the words are directly from Yogi’s mouth, so to misqote Berra: “90 percent of the play is half biography.” Lysaght (who has spent time in Peterborough as a MacDowell Colonist) began Nobody Don’t Like Yogi in 1993, and completed fifteen drafts before its world premiere at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor.  It played off Broadway at the Lambs Theatre in 2003.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of George Steinbrenner’s purchase of the New York Yankees. His reign has been among the most tumultuous in sports history. He has fired 14 managers and been suspended twice. 2008 is also the final year for “The House that Ruth built”.  Yankee Stadium, the storied ballpark that opened in 1923 and has been home to 26 World Series champions, is closing after this season.