Yogi Berra: The Mets Years (1965-1975) Former Mets Player-Coach & Manager

After the 1963 season & a sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, Yogi Berra retired from playing baseball. He had just one at bat in that Series as he ended his Hall of Fame career. 

That October, Berra took over as manager of the A.L. New York team replacing Raph Houck. Berra was unsure if he could manage, so he turned down a two-year contract & insisted on a one-year deal. Although he got the team to the World Series, the last one they would play in for another twelve years, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Even after all his years with the organization, Berra was fired.

Across the borough in Queens, former AL New York team GM George Weiss & manager Casey Stengel were now running the Mets, National League baseball team heading into the club's fourth season. 

Casey a huge fan of Berra, once said he never played a big game without his man, that man was Berra. The Mets gave Berra a position as a player/coach. With his wife Carmen's approval, they agreed to take the job & leave the organization that had treated him wrongly in the end.

In May of 1965 Yogi Berra came out of his retirement as a player & came to bat as a pinch hitter grounding out against the Reds Sammy Ellis to end the 8th inning. 

On May 4th, he geared up & caught a complete game behind the plate as Al Jackson tossed a -1 win over the Phillies at Shea Stadium. In that game Berra singled for his first hit in two years. He made another pinch-hit appearance the next day going 0-1.

On May 9th, 1965, he caught his final game behind the plate, once again as battery mate to Al Jackson in an 8-2 loss to the Milwaukee Braves at Shea. Overall Berra went 2-9 at the plate in his Mets career, striking out three times & appearing in two games behind the plate.  

Berra remained on the Mets coaching staff, under his old manager, Casey Stengel. In late July the 75-year-old Stengle broke his hip & was unable to manage, ending his managerial career.  Yogi remained on the Mets as Wes Westrum took over the helm (1966-1967) Berra also stayed on when Salty Parker replaced Westrum in late 1967. Both times Berra was passed up as manger.

Yogi Berra's experience that he brought to the young team cannot be underestimated. He helped tutor the Mets Jerry Grote in the catcher's position, helping Grote become one of the league's best defensive backstops. His catching knowledge also helped the careers of Duffy Dyer, Ron Hodges, Chris Cannizzaro & J.C. Martin.

The Amazing Mets: In 1968, the Mets brought in the popular former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges to manage the club. Berra became the Mets first base & was there at that position in 1969 for the Amazing Mets World Series Championship season. He got along great with Hodges & the rest of the coaching staff, Rube Walker, Joe Pignatano & Eddie Yost.

Berra's storied career continued as he was now a part of the 1969 World Champion Amazing Mets, the eleventh Championship of his career.

Yogi remained as a coach with the Mets for seven seasons through Spring Training 1972, when Gil Hodges suffered a fatal heart attack after a golf outing with his coaches in Florida. The tragedy shocked the Mets organization & they were left not knowing which way to turn. The front office decided to go with the popular choice for manager & named Berra as Hodges successor.

Many people within the organization & around baseball felt it was the wrong choice. The Mets Director of Player Development Whitey Herzog should have gotten the job. Herzog had seen & tutored many of the young Mets players in the minor leagues, helping develop the 1969 World Champions as well as the soon to be 1973 NL champions.

the White Rat Trivia: Herzog aka "the White Rat" was bitter at being passed up; he soon left the organization & went on to a Hall of Fame managing career of his own. He briefly managed the Texas Rangers (1973) 138 games & California Angles (1974) for four games. Then he found success with the Kansas City Royals (1975-1979) winning three straight AL West titles. He then became a legend & Mets rival with the St. Louis Cardinals (1980-1990) winning three pennants & a World Series Championship.

For the 1972 Mets, Hodges passing was a tough one for the team to bounce back from, all in all they did well under Yogi Berra finishing 83-73 but in third place, finishing 13.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hall of Fame: In his time as Mets manager, Yogi Berra was elected into the Hall of Fame for hi playing career.

Berra & Garagiola: Yogi was born in the Italian section of St. Louis known as the Hill. He grew up across the street from baseball player/broadcaster Joe Garagiola. The two were lifelong friends. Garagiola a broadcaster for NBC as well as his work on the Tonight Show & Today Show, usually had a funny Berra story as well as often featuring Yogis in interviews.

Yoo-Hoo: During his time with the Mets, Berra continued to be a spokesperson & shareholder with the Yoo-hoo chocolate soft drink.

In 1973 after an optimistic start, everything went wrong for the Mets. Most of their regular position players had gone down on the DL at some time or another with injury. 

At the end of May they were barley at .500 with a 22-21 record. By the middle of the summer, the team was in last place & Chairman of the Board, M. Donald Grant was thinking of firing Berra. 

The newspapers jumped on board & put out a reader's poll asking who should get axed; Manger Yogi Berra? General Manager Bob Scheffing or Chairman M. Donald Grant? The Mets fans voted to keep Berra on board. Grant who was the least popular had to listen to the fans Berra's job was safe.

