American Valor Quarterly Issue 11 - Fall 2014 | Page 32

head down here before it
gets blown off!” I was young
and being a kid, I thought,
“what the heck?” I didn’t
think anything could kill me.
But I found out later on how
dangerous it was when we
picked up some people that had
drowned out there.

we were able to break in together and
come up in the league at the same time.

YOGI (LEFT) WITH HIS SISTER AND
BROTHER PRIOR TO LEAVING FOR SERVICE
IN THE NAVY DURING WORLD WAR II.

But we actually had a long
wait before we were ready
to head to Southern France.
We were in Naples and I got tired of the
wait and said, “I’m going to take a trip to
Rome.” I told my officer and said I wanted
to try and take a chance and go see my
family up there. He said, “You can go up
there but if we get the call to go to this
invasion, you’re going to be in trouble.”
I figured I’d take the chance and as it
turned out, I got to see my family in Italy
and when I got back we still hadn’t left yet
to go to the Normandy invasion.
Years later, I also got to meet the Pope
in Rome. People often ask what we said
to each other. All I can remember saying
was, “Hello, Pope,” but it was quite the
experience.

After we left France, I was stationed to
work on a submarine in New London,
CT. Jim Gleeson was the lieutenant
commander and he started a baseball team
there.

down to play with the Newark Bears. I
played just a half a year there and I got
called up to the big leagues. I was only 22
then.
One thing people like to hear about
my time in Newark was that I broke into
the league at the same time as Jackie
Robinson. He was playing with Montreal,
and I played with Newark. I remember
from our time playing against each other
that he was a great man. Even though this
was a time when the race barrier was just
starting to come down, I didn’t care. I
never had a problem with him. As long as
I was playing baseball and he was playing
baseball that was what mattered to me
and he played the game hard. Jackie was a
great guy. The only thing I can say about
Jackie is he was out at home plate when I
tagged him in 1955. But it was great that

Getting to know my teammates and the
players is one of the things I remember
most about my playing days. I was lucky to
come up at a historic time. I played against
Jackie, but I also got to know Larry Doby,
who also spent time in New Jersey, and
Elston Howard, my teammate with the
Yankees. Both Larry and Elston were
friends of mine. They would come over
my house and swim in my pool. Larry’s
kids went to high school with my kids.
They’re great guys.
We were all men that loved baseball. I
still love it. Every chance I get I’ll watch a
game. I sometimes watch three games in a
row and even get to watch Jerry Coleman
calling the games in San Diego.
Yogi Berra’s accomplishments and lifelong
commitment to helping young people became
the foundation of the Yogi Berra Museum &
Learning Center, launched in 1998 as a nonprofit
sports education organization on the campus
of Montclair State University. The Museum
conducts year-round character education programs,
promoting the values of respect and sportsmanship.
Yogi Berra and his wife Carmen live in
Montclair, New Jersey.
AVQ

I remember the first time we met, he
looked at me and said, “What do you do?”
I said, “I play ball.”
“Who do you play with?”
“I play down at Norfolk,” I told him.
“You don’t look like a ballplayer. You
look like a boxer,” he said.
I got to play, but he never started me
until I pinch hit and hit a home run. Then
he said, “You’re the catcher from now on.