I’ve been in that World Series kind of mood this past week as the Phillies and the Rays have been slugging it out. Last night we saw something we thought we’d never see – game delayed to another day because of rain. Man, has baseball changed. When I was a kid they only played the World series games in the daytime and would have finished the game in a monsoon. I know I sound like and old fart, but the players WERE tougher and a guy would play if his head was hanging on his neck by a thread.

Back in the day, NOBODY was tougher (or crazier) than a catcher. Those guys truly took a lickin’ but kept on tickin’. And there are certainly guys who stand out above the rest while donning the proverbial “Tools of Ignorance.” Now if you’re a sports fan, and especially if you love baseball, you of course know the man who is considered one of the greatest catchers the game has ever known, the incomparable Yogi Berra. He’s the loveable guy whose world famous “Yogi-isms” make you both laugh and scratch your head at the same time. (”I never said half the things I really said…It’s tough making predictions, especially about the future…Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”. – freakin’ classics, every damned one of them.) Enshrined in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame in 1972, he was a 15 time all-star, won ten World Series rings, hit 358 homeruns, and was named American League MVP on three different occasions.

But do you know of his son? Well if you follow baseball, then sure you do. Dale Berra was a hell of a third baseman, playing 8 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and brief stints with the Yankees and Astros. But wait… do you know about his “other” son? Tim Berra went on to play in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts. But I’m talking about his OTHER son! He’s a member of the Metropolitan Cigar Society in Fairfield, New Jersey, the very same cigar club that I am a member of. Larry Berra is just a great guy and if you want to talk serious baseball and get a major league blast of nostalgia while you’re at it, just light up a stoag with Larry and the guy will have you riveted for hours.

“I grew up around many of the legendary New York Yankees, but I never even thought of them as ball players,” Larry says. “They were dad’s friends, and their sons were my friends. In fact, Ted Williams and guys from other teams were actually my favorite players because the guys I saw everyday were really my like family.”

It’s amazing how a kid in his position didn’t have a clue what sheer greatness he was around day in and day out. Phil Rizutto was Larry’s godfather and guys like Mantle, Maris, Skowran, Bauer, McDoogle, and Howard were like his uncles. “Back then, the players kids were allowed in the locker room and I would talk to Mickey and Roger about school and stuff I was involved in as a kid. But no one loved kids more than Casey Stengel. He’d throw ballplayers and managers out of his office but the player’s children were ALWAYS allowed to stay.”

Larry was a dyed in the wool Yankee his entire life until that day in 1963 when New York management fired his dad – and he hated the team for a very long time. When Yogi coached the New York Mets in ’65, Larry’s allegiance moved cross-town as blue and orange became his favorite new color scheme. His dad coached the Mets for eight seasons, but when Gil Hodges passed away, number eight became Manager of the Amazins and in 1973 came within one game of winning the World Series, losing to an Oakland A’s powerhouse.

I asked Larry if “he” played and I got a “Hell yeah, I played! I was a catcher and when I was in the Florida State League in ‘71, I was the first player to hit a homerun off of Ron Guidry. And I never let him forget it, to this day, either!” Unfortunately, a rainy day and a soaking wet field caused Larry to blow out his knee and give up the game he loved.

“My favorite stat of my dad’s is that even though his lifetime average was .285, he hit .320 with runners on base and .330 from the seventh inning on. He could always turn it on at the most clutch moments.”

Finally, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t ask Larry what “his” personal favorite Yogism is. “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!”

The classics NEVER die,

Tommy Z.

JR Cigars Blog With the Zman