Synopses & Reviews
Long before Yogi Berra became world famous for his inimitable use of the English language, he was loved by millions of baseball fans as one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game and a fierce competitor who would do anything to help his team and his teammates win.
In You Can Observe a Lot by Watching, Yogi offers good-natured reminiscing with a serious purpose in mind: to deliver a thoughtful and instructive account of the single most important factor in creating a winning team in any sport, business, or other venture—teamwork.
Over his seventeen years as a major-league player, Yogi and his Yankee teammates won fourteen pennants and ten World Series. Sharing hundreds of telling stories from those golden years, Yogi demonstrates that the secret of the team's fabulous success was not merely the stellar play of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, and Yogi himself; it was the way they and everyone else on the roster worked together, on and off the field. DiMaggio gave a rookie named Berra a tip that changed his career. Mantle's good humor kept the whole team loose when things were going badly. And, in 1960, Maris surprised everyone by bunting a runner in from third rather than swinging away for his 55th homer.
In this heartfelt tribute to qualities that often appear to be fading from professional sports, Yogi shows you how to be a better teammate and contribute all you can to your team's quest for excellence. You'll learn why even the greatest players have to put the team's welfare before their own, protect their teammates, and take responsibility for their actions. You'll discover the secret of being a good teammate to someone you don't really like; the importance of controlling your emotions in every situation; and how even the least talented player can make outstanding contributions to the team.
Complete with colorful tales about Don Larsen's perfect game, the twelve Yankees who played on all of the teams that won five consecutive championships, and how Phil Linz's harmonica turned a tough season into a trip to the World Series, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching gives you the most fun you'll ever have while learning something, too.
Review
"...[it] offers nearly half a century's distilled wisdom on the subject of teammates and the value of team play from the biggest winner (14 pennants and 10 World Series rings) in baseball history..." (
YouCanObserveSyn, April 13, 2008)
"...[it] offers nearly half a century's distilled wisdom on the subject of teammates and the value of team play from the biggest winner (14 pennants and 10 World Series rings) in baseball history..." (Post Dispatch(St Louis), April 6, 2008)
Review
* Notorious for his run-ins with the English language, baseball great Berra has become an improbably prolific author. He and coauthor Kaplan follow up 2002s
What Time Is It? You Mean Now? with this charming, if meandering, book about teamwork. In anecdote after anecdote about his legendary career with the Yankees, his not-so-legendary career as a manager, and his days growing up on the streets of St. Louis, Berra shows how respect and cooperation made him a success on the field and in life. Lessons include the importance of punctuality, owning ones mistakes, and a positive attitude. For better or worse, nuggets of wisdom (“Never give an opponent added motivation”) are buried beneath a mountain of less-than-insightful sports ephemera (Derek Jeter is “a good leader because he always knows and does whats right”). Still, Berras optimism and wry, absurdist sense of humor make it a fast read that should resonate with fans; as one would expect, Berra includes plenty of well-meaning advice in his signature, well-near-meaningless style: “Unless you have an excuse, theres no excuse.”
(May) (
Publishers Weekly, June 2008)
""...[it] offers nearly half a century's distilled wisdom on the subject of teammates and the value of team play from the biggest winner (14 pennants and 10 World Series rings) in baseball history..."" (YouCanObserveSyn, April 13, 2008)
""...[it] offers nearly half a century's distilled wisdom on the subject of teammates and the value of team play from the biggest winner (14 pennants and 10 World Series rings) in baseball history..."" (Post Dispatch (St Louis), April 6, 2008)
Review
Notorious for his run-ins with the English language, baseball great Berra has become an improbably prolific author. He and coauthor Kaplan follow up 2002’s
What Time Is It? You Mean Now? with this charming, if meandering, book about teamwork. In anecdote after anecdote about his legendary career with the Yankees, his not-so-legendary career as a manager, and his days growing up on the streets of St. Louis, Berra shows how respect and cooperation made him a success on the field and in life. Lessons include the importance of punctuality, owning one’s mistakes, and a positive attitude. For better or worse, nuggets of wisdom (“Never give an opponent added motivation”) are buried beneath a mountain of less-than-insightful sports ephemera (Derek Jeter is “a good leader because he always knows and does what’s right”). Still, Berra’s optimism and wry, absurdist sense of humor make it a fast read that should resonate with fans; as one would expect, Berra includes plenty of well-meaning advice in his signature, well-near-meaningless style: “Unless you have an excuse, there’s no excuse.”
