Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra grew up wanting to be a ballplayer, but first had some serious obstacles to overcome. Born Lawrence Peter Berra and raised in St. Louis, Missouri by his parents Pietro and Paulina Berra, he had three older brothers who also were passionate about baseball. However, they were all needed to help support the family. Berra left school after the eighth grade and worked in a coal yard, drove a delivery truck, and pulled tacks in a shoe factory. But the Berra boys also found time to play baseball, roller hockey, soccer, and football together. With others from the "Dago Hill" neighborhood, they formed a YMCA team called "The Stags." Berra has described his brothers as talented athletes and explained that he was lucky to be the youngest boy. Since they had improved the family's economic situation, he was able to get his father's permission to try for a baseball career. One of Berra's friends, Joe Garagiola, went on to become a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and a broadcaster.

Yogi Berra