Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 163

Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, whose uniform number Berra took. He later said, "I owe everything I did in baseball to Bill Dickey."

Berra was called up to the Yankees and played his first game on September 22, 1946. He played 7 games that season and 83 games in 1947. He played in more than a hundred games in each of the following 14 years. Berra appeared in 14 World Series, including 10 World Series championships, both of which are records. He established Series records for the most games - 75, at bats -259, hits - 71, doubles - 10, singles - 49, games caught - 63, and catcher putouts - 457. In Game 3 of the 1947 World Series,

Berra hit the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history, off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca, who later gave up Bobby Thomson's famous “Shot Heard Round the World” in 1951.

Berra never finished lower than fourth in the MVP voting from 1950 to 1957. He received MVP votes in 15 consecutive seasons. From 1949 to 1955, on a team filled with stars such as Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, it was Berra who led the Yankees in RBI for seven consecutive seasons. Probably the most notable game of Berra's playing career came when he caught Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the first of only three no-hitters, and lone "perfecto" ever thrown in MLB postseason play.

The picture of Berra leaping into Larsen's arms following Dale