1961 Profile: Elston Howard

1961 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

"Now considered a quality catcher by all in the league. Powerful and knowledgeable, Howard was used mostly in the outfield until last year. He has also filled in at first base.

After taking the most-valuable award as a catcher in the International League in 1954, Howard became the first Yankee Negro player in '55 and hit .290. He smashed .314 in '58 when he was named the most-valuable Series performer.

Born in St. Louis, Howard prepped in the minors for three seasons."

-Don Schiffer, The Major League Baseball Handbook 1961

EASY DOES IT FOR ELLIE

Yanks' Howard Has Lost Temper Only Once In Six Years

"One day last summer Nellie Fox executed a hook slide as he came charging into home plate. Elston Howard, who was catching for the Yankees, stabbed the ball at the little White Sox infielder. 'Safe!' cried Umpire Hank Soar.

Whereupon Ellie Howard started to argue with Soar, and Casey Stengel came running from the bench and quite a noisy scene took place. Later, during a press conference, Casey explained: 'I couldn't see the play from the dugout but I ran out there just the same. When Howard argues, he must be right.'

Six months later Ellie sat in the playroom of his home in Teaneck, New Jersey. 'The funny thing about that argument was I thought I was right but I wasn't. A picture in the papers the next day showed that Fox had slid under the ball. When I showed it to Casey he said, 'Pictures don't tell the truth all the time.' But that one did.'

Ellie will begin his seventh season as a Yankee in April. He has been in five World Series. He has caught and played the outfield and first base. Except for the Fox incident, he has never lost his temper, and he has plenty of reasons for losing his temper. This year he will succeed Yogi Berra as the No. 1 catcher of the Yankees, what with Yogi moving into the outfield, final recognition of Ellie's value to the American League champions.

Most catchers chatter away to batters and try to help the plate umpire call strikes and balls. 'I don't believe in getting the umpire's dander up,' Ellie says. 'When he calls a ball on a close one I say, 'That was a pretty good pitch, wasn't it?' More often than not he says, 'Yes, Ellie, that was a pretty good pitch.' It's my way of making him wonder whether he called it right, and on the next close one he'll look sharper.'

Ellie's relationship with Yankee hurlers is equally harmonious. In the back of his head is a picture of their physical and mental characteristics. He tells them: 'You and I are both trying to do the same thing. We're thinking about how to get rid of the batter. Two heads are better than one. I give you the signs, but they're just my opinion of what you ought to throw. If you've got a different idea, shake me off.'

'No one shakes me off much,' says Howard. 'I get to know what they're thinking and what they likely to throw in any given situation.'

Ellie can reel off a thumbnail sketch of any battery-mate with the ease of a trained observer of human nature. 'Whitey Ford is the smartest pitcher in baseball,' he says. 'His brain is working from the moment he walks through the clubhouse door. He's made a scientific study of pitching and, what's more, he can put his own ideas into effect.

'Whitey uses seven different kinds of pitches. He has a fast ball, a change-up curve, a regular curve that breaks down into a sharp curve or into a slower one. He also has a sinker and a slider.'

Ellie denies that, as charged by some, Bob Turley is a worrier. 'Bob's arm troubled him last year but he still won nine games and lost only three. Bob is a smart pitcher who is always trying to improve himself. He knew he couldn't get by with speed alone and has never stopped trying to master the curve ball at various speeds. Not many pitchers would change the style of their deliveries in the middle of their careers. Bob did when he used the no-windup delivery. His real trouble is control. If he had Early Wynn's control he'd be as big a winner as Early.

'Bill Stafford is going to be one of the most successful pitchers of the next ten years or more. Stafford has remarkable control for a young fellow. He acts like a veteran out there on the mound; you'd think he'd been in the majors for 15 years and knew every batter in the league. He has a good fast ball, a slider, a sinker and a change-up. That boy is going to make his mark- nothing can stop him.

'Art Ditmar has the liveliest arm on the club if not in the league. But Art gets upset when things go wrong. He gets mad at himself when a batter makes a single on one of his best pitches. Well, Art won 15 games last year, which ought to satisfy anyone, but it doesn't satisfy Art. He had bad luck in the opening game of the Series with the Pirates. Balls went between our infielders that could have been double-play balls. Bad bounces occurred because the infield's surface was hard. But Art blamed everything on himself. It's just a matter of disposition with him. If he'd take it easier he'd be tops as a right-hander in any league any time.

