Yankees celebrate all-time great on Yogi Berra Day

NEW YORK -- It’s fitting that the 79th anniversary of D-Day on Tuesday was Yogi Berra Day at Yankee Stadium.

Berra was one of the greatest players in Yankees and baseball history. Besides winning three American League Most Valuable Player Awards during the 1950s, Berra is the winningest postseason player in baseball history, guiding the Yankees to 14 pennants and 10 World Series titles.

But baseball isn’t the only thing that enhances Berra’s legacy. The Yankees commemorated Berra’s participation in the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. In addition, the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center (YBMLC) celebrated its 25th anniversary as part of the festivities.

“If he’s not the best catcher of all time, I don't know who is,” Yankees radio broadcaster Suzyn Waldman said of Berra. “He has 10 rings, and the most he ever struck out in a year was 38. That’s mind-boggling.”

After he signed with the Yankees in 1943, Berra put his baseball career on hold to join the Navy. During the invasion of Normandy, Berra manned a landing-craft support vessel from which he said he "sprayed bullets and rockets across the heavily fortified beach fronts before the troops landed.”

“I was looking at Grandpa’s Navy pictures, and I was thinking about how young he was on that boat and how much it meant to him,” said Lindsay Berra, the Hall of Famer's granddaughter. “Like so many men of his generation, he felt it was his duty to serve his country and he wouldn’t have done it any other way. He was incredibly proud of his service. I think that perspective that he got on D-Day and being involved in World War II gave him so much perspective for the rest of his life.

“I think he was profoundly grateful to come home when so many other men did not. I think he approached his life with this tremendous sense of gratitude and joy. He spent his life playing a kids' game for a living after going through that other horrific experience. People say he was one of the greatest clutch hitters of all-time. But when you face a real life-or-death experience, the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the bases loaded -- that is only opportunity. It was a big part of who he was. He was incredibly proud of his service in the Navy.”

Lindsay Berra, who is a board member at the Little Falls, N.J.-based museum, cannot believe it is a quarter of a century old. She remembers celebrating her 21st birthday on the museum construction site.

“I can’t believe it was 25 years ago,” Lindsay said. “I can’t believe all the awesome stuff it has done for 25 years. I can’t believe my grandparents are gone as long as they have been and the museum is still carrying forward. I’m thrilled it is keeping their legacy alive.”

Visitors to the museum can learn everything about Yogi Berra. There is a collection of baseball artifacts centered on his life and legacy. On display, for example, are his 10 World Series rings and the MVP Award plaques.

The museum is keeping Berra’s legacy alive by continuing to offer virtual programs for those unable to attend in person. A slate of educational programs and field trips conducted live by the educational team has provided an engaging remote-learning experience for many students since the start of the pandemic, including classes from St. Louis, Houston, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

“I say all the time, the education component was so important to Grandpa because he had to quit school in the eighth grade,” Lindsay Berra said. “To see us impacting the lives of kids the way we are, he would be so happy. People come through the doors to see the shiny stuff, but they stay [and] donate when they find out all the good we are doing for kids, not just in our area, but across the country now because all of our educational programs are virtual.”

If you want to learn about an International Tennis Hall of Famer, the museum has a Billie Jean King exhibit through the end of the year.

Before Tuesday’s game between the Yankees and White Sox, the museum celebration included an on-field presentation of this year’s Yogi Berra Museum Awards to individuals sustaining Yogi’s legacy.

Award recipients included:

Former Major Leaguer David Cone: YBMLC Teammate Award
A five-time World Series champion, David Cone pitched a perfect game on Yogi Berra Day in 1999, when Yogi returned to Yankee Stadium for the first time in 14 years.

Suzyn Waldman: YBMLC Carmen Berra Award
An inductee to the Radio Hall of Fame, Waldman is a pioneer, having paved the way for women in the male-dominated field of sports broadcasting. Waldman was the catalyst who brought Berra and George Steinbrenner back together in order for Berra to return to Yankee Stadium in 1999. Berra had vowed never to return to the ballpark after he was dismissed as manager of the club during the '85 season.

Anthony A. Yoseloff: YBMLC Humanitarian Award
Yoseloff -- a philanthropist, community volunteer and board member of the New York Public Library and New York-Presbyterian -- is committed to giving back to the community and is a dedicated Yankees fan.