Yogi Berra will always be remembered for wearing one shade of Pinstripes, but he also left a legacy on the other side of town.
The Hall-of-Fame catcher, who passed away Tuesday night at the age of 90, played the final four games of his career with the Mets in 1965 and was on the coaching staff for a decade.
As manager, he led the 1973 Mets to the National League pennant, knocking off the Big Red Machine in the NLCS before falling to the A’s in seven games in the World Series.
“He wasn’t scientific, but he had a wealth of knowledge,” said Ed Kranepool, whose locker was next to Berra’s at Shea Stadium for nearly a decade. “It was like with Casey [Stengel], the things he said may have sounded strange, but when you thought about them, they made a lot of sense. And he wasn’t a disciplinarian. If you did your job, he let you do your job.”
Berra’s path to the manager’s job in Queens was sudden and unexpected.
Gil Hodges died of a heart attack at the end of spring training in 1972 and the Mets turned to Berra, which was a relief for a team still reeling from Hodges’ death.
“It was a hard thing to deal with,” Jerry Koosman said by phone Wednesday. “It wasn’t like we could stop and mourn for a year. We had to play. Yogi took over and gave us a sense of quiet and confidence that we could keep going. He was the best person for the job.”
Berra had been with the Mets since 1965 when he joined his old manager Casey Stengel’s staff after being let go by the Yankees following a loss in the 1964 World Series.
“He was an icon, even then,” Koosman said.
And when the team asked him to be a player/coach, Berra agreed and went 2-for-9.
“I think they were looking for publicity,” Kranepool said. “He got two hits one game, but he realized he couldn’t do it anymore. Yogi wasn’t one to embarrass anyone and he also wasn’t someone to be embarrassed, so that was it.”
His “laid-back, winning attitude” suited the Mets well, according to Koosman, especially in the 1973 season, when they were riddled with injuries and in last place as late as Aug. 30.
It was midway through the season that Berra said: “It ain’t over til it’s over.”
Still, the Mets were 11½ games behind in the NL East on Aug. 5, but finished the season with 21 wins in their last 29 games to capture the division title despite a record of 82-79 and went on to make a memorable playoff run.
“It was a tremendous comeback,” said Rusty Staub, who came to the Mets in a trade right before the 1972 season began, nearly coinciding with Hodges’ death. “Yogi was a great guy to play for. A great person, period.”
Berra was able to stay positive despite numerous injuries and the rotation of Koosman, Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack and George Stone ignited the comeback.
“It was the most exciting six weeks of my career,” Staub said.
Berra was fired on Aug. 5, 1975, despite a 56-53 record and later went on to become a coach with the Astros.
Staub thought it was fitting that the Pope would be visiting New York City so soon after Berra’s death.
“The Pope might be the only man more loved than Yogi,” Staub said.
“You can’t replace him,” Kranepool said. “It’s the end of an era.”