'The only trouble with Ryne Duren is that he doesn't get enough work to suit himself, and he doesn't get enough work. What I mean is that Ryne could work in regular rotation if he hadn't fallen into the bullpen job. Most people think Ryne just fires away without knowing where the ball is going. He has a good sinker and would have more control if he could work more.'

Ellie himself wants to work in every game of every season. Last year he chased Bill Tuttle of the A's in a rundown. He stepped on Tuttle's heel and fell on his left hand, damaging ligaments. 'I couldn't hold by bat properly. It looked as if I was due to sit it out. But Casey said, 'Forget about hitting. Go in there on defense.' It was the best news I ever heard. Of course, it didn't do my batting average any good, but a player needs work every day if he's to keep in shape for the long grind.'

Catching is Ellie's business. 'I feel comfortable behind the bat. I can play the outfield. I've played it on and off since my high school days. But I'm less easy-minded about outfielding. It isn't just standing around until a ball comes your way. It's ball-hawking, and handling ground balls, and knowing angles, and running and throwing. And each of these details has to be mastered. Catching comes naturally to me. I know the answers before the questions are asked. A catcher gets hurt more than an outfielder, but I feel safer at the plate.'

Yet Ellie is a better than average outfielder. 'No, I've never had any trouble finding balls in left field at Yankee Stadium. The shadows are bad there in the fall. If an outfielder gets gummed up out there it's because he doesn't know how to flip down his sunglasses quick enough.

'I don't say that was Norm Siebern's trouble in the 1958 World Series when he lost fly balls in the sun, but it could have been. Siebern's nerves got shot. He cried like a baby because he lost that game. He let it get to him, which isn't the professional way. A pro must take things easy, good or bad. Norm was still having fielding trouble last year in Kanas City.'

Calm, thoughtful Ellie has given consideration to his own problem of utilizing his power to produce more hits, homers and RBI's. 'I might have made more homers in the past if had pulled the ball all the time. However, Casey wanted me to hit to right field on hit-and-run plays, which cut down my chances to go for the long ball to left, although I have made several homers to right. I use a 36x35 bat for the placed hit and a lighter 35x33 bat for pulling, as it can get around in front of the ball more easily.'

Elston enjoys one distinction which cannot be recorded statistically and, oddly enough, is seldom mentioned in print. He was the first Negro member of the New York Yankees. And it is to his credit as well as the Yankees' that his integration was accomplished with a minimum of incidents.

To put the story of his private life in its proper perspective it is best to start at the beginning. He was born in St. Louis on February 23, 1929, seven months before the stock market crash which heralded the Great Depression.

'I wasn't aware that my father was Travis Howard, principal of a high school in New Madrid, Missouri, until I was four or five years old. My mother and father were separated when I was a baby, and my mother married Wayman Hill, who works as a welder in St. Louis now. I am my mother's only child. My stepfather has been like a real father to me.

'I grew up big and strong and played a lot of softball as a kid. The ball kept growing from 12 to 15 to 18 ounces and I was always the big hitter.

'I lived in an all-Negro neighborhood and attended Vashon High, an all-Negro school. I went out for all the organized sports: baseball, football, basketball and track- and made all the teams.'

He caught passes as an end on the grid team, and tipped two-pointers into the basket on the court, and threw the shot-put and discus on the track team, breaking the local record for the shot-put at 41 feet. But it was in baseball that he excelled.

'I was all-state in football, basketball and baseball. I hit over .500 for the school team. Colleges all over the country were offering me scholarships. Big league scouts were following me around- I could have signed with the Dodgers.'

The year was 1947. Jackie Robinson was already the first Negro in big league baseball, but the color line had not been breached on clubs other than the Dodgers. 'Jackie had played on the Kansas City Monarchs before signing with the Dodgers, so I accepted a Monarch offer and forgot about my plans to take a pre-medical course in college and to become a physician. We had some pretty good players on the Monarchs.' Among there were Ernie Banks, Gene Baker, Hank Thompson, Bob Thurman and Willard Brown.

By 1949 the Yankees were seriously scouting for Negro players. 'Johnny Neun and Tom Greenwade watched me in Monarch games for quite a while. They made a deal with the Monarchs for my contract, and the Yanks gave me a $2,500 bonus.

