Today in History: Yogi Berra, MVP
- Tory DiBlasi
- Nov 8, 2017
- 2 min read
On November 8th, 1951, Yankees catcher Yogi Berra was voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player for the first time in his career. Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra was an American professional baseball catcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball, 18 of them for the New York Yankees. Berra was an 18-time All-Star and is the only player to win 10 World Series championships as a player. Berra also won 3 World Series championships as a manager. He had a career batting average of .285, hit 358 home runs, and had 1,430 runs batted in. He is one of only five 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.
Berra had a very impressive 1951 season. He was the Yankees' leading slugger with 27 home runs and 88 runs batted in. When interviewed by reporters the night he was voted MVP for the first time, Berra said, “It’s great to be classed with fellows like DiMaggio and Rizzuto who have won the award. I sure hope I can win it a couple of more times, like Joe did.” He went on to be the league MVP again in 1954 and 1955.
Yogi Berra was only the second catcher to win the Most Valuable Player Award in the American League; Mickey Cochrane of the Philadelphia Athletics was the first in 1928. In 1951, the National League's MVP was also a catcher, Roy Campanella of the Brooklyn Dodgers . The Yankees retired Yogi Berra’s uniform number 8 in 1972, the same year he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Yankees honored him with a plaque in Monument Park in 1988, and he was named to the MLB All-Century Team as voted by fans in 1999.
Berra was closely involved with the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center. He opened the museum on the campus of Montclair State University on December 4, 1998. The museum contains artifacts from Berra's career. He often visited the museum for signings and discussions. Yogi Berra used his influence to teach children important values such as sportsmanship and dedication, and that legacy continues today.
Comments