An ardent athlete but an indifferent student, Berra dropped out of school after the eighth grade. He played American Legion ball and worked odd jobs.
As teenagers, both he and Garagiola tried out with the St. Louis Cardinals and were offered contracts by the Cardinals’ general manager, Branch Rickey. But Garagiola’s came with a $500 signing bonus and Berra’s just $250, so Berra declined to sign.
(This was a harbinger of deals to come. Berra, whose salary as a player reached $65,000 in 1961, substantial for that era, would prove to be a canny contract negotiator, almost always extracting concessions from the Yankees’ penurious general manager George Weiss.)
In the meantime,
the St. Louis Browns also wanted to sign Berra* but were not willing to pay any bonus at all. Then,
the day after the 1942 World Series, in which the Cardinals beat the
Yankees, a Yankee coach showed up at Berra’s parents’ house and offered him a
minor-league contract — along with the elusive $500.
But what if . . . . .? Thanks for the memories Yogi.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/sports/baseball/yogi-berra-dies-at-90-yankees-baseball-catcher.html?_r=0
But what if . . . . .? Thanks for the memories Yogi.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/sports/baseball/yogi-berra-dies-at-90-yankees-baseball-catcher.html?_r=0
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