'At Muskegon in the Central League in 1950 I played nothing but the outfield and hit .283,' Ellie says. 'I was supposed to be with Binghamton in the Eastern League the next year, but I was drafted by the Army and put into the Special Services Corps playing baseball. I was at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin and then was sent to Japan, and it was 1953 before I got back to the diamond in the U.S.'

Ellie went back to Kansas City, home of the Monarchs, as a member of the Kansas City Blues of the American Association, then a Yankee farm team. 'The Yankees decided I was better at catching than in the outfield,' he relates. 'To tell the truth, they had too many catchers, among them Hal Smith, Lou Berberet, Gus Triandos and Cal Neeman, all of whom have made good in the majors.'

At Kansas City, Ellie batted .286 with ten homers and 70 RBI's, but the surplus catching situation resulted in his being farmed out to the independently-owned Toronto team of the International League in 1954. As the Leaf's No. 1 catcher and part-time gardener he was a sensation, batting .330, with 22 homers and 109 RBI's, not to mention 16 triples, a specialty Ellie still stars in. This display made it impossible for the Yanks to keep him longer in the minors. He was quietly eased onto the roster that winter and reported to St. Petersburg in March, 1955.

'From the start the Yankee front office and players accepted me as just a ball player, trying to make good. Bill Dickey was my coach. Bill hails from Arkansas, where there's been so much trouble about desegregating the schools. Well, Bill worked with me, taught me more about catching than I could learn in five years myself. Phil Rizzuto became my pal. We'd have dinner together, go to the movies. I still see Phil, who still broadcasts for the same brewery that I do promotional work for in the winter.

'I heard the usual name-calling from opposing players and fans. I paid no attention to it. In New Orleans we were playing an exhibition game. I was in left field where the white bleachers were located. A bottle flew by my head. I heard threats. Well, Casey moved me to right field where Negro fans were segregated. I finished the game. What's more, I beat the New Orleans club with a long hit.

'In Kansas City, Chicago and Baltimore I couldn't room with my teammates at hotels. I didn't like it. Neither did my teammates. The hotels gave in to pressure. We all stay in the same hotels now, everywhere in the big leagues. Baseball has given the nation a fine example of how desegregation can be accomplished. Just go ahead and desegregate. Time will pass- in the case of baseball, about ten years. And the problem solves itself.'

Ellie enjoys a pleasant relationship with the Yankees and the results have been equally pleasant to both parties. He adds stability and power to the lineup; his rewards are many. Among them is the blue station wagon before his modern home in Teaneck; his association with a brewery, which he hopes to continue in future years; and, of course, his sizable salary [sic] and World Series shares.

On a winter's day four-year-old Cheryl Howard is playing in the snow on the front lawn, and six-year-old Elston, Jr., is sledding in the back. Mrs. Arlene Howard, the pretty girl who lived on the same street, attended the same schools and married Ellie in 1954, is preparing lunch for the baby.

Down the steps from the living room is Ellie's clubroom and, on a lower level, his tastefully furnished game room, trophy-room and fun-room which Ellie built for himself. There he proudly shows visitors his cups, plaques, mementos and the rack of guns he uses when he goes bird-hunting in south Jersey.

He has no doubts about the Yankees' future or his own. 'We've got the same team that won the pennant last year and almost took the Series,' he says. 'There's no reason why we can't take 'em both next year. Of course, there never was a manager like Casey Stengel, but Ralph Houk is young, he has ideas, he knows us and we know and respect him.'

Elston Howard's Yankee career began with a five-for-five day against Willard Nixon, then known as the 'Yankee-killer.' He hit a home run in his first time at bat in a World Series game; the pitcher was the redoubtable Don Newcombe of the Dodgers.

'I was a little nervous both times, before the game,' Elston says. 'But I just tried and it came out all right.' "

-Charles Dexter (Baseball Digest, March 1961)

1960

April 24: Five RBIs on home run, two triples in rout of Orioles.

May 4: Beats Tigers, 4-2, with two-run homer in 6th.

May 15: Beats Nats, 4-2, with four RBIs on triple and sacrifice fly.

May 23: Beats A's, 4-3, with sacrifice fly in 9th.

June 11: Beats Indians with two-run pinch homer.

July 6: Added to American League All-Star squad.