Yogi kept telling everyone to be patient, that a winning streak was coming, but no one seriously believed him. It was that summer Yogi made one of his famous most famous sayings whether it was quoted right or not it goes down as “It Ain't Over ’Till It’s Over”.

In the NL East no team was winning enough to run away with the divisional title. By August 15th the Mets hit rock bottom in last place but just 8.5 games behind the first place Cardinals.

During a clubhouse team meeting Mets reliever Tug McGraw who had been struggling mightily himself jumped up & yelled "You Gotta Believe". A line that some Catholic Nuns who were Met fans & a motivational speaker friend had kept telling Tug thru his struggles. The legendary rally cry was born.

Soon, the Mets players got healthy & returned to the lineup. 

They had the best pitching staff in the league, led by that years Cy Young winner Tom Seaver. went 6-1 with a 1.3 ERA in his last ten starts, 1972 Rookie of the Year, maybe Berra's favorite of all went 5-1 with a 2.93 ERA in his final nine starts.

George Stone who had cone over from Atlanta surprised everyone going 8-0 with a 2.80 ERA from July 14th to the end of the regular season. Tug McGraw became the league's best reliever, from August 22nd on he went 5-0 with 12 saves posting a 0.88 ERA. 

Yogi’s team went 20-8 in September jumping from fifth place to the top of the NL East.

Four days of Chicago rain prevented the Mets from playing for a chance to win the title. 

Finally on October 1st, 1973, on the final day of the regular season they clinched the NL Eastern division at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Mets won their second pennant finishing the year with a 82-79 record 1.5 games above the 81-81 St. Louis Cardinals.

1973 NLCS: No one gave the Mets a chance to beat the mighty Big Red Machine in a best of five NLCS. But Berra's team went on to win the Series in five games, behind the superior pitching of Seaver, Koosman, Matlack & McGraw. The offense got timely hitting & Rusty Staub provided power with two HRs in Game #3 at Shea.

Harrelson vs Rose Fight: That game featured a famous bench clearing Brawl when Pete Rose slid hard into short stop Bud Harrelson at second base with a pop-up slide on an inning ending double play. 

Harrelson told Rose what he thought of the play & Rose threw the much smaller framed shortstop to the ground. After the mele was settled the Met fans threw anything they could find onto Rose in left field. Reds manager pulled his team off the field for safety. 

Yogi led a contingent of popular Mets (including Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Rusty Staub & Cleon Jones) to the left field area where he pleaded to the fans to stop throwing thins or they would forfeit the game. Order was restored & the Mets went on to the victory.

They Mets went on to win the best of five in five games, surprising everyone as they continued to roll.

1973 World Series: It was onto the World Series where the Mets were said to have no chance against the reigning World champion Oakland A's. The A's featured future Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson & Catfish Hunter as well as sluggers Sal Bando & Gene Tenace. 

Also, in the colorful A's lineup was stolen base champion Bert Campaneris & outstanding outfielder Joe Rudi. Besides Catfish the A's had twenty game winners Vida Blue & Ken Holtzman as well.

This was the final World Series for Willie Mays who would be retiring after the Series. The Hall of Famer returned to New York in 1972 to finish his career. Mays got to play out his career in front of his New York & Bay area fans where he enjoyed his legendary baseball career.

The inspiration from greats like Berra & Mays surely went a long way helping the 1973 Mets win.

The Mets split the first two games in Oakland, with Berra being wired up with a microphone in Game #2 he made the spotlight once again. In the 12-inning epic which was the longest series game ever played at that time, umpire Augie Donatelli blew a call in the top of the 10th inning. 

Once again Bud Harrelson was in the middle of the drama, when he was called out at home attempting to score on a sac fly from Felix Millan. Catcher Ray Fosse clearly missed the tag & the umpire was out of position having fallen down on the play. As on deck batter Willie Mays pleaded from his knees & the Mets went wild arguing the call, the usually calm Berra came storming out of the dugout. Since he was wired with the mic, his dialogue made the MLB World Series highlight film.

That game also featured Oakland drama as owner Charley Finley had Mike Andrews who was charged with two errors in the 12th inning, sign a medical form that he was injured & unable to play. The A's team was outraged, even causing manager Dick Williams to resign when the series ended.

In New York, after a tough extra inning loss in Game #3, Berra's team tied the series when Rusty Staub drove in five runs in Game #4. In Game #5 Koosman & McGraw shutout Oakland as amazingly, the Mets took three games to two heading back to Oakland needing only one more win for another championship.

But Berra's managerial decisions may have been what cost the Mets the World Series as they dropped the next two games in Oakland. 

Berra's Decision May Have Cost the team the Championship: Going into Game #6 the pitching staff had a well-rested George Stone who had gone 12-2 on the season with a 2.80 ERA. Stone had only been used in relief back for one inning, finishing off the Mets extra inning Game #2 win. 

But Berra chose to go with Tom Seaver on three days' rest. Seaver pitched well but was not his usual overpowering self, giving up two runs on six hits with six K's over seven innings taking the 3-1 loss to Catfish Hunter who shut down the Mets offense. 

