Columbus Dispatch Reviews YOGI

BATTER UP!
Baseball fans can head for home with books about the game
Sunday, March 30, 2008 3:19 AM
By Bill Eichenberger
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The second-most beautiful words in the English language: Pitchers and catchers report.
The most beautiful words in the English language: Play ball!

It reminds me of something Rogers Hornsby, a Hall of Fame second baseman who played from 1915 to 1937, once said: "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

Well, spring is nigh because major leaguers are playing spring-training games and book publishers are sending out new baseball titles faster than a Nolan Ryan heater streaking toward home plate.

Here are a few titles to warm you up for the season:

• Yogi: The Life and Times of an American Original, Carlo DeVito (Triumph, 412 pages, $25.95)
Mickey Mantle once speculated that New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra said only about a third of the things attributed to him.

"(St. Louis Cardinals catcher and Berra boyhood pal Joe) Garagiola made up a third," Mantle said, "and the (sports) writers made up the rest."

DeVito proposes in Yogi to cut through the tall tales and the myth to uncover the man "genuinely one of the greatest players ever to pick up a bat and ball. . . . And no matter how humorous his remarks are, his accomplishments were hard-earned and fairly won."

Read the rest at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2008/03/30/2_BASEBALL_BKS.ART_ART_03-30-08_E4_KS9O3D3.html?sid=101

YOGI Appears on The Dan Brady Sports Show

Dan Brady was kind enough to have me on his show as a call-in guest. Dan was great. He was well prepared. He was very interested and it was a lot of fun.

Dan Brady owns two Emmy Awards won in Cincinnati for local broadcast journalism.

According to Rob Anthes, a staff writer for HamiltonSpace.com in New Jersey, "They're the remnants of a sportscasting career that took Brady to metropolises like Tampa, Philadelphia and Washington. All in all, Brady delivered the news in eight cities during a 19-year span.But on this night, Brady takes his increasingly-familiar spot in a chair in front of a black backdrop. It's the 16th week Brady will broadcast his Internet sports show live from the headquarters of New Century Television — better known as Schwartz's Newtown, Pa., basement.There's one stage light. There's one camera." And there were 75 viewers.

According to Anthes, "People have noticed. Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King mentioned Brady and the show in an online column. The show lengthened from 30 minutes to an hour in late January, regularly receives between 50 and 75 viewers and is now "simulcast" on other Web sites that have thousands of viewers."

You can watch his show at: http://nctv3.com/bradysports/index.html

YOGI Featured on SPORTSTALKNY With Mark Rosenman

On March 26th, at 9:30 I appeared on SPORTSTALKNY an internet TV show found on USTREAMTV. Thier website is http://web.mac.com/rosenmans11/site_3/SPORTSTALKNY.html

Mark was very knowledgable and had obviously read the material. We talked about Yogi growing up in St. Louis and about his accomplished career. It was very fun! Mark's a great guy! And the clips from his shows look good - although I was upset to see him wearing a Red Sox jersey during our inerview! Thanks, Mark, for the opportunity.

Mark is no stranger to Sportstalk as he was a long time host on WGLI’S The Mighty 1290S Monday Night Sports.

Mark is a long time Ranger Season ticket holder, who brings his passion and knowledge of the Blueshirts every show. In addition he has had seasons tickets to Mets , and has been a coach to a high level Travel Baseball team for the last 10 years with some of his players now playing and starting on Division 1 teams. He has many contacts within the NY Sports Press.

My clip is preceeded by an interview with Ed Randall. You can watch the clip at either of these urls:

http://web.mac.com/rosenmans11/site_3/SPORTSTALKNY_ARCHIVE/Entries/2008/3/26_SPORTSTALKNY_SHOW_16_ED_RANDALL%2C_CARLO_DEVITO.html

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sportstalkny

YOGI Author Talks to WFUV's "One on One" Show

Appeared on WFUV's "One on One" call-in sports radio show on Saturday, March 22,2008. They guys were really nice and producer Bob Arhens was very funny and filled with wonderful stories. A great thrill to be on.

WFUV News/Sports:
'One on One' Sports Show
WFUV is the originating home of the longest-running sports call-in show in New York.

Established in 1974 and still going strong - that's One on One, New York's longest-running sports call-in show.

One on One is totally a product of the WFUV Sports 24-member student staff, under the supervision of Executive Sports Producer Bob Ahrens. The show is hosted by nine of the students on a rotating basis, with the rest of the staff producing, engineering, writing, and airing the sports updates.

The list of show alumni reads like a "who's who" and includes play-by-play announcers, sportscasters, broadcast executives, team management, and sports journalists. They all have been hosts of the show since its inception in 1974, following in the tradition set by Vin Scully.

