Berra, Yogi (Lawrence Peter Berra), 1925-, American baseball player and manager, b. St. Louis. An outstanding catcher with the New York Yankees (1946-63), Berra was the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1951, 1954, and 1955, hit 358 career home runs and appeared in 14 World Series. He managed the Yankees and Mets for a total of seven years, leading each team to the pennant (Yankees, 1964; Mets, 1973); he also coached with the Mets, Yankees, and Astros, Berra is renowned for his unintendedly ironic humorous comments.

orig. Lawrence Peter Berra

(born May 12, 1925, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.) U.S. baseball player, manager, and coach. Berra joined the New York Yankees in 1946 and served as the team's regular catcher from 1949 until his retirement in 1963. He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1951, 1954, and 1955. He caught in more World Series games (75) than any other catcher and hit 20 or more home runs a season through 1958. He managed the Yankees in 1964 but was fired and became a coach and manager (1965–75) with the New York Mets. He returned to the Yankees as a coach (1976–82) and later manager (1983–85). He was known for idiosyncratic remarks such as “It ain't over till it's over” and “It's déjà vu all over again.” The American cartoon character Yogi Bear was named for him.

Learn more about Berra, Yogi with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Lawrence Peter Berra

(born May 12, 1925, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.) U.S. baseball player, manager, and coach. Berra joined the New York Yankees in 1946 and served as the team's regular catcher from 1949 until his retirement in 1963. He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1951, 1954, and 1955. He caught in more World Series games (75) than any other catcher and hit 20 or more home runs a season through 1958. He managed the Yankees in 1964 but was fired and became a coach and manager (1965–75) with the New York Mets. He returned to the Yankees as a coach (1976–82) and later manager (1983–85). He was known for idiosyncratic remarks such as “It ain't over till it's over” and “It's déjà vu all over again.” The American cartoon character Yogi Bear was named for him.

Learn more about Berra, Yogi with a free trial on Britannica.com.

A yogi (Sanskrit, feminine root: yogini) is a term for a male practitioner of various forms of the path of Yoga, maintaining a steadfast mind, the process of transcending the lower self through daily practices. In contemporary English yogin is an alternative rendering for the word yogi. This word is often used to describe Buddhist monks or a householder who is devoted to meditation.

The Shiva-Samhita text defines the yogi as someone who knows that the entire cosmos is situated within his own body, and the Yoga-Shikha-Upanishad distinguishes two kinds of yogins: those who pierce through the "sun" (surya) by means of the various yogic techniques and those who access the door of the central conduit (sushumna-nadi) and drink the nectar.

References

1-2. Feuerstein, Georg. The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, Shambhala Publications, Boston, 2000 p. 321, 350.

See also

• Yogini
• Yogis
• List of yoga schools