Description:
Near the end of Yogi Berra’s memoir, Ten Rings: My Championship Seasons, he observes that he was never that popular with the media because "I’d always never tell too much." He could have said the same thing about his book. While entertaining, Ten Rings is no Ball Four. It is a light, quick, uncontroversial trip through Berra’s All-Star career with the Yankees, punctuated by details of his ten World Series victories. Berra, who grew up in St. Louis in an Italian section of town know as "The Hill," has always been a bit of comic relief in the baseball world. As a young Yankee, he notes, he was labeled "the Ape" by fellow players and coaches who were surprised that someone so short and stocky could hit so well. Indeed, Berra is the first to admit that, early in his career, he was a poor catcher and an easy mark for pranksters. But he would go on to win the American League MVP award three times, and his fourteen World Series records (detailed, along with his overall Series stats, in an appendix) belie the Neanderthal image portrayed in the press. Yankees fans and serious baseball scholars may be frustrated by Berra's lack of interest in overturning the myths that surround him. Berra confesses that many of the malapropisms associated with him were actually fabricated by reporters, but he does not name names. And the Georges (Weiss and Steinbrenner)--who caused Berra so much grief during his career as a player and manager--are lightly forgiven. Despite the lack of major revelations Ten Rings offers a pleasant refresher course in, arguably, the greatest string of baseball seasons in history. --Patrick O’Kelley
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