Malcolm Moran of USA Today was WFUV Sports Director at the time, and the originator of the 'One on One' name. "The show was created," he said, "because at the time there was a need for it. There was no sports call-in show in New York City on a regular basis." Beginning with one hour on Sunday nights, the show grew to three hours on Saturday and Sunday evenings and eventually to its current spot on Saturday afternoons from 1-4pm.

As part of a 30th Anniversary celebration, the summer of 2005 featured special guest shows as we brought back some of the hosts dating back to the beginning of the show.

Now more feature-oriented than before, One on One utilizes a broad range of guests and offers in-depth analysis of all sports. Documentaries on Jackie Robinson, on the Mets' 40th Anniversary and on the Yankees' 100th Anniversary are among 15 WFUV Sports programs and four series in the Baseball Hall of Fame archives. Ten of the One on One features have won awards in regional, national and international broadcast competitions.

The afternoon airtime has enabled One on One to go on the road, broadcasting live from Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, Cooperstown (on Hall of Fame Weekend), both the golf and tennis U.S. Opens, the NFL Draft and Belmont Park on Racing's Triple Crown Saturday.

You can hear One on One Saturday afternoons from 1-4pm.

Sports Business Journal

Sports Business Jounral

by John Genzale

March 17, 2008

When Carlo DeVito began writing the biography “Yogi” (Triumph), he thought that Yogi Berra, the former Yankees catcher and American icon, and his friends would be eager to participate. The Mara family did when DeVito wrote Wellington Mara’s biography. And DeVito’s take on Berra is glowing. But during his second conversation with Yogi’s old St. Louis friend, Joe Garagiola, he said he was asked: “Why are you doing this? Why do you want to hurt Yogi?” DeVito came away with the belief that Berra family and friends are “protective of Yogi as a brand.” DeVito, who owns a Vermont winery and makes maple syrup, finds similarities with Yogi’s history with the soft drink Yoo-Hoo and his Italian-immigrant family history. DeVito said he was driven to write the biography because of Berra’s universal appeal. As a demonstration, he tells of a business lunch with the late David Halberstam and Gay Talese. “Halberstam insisted on hearing about Berra before he would talk business.”

MSNBC Rave Review of YOGI: The Life and Times of an American Original

YOGI Taking A Serious Look At
Tampa Bay Online

updated 12:50 a.m. ET, Fri., March. 21, 2008

By BOB D'ANGELO

Fans of Yogi Berra should thank Carlo DeVito for making his biography necessary.

Berra's fractured language sometimes overshadowed his Hall of Fame baseball career. In "Yogi: The Life and Times of an American Original," (Triumph, $25.95), DeVito strips away the cartoon character and digs deeper into the real person. The result is a well-balanced, serious look at one of the game's all-time greats.

Berra did not get to Cooperstown because of his earthy (but generally insightful) sayings. He wielded a dangerous bat during his career, hitting 358 homers, and was one of the game's best clutch hitters. He played in 14 World Series and won 10 titles. He also managed the Yankees (1964) and Mets (1973) to the World Series before losing in seven games each time.

"He is as much a part of New York as dirty-water dogs and cheesecake," DeVito writes.
With plenty of detail and anecdotes, DeVito traces Berra's burning desire to succeed in baseball from his childhood in St. Louis. He reveals a canny businessman who was not afraid of tough negotiations in contract talks with the Yankees' front office.

While his teammates threw their money into frivolous schemes, Berra became wealthy through his involvement with Yoo-hoo chocolate drinks. He enjoyed the boom in bowling and got out before that market crashed.

Berra also was savvy enough to play off his reputation as a malapropism master, much to the dismay of the AFLAC duck.

"On the one hand, they media created a character that didn't exist; on the other, he cashed in on it," DeVito writes.

DeVito looks at Berra's signature phrases: "It ain't over till it's over," "When you get to a fork in the road, take it" and "I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary," sifts fact from fiction and puts them in their proper context.

DeVito's research is thorough and his prose, while not glittering, is workmanlike. It reflects his subject perfectly.

KTRS 550 Radio, St. Louis Features YOGI

Mike Clairborne at KTRS St. Louis, MO featured an interview with the author Carlo DeVito on Thursday night, March 6.

Mike Claiborne has been part of the St. Louis Sports Community since 1981. After a ten year stint that at KMOX that saw him host and co-host Sports Open Line, Sports on a Sunday Morning and also radio sales. He moved on to be part of the first show of the then new All Sports format. During that fifteen year run he served a tour of duty in every day part including a eleven year run in afternoon drive. A program director on two different occasions he also served as pre and post game host for baseball, football and hockey programming for that station. In addition he has served as color analyst for St. Louis University Basketball on radio for four years as well as MUSK basketball ball on cable TV for four years.

Thanks Mike!