Ole Miss baseball great David Dellucci was thoughtful as he recalled childhood memories of his grandfather talking about the late legend, Yogi Berra.
"What comes to mind when I think of Yogi is how much my grandfather loved him -- and remember I’m full blooded Italian -- so growing up in an Italian family of huge Yankees fans, Yogi Berra was always talked about," Dellucci said. "You may think of his Yogi-ims and how he was a character and the funny things he said, but people have forgotten what a great catcher he was. Possibly one of the greatest catchers in baseball history."
When Dellucci, an All-American and two-time All-SEC pick who played for the World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, went to play for the Yankees, he got to know Berra, whose funeral was Tuesday. Dellucci said Berra's death last week is a loss that he felt personally, but that is felt throughout the baseball family.
"My heart broke. My heart broke for everyone in baseball that has been touched by him and had the opp to meet him, for the Yankees organization and his family. I know what he meant to baseball and the Yankees, and I can’t even imagine how much he was loved by his own family," he said. "He’s kind of like the grandfather everyone wants to see at the family reunion. He was a lovable guy to the baseball players who barely knew him. I can’t imagine what it was like for his family that loved him."
Dellucci, elected to Ole Miss's Hall of Fame in 2010 and named as one of Ole Miss' 50 greatest athletes, said he remembers first meeting Berra when playing in New York on a visiting team. It was a surreal experience, he said.
"As a visiting player, you go to New York and you have all these legends hanging out at the baseball field, and a visit from Yogi was almost daily," he said. "You're there and you think of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, and then you look over there and Yogi is over there talking to Joe Torre. This was baseball royalty."
When Dellucci became a Yankee, he learned even more how the man his grandfather had talked about so much was all at once a legend and the humblest man on earth.
"I had just gotten there, and I was in the locker room and he came up and patted me on the back and welcomed me to the Yankees organization and we talked about baseball -- never about himself, but about me being comfortable," Dellucci said. "I’m sitting in my locker, a young guy, and I have this Hall of Fame icon that made it a point to come welcome me to the team. It was a symbol of what kind of guy he was."
Berra, who was known for his colorful sayings, or "Yogi-isms," was a Navy gunner's mate on the attack transport USS Bayfield during the D-Day invasion of France, during which time he was also sent to Utah Beach. He was also part of a six-man crew on a Navy rocket boat, firing on the Germans at Omaha Beach, and received several commendations for his bravery.
On the field, he set records for the most games (75), at bats (259), hits (71), doubles (10), singles (49), games caught (63), and catcher putouts (457) in World Series games. Berra was an All-Star for 15 seasons, and was selected to 18 All-Star Games. He won the American League MVP award in 1951, 1954, and 1955, never finishing worse than fourth in the MVP voting from 1950 to 1957.
He tied with Barry Bonds for second-most MVP votes in 15 consecutive seasons, second only to Hank Aaron's 19 straight seasons with MVP support. He led the Yankees in RBIs from 1949 to 1955, on a team with stars such as Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio on the roster.
Berra played in 117 double headers, Dellucci said.
"Catchers don’t do that nowadays. As impressive of a statistic as that is, people don’t talk about that anymore. Its sad we only know him now for the funny things he said," Dellucci said. "The guy was a homerun hitter at about 5’5" when the parks were huge."
Dellucci said to talk to Berra, unless you knew those things, you would never have guessed of his heroism on and off the field. He even handled the obvious accolades with grace and humor.
Texas Rangers left fielder David Dellucci hits the
Texas Rangers left fielder David Dellucci hits the wall as he makes a catch on a ball hit by Chicago White Sox's Aaron Rowand in the third inning Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2004, in Arlington, Texas. (Photo: Tony Gutierrez, Copyright 2004 The Clarion Ledger;AP)
"We always joked about how he had 10 World Series rings, and what do you do with 10 World Series rings," Dellucci continued. "I hate to throw around the word awesome, but he was really awesome."
As a matter of fact, his constant jokes and funny demeanor often made people overlook him for the force he was on the field.
"The jokester usually isn’t the star of the team. The stars usually keep to themselves. He was maybe overlooked because his supporting cast was always unbelievable, but he put up huge numbers himself. He was a competitor, that’s another thing we don’t think of. During the course of the game, he was firey, extremely competitive and intense, we just think of him as the funny prankster," Dellucci said.
Dellucci recalled a time he was called in to Joe Torre's office after a game, and when he got there, Torre and Whitey Ford and Berra were watching a horse race.
"They asked me to sit down and join them, and I'm thinking, 'One of these guys is not like the others, I'm sitting here with three legends,'" Dellucci said, adding that they talked baseball and made him feel at home.
In his four seasons at Ole Miss, Dellucci set 10 school records and won the SEC batting title. In 1998, his rookie season, Dellucci led the National League in triples. He had plenty to be proud of himself, but he said he was always honored to be in Berra's presence. Maybe it was growing up hearing the name from his grandfather and finally getting to know the man. Maybe it was the history Berra represented.
"I was in awe as to who he was. The way he interacted with the players was as if he was just an average Joe Blow, and he made every player feel like he was an All Star and as if Yogi was just a fan," Dellucci said. "You really kind of sit there and go through his career and think about what he did as an individual, and his humility is what elevates him even more."
Baseball has changed since Yogi's days, Dellucci said, and it will continue to evolve. But the world will never see another Yogi Berra because of his uniqueness, not because the game is different now.
"How is baseball going to replace Yogi Berra? That’s the bottom line. There’s now a gap that I don’t know if anyone is ever going to be able to fill," Dellucci said. "You can't replace him as far as being the character and player: There may be another with the statistics, but he won't have the personality, or you'll have another with the personality, but not with the dominant statistics, and definitely not with 10 World Series rings."
Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow @TRex21 on Twitter.
Even when you have gone as far as you can, and everything hurts, and you are staring at the specter of self-doubt, you can find a bit more strength deep inside you, if you look closely enough.
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