August 18: Gets three hits in 11-7 win over Bosox.

August 27: Three RBIs on two singles in 7-4 win over Indians.

September 28: Injures middle finger of right hand but recovers in time for World Series.

Comment: "Below standard at bat, but still dangerous at the plate and slick behind it."

-Joe Sheehan, Dell Sports Magazine Baseball, April 1961

"Elston Howard thinks this will be HIS year! Bugged by injuries last season, the fine receiver hopes to stay healthy and finally hold on to that elusive first-string catching job. Of course, Ellie's great value to the Yankees lies partially in his versatility. He can play first base, and quite adequately, and he can do a first-rate job in the outfield (remember the 1958 World Series?). But Howard would like to catch and be in the lineup regularly. He also hopes to 'up' his 1960 offensive figures ... batting average, homers, RBIs.

Now that Howard has emerged as a regular, he is full of confidence and hope, hope for himself and a good '61 season and hope for another Yankee pennant."

-The New York Yankees Official 1961 Yearbook

Elston Gene Howard (C)     #32

Born February 23, 1929, in St. Louis, Missouri, resides in Teaneck, N.J. Height: 6-2, weight: 200. Bats right, throws right. 

Married and father of two daughters, Cheryl Lyn (3) and Karen (2), and one son, Elston Jr. (5).

-The New York Yankees Official 1961 Yearbook

"Thirty-two-year-old Elston Howard will probably be the Yankees' No. 1 catcher this season. Don't be surprised, however, to see him in the outfield or on first base when the need arises.

A native of St. Louis, Howard is one of the many Yankees who make their year around home in New Jersey. Ellie, with his wife and three youngsters, resides in Teaneck.

The 6'2" righty broke into Organized Ball with Muskegon of the Central League and batted .283. After a two-year hitch in the Army, he spent one season with Kansas City of the American Association.

The Yankees loaned Howard to Toronto of the International League for the 1954 season and he was the oldest minor league's Most Valuable Player. With the Maple Leafs his batting average was .330 and he had 21 doubles, 16 triples (tops in the circuit), 22 homers and 109 RBIs.

Elston became the first Negro to play for the Yankees when he made the Bombers in 1955. As a rookie he batted .290 and slammed out 10 homers. Casey Stengel, the master strategist, used Howard in the outfield and at first base as well as behind the plate. And he has done the job wherever he has played. His throwing arm is one of the most respected in the American League.

In 1958, Howard batted .314, his major league high to date. He smacked 18 homers in 1959 for his high in that department and also was credited with 73 runs driven in.

Ellie stole three bases in as many tries last season and led the team with three sacrifice flies. A jammed left hand, in July, and a late-season dislocated finger were partially responsible for his batting last summer.

In the World Series, he was going at a .462 clip when a pitch by Bob Friend broke a bone in his right hand. The wounds have healed and Elston is rarin' to go this season."

-New York Yankees 1961 Yearbook (Jay Publishing Co.)

"Elston Howard was beset by injuries during the 1960 season, which played havoc with his batting average. The 31-year-old Howard's great value to the Yankees lies partially in his versatility. He can play first base quite, and quite adequately, and can do a first-rate job in the outfield (remember the 1958 World Series?). But he likes to catch and be in the lineup regularly.

The 6-2, 200-pound righthander has been in five World Series with the Yankees. He broke into pro ball in 1950 with Muskegon and came up to the Yanks in 1955. He batted .314 in 1958.

Elston and his wife live in Teaneck, New Jersey, with their two girls and a boy."

-1961 World Series Official Souvenir Program

1961 Profile: Yogi Berra

1961 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

YOGI GIVES BATTERS 'SYMPATHETIC' PAINS

He Bends Their Ears- And Averts Their Minds- With Soft Talk

"Casey Stengel was gabbing about Yogi Berra. Somebody had asked Casey if the great Yankee catcher talked to opposing batters.

'Talk to 'em,' rumbled Stengel, 'I'll say he does. And when you find what he says to 'em you appreciate again just how smart this fellow is.

'He'll say to one guy, 'Does that so-and-so manager of yours still make you take that three-and-one pitch?' The guy grunts and says yes. Yogi says, 'That's not fair in my book: he ought you let make up your own mind, a good hitter like you.' The batter grumbles some more and the first thing you know the third strike's gone by or he's popped out.

