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Show " f - - ;, - '. ; 0 The Yo Yankee Stadium there is a green leather swivel In m i JT. 'svSyAsr MT lerrat -J,- -' chair..whichh--been41d- i fc"9 ig. A few weeks ago d - began to think about it, too. Owners Dan Topping and Del JVebb were aware ijfHhBerrashm of 1961Theyxiidnt take it seriously, though .evea whea it was rumored that several other cluba were big-leag- ue in- - terested in Yogi as a manager. Mets, It wasn't until the brand-neunder Polo Grounds playing at the old the managership pf the greatest man of them all, Casey Stengel, began to cut sharply into the Yankees' w boss's favorite "Naw," said Yogi, rather embarrassed. been walk"Haven't had the time-ju- st ing around it." But Yogi is too honest for even a little dissembling, and he soon was correcting himself.""Well, I sat in it once to try it." . A3 z' reporters-cornere- a rookie manager named Yogi Berra and asked him whether he had tried out the ,ioI '59. ed into comfortable shape by such illustrious baseball mafiagers as Casey StengeHtndRalphHoukrr i til - vfNERABLir public-relatio- ns attendance that the ultraconservative Yankee management took a long second look at the picture of Yogi Berra, manager. AllfasMdexi it seemed to be a pretty smart idea, and at the end of the 1 963 season, they promoted the pennants in three seasons) but not especially newsworthy Ralph Houk to the front office as general manager and installed Yogi in the dugout. "Can you do it, Yogi?" some of his oldest friends asked him point-blanThey weren't worried about Yogi's ability to call plays, to handle pitchers, or to pick pinch hitters. They realized that Yogi knew as much baseball as any man in them'-- : was hTlir'Wtot"'dIWorry. what would happtfwtieliYogT "had to read the riot act to a confirmed rule breaker, when he had to tell a hard- working rookie that he was being sent down to the minors or a popular old veteran that he was being released. The truth is, as Yogi wasted no time proving by the firm way he took charge of the Yankees' spring training camp, the real Yogi Berra is miles away from the amiableLmarticulat6 muscle man he has been made to appear. able--(thre- "A little low," Yogi replied. "Do those A v-- -- i 1 J't-- XHi'iiz l j. Jg ........ things swing up?" It was a symbolic question. Millions of baseball fans wonder how Yogi will get along in the most eminent throne in the game. I collaborated with Yogi on his autobiography, and I know most of the players and coaches who now work for him. Strange, but few seriously considered the question of Yogi as a manager tmtiHhisearrmtmir Mrs. Lawrence Berra. IN THE WINTER of 1962, when Yogi BACK happy about signing a two-ye- ar contract with the Yankees as a hitter for approximately $52,000, he told some of his close friends that the ball club had sweetened the contract with the understanding that he could, when through as a player, coach for the Yankees. Yogi was smart enough to understand catcher-outfielder-pin- activities, such as vice president and part owner of a soft-drin- k with Phil company and his Rizzuto of a $400,000 bowling alley in; Montclair, N.J., would benefit from a continuing relationship with the club. His wife Carmen, though, saw no reason why Yogi shou ldn't be more than a coach. She knew how much money coaches made, and she knew how much money managers made. She also knew that Yogi needed to be pushed, and she pushed him gently but firmly. "Why," she asked, "should you settle for a job as coach when you could be manager ?" Pauk Richards, one' of the most respected of all the professional managers, pushed the'point further when he volunteered a quo&xfor Yogis autobiography: "He'd make a finemanager, and why not? He's deadly seriouseven though he gives the impression of kigdng around behind the plate. He s smart . V . Why can't a fellow like him manage?' that his side-lin- a: i - ..,. .f. ft f ' 14 '" x ' t Behind that comic countenance and easygoing manner lies a keen and ambitious taskmaster as the Yankees are now learning By mm Author of "You Can't Beat the Hours" (with Mel Allen) and 'Yogi" (with Yogi Berra) 14 Family. Weekly, June 7,196$ f i k. e hip V ch e likes to get along with people, and to be liked in return but he doesn't let anybody take advantage of him. Yogi likes -- Pete Sheehy, the Yankees' senior club- house man, stiLDremembers Yogi returning the beat-u- p uniform cap handed him when he first came up to the Yankees late , in 1946. "Give mea-ne- w one," Yogi said gruffly. on a "I'm player this club." George Weiss, who used to be the eral manager of the Yankees and now ---- w operates in that capacity for the Mets, will never forget the bitter salary duels Yogi waged with him in the years when he was pushing his pay up from the $15,000 to the $50,000 level (where it remains despite Yankee propaganda about starting him off as manager at the same $35,000 Houk was paid in his first year). Once, at the end of a fruitless discussion that found them still more than apart, Yogi put Weiss, who was $10,000 respon- - |