Book Review: Yogi: The Life and Times of an American Original"

Fans of Yogi Berra should thank Carlo DeVito for making his biography necessary.

Berra's fractured language sometimes overshadowed his Hall of Fame baseball career. In "Yogi: The Life and Times of an American Original," by Triumph Books, DeVito strips away the cartoon character and digs deeper into the real person. The result is a well-balanced, serious look at one of the game's all-time greats. Yogi was more than a short, squat, funny man -- he was a gifted hitter and has become a baseball ambassador in his aging years.

Berra did not get to Cooperstown because he said funny things. He wielded a dangerous bat during his career and was one of the game's best clutch hitters. He hit 358 homers and was a three-time American League MVP. He played in 14 World Series and won 10 titles. He also managed the Yankees (1964) and Mets (1973) to the World Series before losing in seven games each time.

With plenty of detail and anecdotes, DeVito traces Berra's burning desire to succeed in baseball from his childhood in St. Louis. Berra grew up in the Hill section of St. Louis and lived across the street from Joe Garagiola, who also played in the majors but made a bigger name for himself as a baseball broadcaster. DeVito shows how Berra had to fight his old-fashioned father to play baseball more regularly, and how he continually had to convince "baseball people" that he truly belonged with them.

DeVito also reveals a canny businessman who was not afraid of tough negotiations in contract talks with the Yankees' front office. Some of Berra's jousts with Yankees GM George Weiss were epic battles, and DeVito uses Berra's memory and newspaper accounts to flesh out the details.

While teammates like Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford would throw their money into frivolous schemes, Berra became wealthy through his involvement with Yoo-hoo chocolate drinks. He enjoyed the boom in bowling and got out before the market crashed.

Berra also was savvy enough to play up his acquired persona, which he played to perfect effect from the barber's chair in that AFLAC insurance company commercial. No wonder the duck was shaking his head.

DeVito looks at Berra's signature phrases: "It ain't over till it's over," "when you get to a fork in the road, take it" and "I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary," sifts fact from fiction and puts them in their proper context.

DeVito's research is thorough and his prose, while not glittering, is workmanlike. It reflects his subject perfectly.

Fans of the Yankees and Mets certainly will enjoy this book, which is a relatively quick read. Fans of baseball should enjoy it, too. Berra bridged the Yankees dynasty between Joe DiMaggio and Mantle, and his name is still magic among those who loved the game.

That certainly comes through in DeVito's work.