'The next guy comes up and Yogi says, 'I hear you been having trouble with the front office. Them people should be paying you more money.' Now where he gets this information I don't know, but he gets it. And the guy's sore, of course, and the news is out, because he DID ask for more money and his owners didn't give it to him. So he stews and frets up there and Yogi has his mind off the pitches coming up.

'You know, of course, that they kidded me something awful when I tried Yogi at third base in spring training. Said I was nutty and a lot of other things. Maybe I was, but I noticed that a couple of fellows I had there at third were all right above the neck, but they weren't the same down below. They'd slowed up at least a step and one of them wasn't hitting.

'When I asked Yogi if he could play third base, he said yes. He never says no, of course, because he always wants to play. But he sure surprised me when he said, 'Sure, I can play third base. After all, I played second base for a few weeks once.'

'Well, he sure had me there, because it don't show in no record book. As far as the books say, Berra only played outfield or catcher. So I asked him again. 'The league was folded,' was his answer, 'but I played about 20 games at second.'

'Then I asked him if he could make the double play and he said he sure could. That's what I say about him, he really thinks he can do anything.

'And since the World  Series I've been telling myself about the mistakes I made and I decided that one of them was not playing Berra in that fifth game. We lost it, you know, 5-2. I did get Yogi in as a pinch hitter in the eighth but it was too late.

'He won that final game with that three-run homer off (Roy) Face in the sixth inning (put N.Y. ahead, 4-2) but our pitchers couldn't hold it. He's just naturally got to play all the time and if I had to do it over again, he'd be in there no matter who pitches.

'Yes, he does hit at bad balls. You know that (Eddie) Yost walked 135 times in 1959. That's right, 135 bases on balls. You know how many bases on balls Yogi had one year? I'll betcha don't. It was nine; that's it, just nine. But he hits when it counts and that's why he's gotta play all the time, even if he does try to hit bad pitches.

'What's his salary? Well, you might say he and (Mickey) Mantle are pretty close. No, I ain't saying which gets the most, but they aren't far apart and Yogi's certainly worth every cent the Yankees are paying him.

'Name me just one other catcher you hear about in major league baseball these days. Yeah, that's him, the guy up there in Milwaukee. Crandall's his name. You don't find 'em saying much about anybody else, and Yogi plays outfield, too, so he's gotta be the best. They'll have a hard time keeping him in the outfield next season, as he has requested, you can be sure. He's 35, but he's still the best and will be for quite a while, I think.' "

-Braven Dyer, Los Angeles Times (Baseball Digest, February 1961)

"Berra starts his 15th season [likely] to see most of his action from the outfield. One of the all-time great catchers, his arm has lost some of its accuracy and power, but there's nothing wrong with his stick work. He hit .276 in '60 and rapped 15 homers, including a clutch circuit clout in the last game of the Series.

Born in St. Louis, Lawrence Peter had a difficult time convincing people he could make the grade as a receiver after a faulty 1947 Series job. He holds the all-time Series marks of most games played (68) and most hits (68)."

-Don Schiffer, The Major League Baseball Handbook 1961

1960

"April 24: Makes debut in right field, after virus siege; three RBIs on double and two singles in rout of Orioles.

April 26: Four RBIs on home run and two singles in loss to Red Sox.

May 22: Hits two home runs and single in 9-7 win over A's.

May 30: Beats Nats, 3-2, with two-run homer in 8th.

June 3: Beats Red Sox with triple and two singles for two RBIs.

July 2: Named American League All-Star catcher.

July 16: Hits grand slam and single in rout of Tigers.

July 29: Gets stiff neck; out for a spell.

August 18: Leads win over Red Sox with two doubles.

August 26: Beats Indians, 7-6, with second homer, in 11th.

Comment: Berra is beginning to slow down, but is still one of the best clutch hitters."

-Joe Sheehan, Dell Sports Magazine Baseball, April 1961

"It's hardly necessary to identify the gentleman on this page. A noted literary figure, bowling alley proprietor, raconteur and part-time outfielder ... and ... oh, yes .. part-time catcher.