In the final Game #7 Berra chose to go with his young stud, Jon Matlack on four days rest after he had pitched eight innings of the Game #4 win at Shea.

In Game #7 Matlack gave up four runs in 2.2 innings including HRs to Reggie Jackson & Bert Campaneris.

Granted, Seaver & Matlack were two of the league's best pitchers, but the consensus is if Stone had started in Game Six, the two would have both been rested for a Game Seven. Also, Jerry Koosman had begged to come in relief in Game #7 when Matlack was getting hit. George Stone was brought in, but not until the Mets were down 5-1 in the 7th inning.

The Mets settled for being NL Champions. There was optimism for the seasons ahead, but things didn't work out that way,

In 1974 the reigning NL Champs could not live up to their expectations as they fell to 71-94 finishing in fifth place.

In the Summer of 1975 when the Mets were ten games back, the players started grumbling about Yogi's lack of discipline & his mediocre manager strategies. If a mental error was made or a club rule was broken, Yogi was famous for saying “next time it’s gonna cost ya”.

Looking back to Gil Hodges when he was manager, there was no warning, he fined you immediately. If it happened again, the player sat on the bench regardless of who it was.

Drama with Cleon Jones & Front Office: In an August 1975 game, Berra told long time Met Cleon Jones to replace Dave Kingman in left field. Jones had troubles of his own, as he started the season late after getting arrested during Spring Training when he was found with a naked girl in his van. 

Jones who had dropped to a .240 average, had been upset due to his lack of playing time, as the slugger Kingman who would hit 36 HRs was seeing most of the action. Jones refused to go to the position to replace Kingman in the game.

Yogi ordered him to the clubhouse & demanded an apology for his insubordination. 

Yogi, known for never enforcing any discipline, wanted respect this time. He wasn't backing off & was coming down hard on Jones.

Many of the players were shocked at the change in their manager. General Manager, M. Donald Grant tried to diffuse the situation, but Yogi held his ground & wanted Jones suspended. The organization stood behind Berra.

Sadly, the ugly situation combined with other personal issues that interfered with the team's baseball operations ended Cleon Jones' fine Mets career. Two weeks later he was released.

The Mets season got worse, although they remained over .500, they fell to 56-53 & Yogi Berra was fired in early August. He was replaced by Mets coach Roy McMillan until the end of the season.

Overall, the 1975 Mets finished third at 82-80, ten games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Yogi Berra era ended after four years; in that time, he posted a 292-296 managerial record (.497%) winning one NL pennant.

Family: In 1949 Yogi married Carmen (Short), they remained together until her passing 65 years later (2014). Together they had three sons, Tim, Larry & Dale.

Dale Berra played in the major leagues for eleven years with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1977-1984) AL New York team (1985-1986) & Houston Astros (1987). He batted a career .236 with 49 HRs & 278 RBIs.

Tim Berra played college football for the University of Massachusetts & played pro football for the Baltimore Colts in 1974. 

Yogi's eldest granddaughter Lindsay Berra is a sports journalist who keeps her grandfather's legacy going. She has worked for MLB Network, ESPN magazine, the Baseball Hall of Fame, YES & is on the Board of the Yogi Berra Museum.

Mets Honors:  In 2003 Yogi was on hand for Ralph Kiner Night & Mike Piazza Night. In 1993 Berra was on hand for the 20th anniversary of the 1973 NL Championship Team.

In 2008 he was on hand for the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium. In 2009 Yogi was there for the 40th anniversary of the Amazing Mets 1969 Mets Championship.

Inaugural Subway Series: In 1997 Berra threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the first inter league Subway Series game.

Yogi Berra Museum: In 1996, Berra received an honorary doctorate from Montclair State University. The Berra's had been long time residents of Montclair, New Jersey.  Two years later, a baseball stadium was named after him on that campus. 

In December 1998, the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center opened on the campus. The Museum loaded with memorabilia, pays tribute to Berra's career & his commitment to the education of young people. 

Books: Berra has co-written several books; The Yogi Book (I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said).

It Ain't Over till It's Over. 

When You Come to A Fork in the Road Take It- 

What Time Is It? You Mean Now.

You Can Observe a Lot by Watching.

Ten Rings: My Championship.

Quotes- Yogisms: “I it’s like déjà vu all over again" / "I didn't really say everything I said." / "You can observe a lot just by watching" / "Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical."/ "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." / "If the fans don't come out to the ballpark, you can't stop them."

When lifelong friend Joe Garagiola was coming to visit Yogi in Montclair, New Jersey the directions he got were: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”

In 1947 on Yogi Berra Appreciation Day in his hometown of St. Louis-"I want to thank you for making this day necessary."

After being told he looked cool by the wife of the Mayor of New York City: "Thanks, you don't look so hot yourself."

During the home plate line up exchange at the start of the 1973 World Series-when asked if inactive player, Manny Trillo could sit on the A's bench, Berra replied "as long as he stays there if a fight breaks out". A clever reference to the NLCS brawl between Bud Harrelson & Pete Rose.

Passing: On September 22nd, 2015, Yogi Berra passed away at the age of 90.