Jarred Gurss’ Book presentation of,

What was the purpose for writing this book?  Yogi Berra has always wanted to be a role model. Through his baseball career he has done a lot of charity work. He went through a lot to become the baseball player he was. He is arguably one of baseballs greatest hero. So, the reason he contacted Dave Kaplan is, because he was an experienced author and needed help writing a book. With all that Yogi went through he wanted to share this with everyone. Since he is such a role model to everyone he wants everyone to know what he had to go through to get where he got. Also, that even if you get stuck you need to keep going and it is possible to get where he got.

Yogi Berra  Yogi Berra is a former Major League baseball player. He played for the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. He is one of the greatest catchers to ever put on a Yankees uniform. He is in the hall of fame and his jersey was retired in 1972 when he was inducted into the hall of fame.

Where was Yogi from?  Yogis real name was Lawrence Peter Berra and he was from St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in a smaller place in St. Louis called “The Hill”. The hill was town that was formed for Italian immigrants. They had a baseball field there that Yogi and his friends would play on all the time. They had sort of a league there where you would play against other kids around town. This is also where he got the nick name Yogi. His best friend Bobby Hofman told him that he looked like a Hindu Yogi when he was siting with his legs crossed on the bench waiting to bat. The name stuck ever since.

Carmen  Is his wife  Married her in 1949  Had 3 kids with her  Larry, Tim, Dale  She always stayed home to take care of the kids when he was traveling for baseball  When he would complain about baseball she would start telling him about everything she is going through with the kids and he would say I am sorry.

When you come to a fork in the road take it!  Throughout Yogis life he faced a lot of tough decisions. However, Yogi does not regret one decision he made in his life. Mostly all the problems he faced was during his life came from baseball. Yogi never had a manager that called the game for him. The game was always put into Yogis hands. Since he was a catcher he had to call all the pitches. Sometimes he even had to call out how the defense should position themselves luckily that’s the one thing his mangers did. No one knows what was wrong with Yogi but he actually like having these challenging things in his life. This is basically what the book is about, his life and all the challenges he faced.

Accomplishments  Won 13 world series.  Made it to the world series 21 times.  18 time all-star ( that’s incredible considering he played 19 years).  3 time AL-MVP ( was in the top 4 almost every season).  Major league all century team.  Made it into the Hall of Fame in  Number 8 for the Yankees is now retired as of  Has a stadium named after in in St. Louis.  In New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Proudest moments  When his 3 sons Larry, Tim, and Dale were born.  Caught Don Larson's perfect game in the world series.  Married his wife Carmen.  Got his jersey retired.  Made it into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  Influence he had on young kids back on the hill.

Coaching and Managing  New York Yankees (1963).  New York Mets ( ).  New York Yankees ( ).  Houston Astros ( ).  New York Yankees (1964).  New York Mets ( ).  New York Yankees ( ).

How he became the player he was.  Yogi Berra was not a always a fantastic player. He was only 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed about 200 pounds. He was never really skinny but he was never fat either. Nobody really wanted to give him a chance, because of the way he looked. When someone did give him the chance he always made a great impression. Once the Yankees saw what kind of talent Yogi had they signed him. Bill Dickey who is also one of there greatest catchers of all-time showed him the ropes. When Yogi was growing up he was never really shown the right way to be a catcher. Without Bill he would not have turned into the player he was.

90% of the game is mental!  Very few players could do what Yogi Berra was able to do. That was to never let the game get out of hand to where he couldn’t control it. Even he was managing or when he was playing he always stayed positive and never let what the other team was doing get to him. He kept calling the game the way he knew how.

One thing he really hates?  It always made Yogi Berra very angry when you told him that he was in a slump. He never believed in a slump. Whenever somebody would tell him that he was in a slump he would reply, “ Slump, I ain’t in no slump, I just ain’t hittin.” Although, when Yogi wasn’t hitting it didn’t take him long to start. Yogi was never ashamed of taking advice from another coach or teammate. As long as it was an experienced teammate.

Public Speaking  Who isn’t nervous when they have to go up in front of a class or up in public an speak. Yogi was never ashamed to admit that he didn’t like giving speeches. When he would find out that he was going to have to give a public speech it would take him all the way to that very moment to prepare. His wife Carmen would always help prepare for his speeches if she could.

Where is he today?  Yogi Berra Resides in New Jersey now where he has been since he retired from coaching with his 3 boys and all of his many Grandchildren. He is now 87 years old.

My thoughts  Yogi Berra truly inspires me. Since the elbow injury I faced over the summer and am still dealing with now I had wanted to give up. Once I read this book it inspired me to not give up work hard and I will reach all the goals I want.

?  Any Questions?