Yogi Berra is the veteran ace of the Yankee catching staff and senior citizen in the playing ranks- his Yankee service dates back to the end of the 1946 season. In the ensuing years, he has compiled a .288 batting average, has hit 318 home runs (298 as a catcher, the record for receivers), won the American League MVP award three times, has the most RBIs of any World Series player in history (36) and holds a host of other records. When he attains his 24th hit this season, Yogi will break Bill Dickey's record all-time hit total for catchers.

Lawrence Peter Berra has made his mark with the Yankees and is the successful author of the autobiography 'Yogi,' but right now ... well, Yogi has his goal set on helping Ralph Houk and the Yankees to the 1961 American League pennant."

-The New York Yankees Official 1961 Yearbook

Lawrence Peter Berra (OF-C)     #8

Born May 12, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri, resides in Montclair, N.J. Height: 5-8, weight: 191. Bats left, throws right. 

Married and father of three boys, Larry (11), Timmy (9) and Dale (4).

-The New York Yankees Official 1961 Yearbook

"The oldest Yankee, both in age and length of service, is 35-year-old Lawrence Peter Berra, known to all as 'Yogi.' Since joining the Bombers at the tail end of the 1946 campaign, Berra has rewritten the record books, both as a batter and a receiver.

A three-time winner of the American League's Most Valuable Player award (1951-54-55), Yogi has appeared in 1,847 contests for the Yankees. He has slammed out 318 home runs, more than any other catcher in major league history, and has driven in 1,306 runs.

Only 5' 8", the 185-pound native of St. Louis, who now makes his home in Montclair, New Jersey, was the first player to hit a pinch homer in the World Series, connecting against the  Brooklyn Dodgers on October 2, 1947.

Yogi has had five 100-RBI seasons, with the 125 in 1954 being his personal high. His top home run mark was 30 (1952 and again in 1956) and his highest batting average was .322 in 1950.

Berra developed into a top-notch receiver, thanks to the tutoring of Bill Dickey. He had trouble with the Dodger base-runners in the '47 Series, but after that gained respect for his strong and accurate arm. His .995 was the top defensive average among AL catchers in 1957.

A team player, Yogi has played the outfield, first base and third base for New York. He covers the outfield in better than average fashion and will probably be used out there on a more-or-less regular basis this Summer.

Berra has appeared in more World  Series games than any player in big league history. He also holds the record for most hits in the post-season classic.

The squat man has been a perennial All-Star for the Junior Circuit.

Mr. Berra is almost as busy during the off-season as he is during the Summer. His interests include a bowling alley (in partnership with Phil Rizzuto) and a soft drink firm in the Garden State. He is one of the most sought after players at banquets and a darn good golfer. And he had his autobiography, 'Yogi,' published last Winter.

Yogi attends basketball games and hockey matches regularly.

The left-handed slugger, who is the proud father of three boys, is one of the most popular players around the league. He keeps up a steady line of chatter with opposing batters and is always ready to offer sage advice to newcomers.

Last season he had a .276 average, 15 homers and 62 RBI's. If the Yog can reach these figures again this Summer, New York fans will be satisfied and so will the highest paid receiver in history."

-New York Yankees 1961 Yearbook (Jay Publishing Co.)

I WOULDN'T TRADE PLACES WITH ANYONE

Yogi Takes You Along Behind The Scenes, Pointing Out The Intimate Details Of The Ballplaying Life He Leads

"I don't think there's anything better a man could say about his life than that there's nothing else he would rather be than what he is. If you can say that and mean it, you've got it made. Don't get me wrong. I'm not bragging that being Yogi Berra is better than being anybody else in the world. I don't mean that at all. What I mean is I've been blessed with being the only thing I ever wanted to be, a ballplayer, and I wouldn't trade places with anybody.

I'd rather be the Yankee catcher than the President. That makes me a pretty lucky guy because I could never get to be President, but I've been the Yankees' catcher in almost 2,000 ball games. That's one thing I always said to people when they asked me was it true that Casey Stengel liked me as much as the newspapers were always writing he did. I told them he must have because he sure played me. As Casey is always is saying, you could look it up. Twice I have caught as many as 151 games out of 154.

Baseball is my living, but it's still fun for me. I feel good as soon as I walk into the clubhouse. Just being with the guys is part of it, I guess. I've never known when the Yankees didn't have a happy clubhouse. In the 14 years I've been in there, I've never seen a fight. I've seen a few arguments, but never a fight. We kid each other all the time, and we make up nicknames for the guys. Like Bob Turley we call Humphrey because he looks like the character in the comic strip, 'Joe Palooka.' And Ryne Duren we call Magoo because he's blind as a bat. Andy Carey we always call Rock because he's so quiet; Ralph Houk is the Major, and Jerry Coleman was always Sweetsie because he's so good-looking. Everybody just calls me Yogi. I guess they can't improve on that.

