Obituary: Yogi Berra – baseball great famous for his linguistic quirks

Yogi Berra, who has died aged 90, was one of baseball’s greatest catchers: he played on 14 American League championship teams and won 10 World Series titles, totals unmatched in the game’s history.

He also achieved a much wider celebrity – first because he served as the model for the popular cartoon character Yogi Bear, and second because his pursuit of a highly personal logic created such "Yogisms" as "it ain't over till it's over" and "it's like déjà vu all over again", which have long since passed into everyday currency.

A stocky 5ft 8in with a jug-eared gnomish face, Berra hardly looked like a sportsman. The baseball writer Bill James once quipped: “If he were a piece of furniture, you’d sand him.”

Born the fourth of five children to Pietro, a bricklayer, and Paulina Berra, Italian immigrants, in St Louis, Missouri, Berra got his nickname from his resemblance to a snake-charmer in a Saturday afternoon film serial.

At 17, he signed for the New York Yankees for $500. When he turned 18, he joined his brother, John, in the navy. After active duty in Africa, Italy and at D-day, he was assigned in 1945 to New London, Connecticut, where he resumed his baseball career.

Catcher

Starting in 1946 with the Yankees’ top minor-league team, the Newark Bears, he won promotion to New York in mid-season. At first he shifted between catcher and the outfield, but became the club’s everyday catcher in 1949. The Yankees won five World Series in a row and dominated baseball into the early 1960s.

Berra’s hitting was outstanding for a catcher. A notorious “bad ball” hitter, he feasted on pitches well out of the strike zone, which made him difficult to pitch to. He was almost impossible to strike out.

He was voted Most Valuable Player of the American League three times, and was an All-Star every year from 1948 to 1962, exhibiting a consistency rare in (often-injured) catchers.

His popularity in the media capital of New York led to his becoming an early television pitchman for children’s products such as Maypo, a flavoured oatmeal, and YooHoo, a chocolate soft drink. Their popularity with children helped inspire the Yogi Bear character.

Retiring after the 1963 season, Berra was named manager of the Yankees. They staged a late-season surge to win the 1964 title, but by then the owners had already decided to fire him. After losing the World Series to the St Louis Cardinals, Berra was replaced by Cardinals manager Johnny Keane.

Mets’ manager

Berra became the Mets’ manager in 1972 and together they won the 1973 National League title, making Berra one of the few managers to win both leagues. After the Mets sacked him in 1975, he rejoined the Yankees as a coach. He was named manager again in 1984, finishing third, but was pushed out in 1985. He coached with the Houston Astros from 1986 until retiring in 1992.

His wife, Carmen, died last year. He is survived by sons Tim, Dale and Lawrence Jr.