(May) (
Publishers Weekly, June 2008)
"...[it] offers nearly half a century's distilled wisdom on the subject of teammates and the value of team play from the biggest winner (14 pennants and 10 World Series rings) in baseball history..." (YouCanObserveSyn, April 13, 2008)
"...[it] offers nearly half a century's distilled wisdom on the subject of teammates and the value of team play from the biggest winner (14 pennants and 10 World Series rings) in baseball history..." (Post Dispatch (St Louis), April 6, 2008)
Synopsis
The most valuable team player in sports shows you what ""teamwork"" really means
What does it take to be a real team player, especially in a society that glorifies selfishness and a corporate culture that often uses ""team player"" as a buzzword but rewards only the showboaters and prima donnas? Well, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching. In this happy and hilarious guide to teamwork, sportsmanship, and winning, Yogi Berra draws on the timeless wisdom handed down by example from ballplayers who came before him to inspire you to make the right choices and become not only a better team player--at sports, at work, and in life--but a better person.
Filled with colorful stories from his life and career, not to mention the down-to-earth wit and insight that Yogi fans love, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching shows you how to make a bad team good and a good team great.
Synopsis
The Yankee great and bestselling author uses stories from his legendary career to show how to be a better team player
Yogi Berra is one of the most beloved and revered figures in all of baseball, and his humorously offbeat aphorisms such as "It ain't over 'til it's over" and "It's deja vu all over again" have endeared him to generations of baseball fans and non-fans alike.
Like any Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra's on-field statistics are impressive and quantifiable. In addition, he has the intangibles that recently prompted sports historian Allen Barra to call him "the most valuable team player in sports." Nearly all the pitchers he worked with did better with him behind the plate. Time and again, he came through for his teams when it counted most, from incredible clutch hitting to outstanding fielding and handling of pitchers.
What does it take to be a real team player, especially in a society that glorifies selfishness and a corporate culture that often uses "team player" as a buzzword, but rewards only the strong who survive? Drawing on the timeless wisdom that made his book When You Come to the Fork in the Road, Take It! a New York Times bestseller, Yogi uses examples from his life and career to inspire people to make the right choices and become not only better team players, but better people. With the down-to-earth wit and insight that Yogi fans love, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching will be entertaining, informative, and inspiring.
Yogi Berra (Montclair, NJ) is one of baseball's greatest catchers and ambassadors. His books include the New York Times bestseller When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! (978-0-7868-8744-6), Ten Rings: My Championship Seasons (978-0-06-074946-0), and The Yogi Book: "I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said!" (978-0-7611-1568-7). Dave Kaplan (Montclair, NJ), a former Associated Press editor and reporter for the New York Daily News, is the director of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center and the coauthor of several Yogi Berra books.
Synopsis
"The most valuable team player in sports" shows you what "teamwork" really means
What does it take to be a real team player, especially in a society that glorifies selfishness and a corporate culture that often uses "team player" as a buzzword but rewards only the showboaters and prima donnas? Well, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching. In this happy and hilarious guide to teamwork, sportsmanship, and winning, Yogi Berra draws on the timeless wisdom handed down by example from ballplayers who came before him to inspire you to make the right choices and become not only a better team player--at sports, at work, and in life--but a better person.
Filled with colorful stories from his life and career, not to mention the down-to-earth wit and insight that Yogi fans love, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching shows you how to make a bad team good and a good team great.
About the Author
YOGI BERRA is one of baseball's greatest catchers, the Yankees' greatest players, and the game's greatest ambassadors.
DAVE KAPLAN, a former editor and reporter for the New York Daily News, is the director of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center. He has cowritten Yogi's last three books.
Table of Contents
Team Player.
My Bad.
The Essence of a Teammate.
The Yankee Way.
Catching Perfection.
What Were They Thinking?
Stirring with Reggie.
Find Your Role.
Hard to Change.
Making Everyone Better.
Quiet Leaders.
Respect Your Team.
Not Over Till It’s Over.
Uniform Policy.
You, a Manager?
Index.