There's always a lot of fooling around in the clubhouse. Phil Rizzuto and I used to go to work on Charlie Keller. When he'd come in, I would holler: 'Who's the strongest man in the world?' Then Phil would say: 'King Kong Keller, that's who.' Then Charlie would go over and grab Phil and pick him up like a bag of potatoes and dump him into the big trash can in the middle of the room. Charlie sure was a strong man. When I first came up, people were always mixing me up with him, mistaking us for each other. It used to drive Charlie crazy. 'My God,' he said, 'if I looked like you I'd give up.'

The spirit around the Yankees has always been good. I've never seen anybody blame anybody else for a defeat. If we lose, the place is like a morgue; nobody says much of anything. If a guy feels he did something wrong, he says so, and we'll talk about it quietly, especially if we think we can help him. But there's no blaming. And when we win, and we're all happy and joking, there's no credit-taking either. The Yankees have had a lot of great ballplayers, but I've never seen one of them who was out on his own as an individual, and that includes all the big stars from Joe DiMaggio to Mickey Mantle. There has always been a real team feeling. I remember Charlie Silvera, who never got to catch much because I was playing every day. You would think he might get sore about it, but all he ever said to me were things like, 'Keep going, Yogi. I need that World Series money. I want to build a new porch this winter.'

Ballplayers are like that. I've often thought that being on a ball club is a lot like being in the Army or the Navy. When just the guys are around it's bound to be a field day for the fellows who like to play jokes. For instance, when we went to Japan after the 1955 World Series, most of our wives came along on the trip. But they stayed in Tokyo when we went on the road.

One day we went to Osaka for a game at the U.S. Air Base. After the game they gave us a big dinner at the hotel where we were staying overnight, and gradually, along about midnight, we all headed for our rooms. The last I knew the only two guys left in the bar were Eddie Robinson and Billy Martin. I was rooming with Tommy Byrne, and it must have been about 12:30 when the telephone woke us up. I answered it, and it was Robinson down in the bar. 'Hey, Yog,' he said, really excited, 'come down here. Fast, We got a fight. Billy's on the floor and his head's split wide open.' I said I'd be right down. I tried to get Tommy out of bed, but he was half dead. All he did was roll over. So I threw on some clothes and got downstairs as fast as I could.

When I walked into the bar, there were half a dozen guys there with Robinson and Martin, and not only was Billy's head not split open but he wasn't feeling any pain at all. He was laughing. Robinson handed me a drink and we settled down.

Robinson and Martin were taking turns on the phone, and before they were through they had called everybody but Stengel. Bill Dickey was so excited he came down in just his underwear shorts. Jim Turner showed up in his pajamas. Even Bob Fishel, our publicity man, answered the bell. On his way out of the elevator, Bob stopped at the desk and asked the night clerk if it was true there was a big fight going on in the bar. We had already fixed the clerk, so he gave Bob the business. 'There sure is,' he said, acting scared. 'I don't know what I'm gonna do. Guess I better call the MPs.' Bob took off his glasses and asked the guy to keep them for him, then he came charging in just in time to have a drink shoved in his hand. Poor Bob. Without his glasses, he couldn't see a bulldozer coming at him from five feet away.

I guess we must have stayed up until three or four o'clock in the morning. We had a hell of a time. The only trouble was, we had to play a ball game the next afternoon. We were lucky, though. Hangovers and all, we won, 23-1.

Actually the Japanese weren't bad ballplayers. I would say most of them were good triple-A players. I don't know, maybe you might even give one or two of them a shot at the big leagues. They're very good fielders, but they don't have any power when it comes to hitting. They all choke up and swing short and easy, so they usually get a piece of the ball, but they don't hit it very far. They drive fastball pitchers crazy, though. The harder you throw the ball, the more they foul it off. Your best chance to get them out is with breaking stuff.

Their pitchers have good control, and they're amazingly polite. If they happen to hit you with a pitch, they come right down off the mound, take off their caps and apologize. Just like Early Wynn.

The umpires take a terrible shellacking because they aren't allowed to throw the ballplayers out, so they have no defense against a beef. I didn't think that was fair, so one day I worked up a stunt with Johnny Stevens, the American League umpire, to show them how we do it home. I turned around and yelled at Johnny after a called ball. He yelled at me to shut up. Then I took off my mask and really let him have it. The people were all on my side, so I gave them a show. Then Johnny took off his mask and tore into me. He finished up by giving me the thumb. The way he threw me out of that game you could understand it in American or Japanese or Italian. I turned around, as quiet as a lamb, and walked off, and the people in the stands couldn't understand it. They had never seen that before. I hope it made them have a little more respect for umpires.

One thing I liked about Japan was the barbers. They were the best I ever saw. And cheap, too. You could get a haircut, a shave, a shampoo and a facial, be in the chair for an hour and a half, and it wouldn't cost you more than $1.50.

Another thing I liked was the way they kept feeding us in the dugout during the ball game. They kept a big tray of sandwiches and a supply of Pepsi-Cola on hand all the time.

We had so much fun in Japan we almost forgot about the seventh game of the World Series we had just lost. That was the game at Yankee Stadium that Johnny Podres beat us, 2-0, and we blew the Series to the Dodgers. But we didn't forget about it completely. We talked about the Series a lot, and we thought about what we would do differently if we got another shot at Brooklyn the next year. Which, of course, we did, and we did do it differently. We won.

When I talk about how much I like to play ball I'm talking about any day, the bad ones as well as the good. But there haven't been as many days I have enjoyed as much as the day that Don Larsen threw that perfect no-hit game at the Dodgers in 1956. I can still remember all the excitement in the clubhouse after it was all over.

The place is always a madhouse at times like that. You can hardly get your clothes off and get into the shower. There must be a hundred newspapermen and a couple of dozen photographers, not to mention all the radio and television people and their equipment, everybody from Mel Allen to Jack Lescoulie, the fellow who is always saying: 'They said it couldn't be done.' It's as hot as a Turkish bath and as crowded as the subway at five o'clock, but there's something very good about it. There is always a big crowd around the winning pitcher, and on this day, on account of what Don had done, the mob around Larsen was 12 deep. Because I was the catcher I got some of the overflow. Most of the questions didn't make much sense.

'Did you say anything in particular to him during the course of the game?' somebody wanted to know.

'I didn't have to,' I said.

'He did his own talking with his right arm, you mean.'

'That's right,' I said. What the hell else was I going to say?

I could hear Jim Turner, our pitching coach, being interviewed by somebody else. 'Jim, at any time during the ball game, between innings, did you suggest to Don that he should slow down?'

'No, sir,' Jim said, and he was really excited. 'You don't bother a man who's pitching a no-hitter, or who's getting them out that easy. I had no suggestions to make. There was nothing I could do to help him. He was strictly on his own out there.'

I heard one broadcaster ask Don to describe how he felt when the last out was made, and I was interested in what Don said. 'I don't know,' Don said. 'I don't know what I was thinking about. I was thinking about a million things and nothing, really. It was little things that popped into my mind here and there. I couldn't believe it. I was shaking a little bit, and I was so excited I could hardly talk.'

'What did Yogi say when he jumped on you at the end?'

'I don't remember. All I knew was I had a heavy load to carry.'

All I know is it was a day I'll never forget as long as I live. But the truth is that every day I put on the uniform and go out there is a good day."

-Yogi Berra, as told to Ed Fitzgerald (Sport Magazine, June 1961)

"An all-time catching star, Yogi Berra, 36-year-old southpaw batter, is the senior citizen in the Yankees' playing ranks, his New York service dating back to the 1946 season. In the ensuing years, he has hit 340 home runs (301 as a catcher, a record for receivers), won the American League Most Valuable Player award three times and has a host of other records. When he made his 24th hit of 1961, Yogi broke Bill Dickey's all-time record hit total for catchers.

Yogi sets a record every time he plays in a World Series game. He has played in more games and has more hits than any Series performer. His 36 RBI's are tops in Series play.

Lawrence Peter Berra has made his mark with the Yankees. He is the successful author of the autobiography 'Yogi.' The 5-8, 191-pounder lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife and three boys."

-1961 World Series Official Souvenir Program