Ten Rings: My Championship Seasons

The New York Times

Ten Rings, describing a career that spanned baseball's evolution from train travel to jet planes, lovingly evokes the people Berra encountered—teammates (as a rookie, Berra played with Joe DiMaggio; when he retired in 1963, he shared the dugout with Joe Pepitone), opponents, even umpires. Berra repeatedly cites as the secret of the Yankees' success the power of team spirit, and his book is an example of its warmth and power.—Michael Anderson

Publishers Weekly

In this breezy effort, New York Yankees legend Berra shares stories behind his 10 World Series championships. On the field, Berra's resume is impeccable-15 all-star appearances, 10 world championships and a couple of league MVP awards. Off the field, Berra is even more famous for the homespun malapropisms that have endeared him to generations of fans. In this effort, billed as Berra's only "memoir," the Yankee legend strikes a balance between both claims to fame. In charming, if occasionally mangled prose, Berra details a career that brought him from a poor St. Louis neighborhood to Cooperstown. He recounts signing with the Yankees for $500 and playing alongside the richest array of heroes in Yankees history, including Joe DiMaggio and famed manager Casey Stengel. Unfortunately, the book is so brief that readers will be left begging for more. The World Series recaps, while scant, are entertaining, and the details are at times fascinating: for example, after traveling to Milwaukee by plane for the first time in the 1958 series, no hotel would take the team, forcing them to lodge 35 miles away at a lakeside retreat. Berra's personal and family stories are also touching. In addition to being a baseball hero, Berra is a war hero who survived D-Day. Fans will be especially taken with how much baseball has changed since the dawn of free agency. Berra had to claw to get a modest raise after consecutive MVP awards in 1954 and 1955. For diehard fans, there really isn't much in this book they won't already know, but they'll find it impossible to put down. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Hall of Fame catcher Berra, whose playing career ended in 1965, is a throwback to a different era of baseball, and his latest book is a throwback to a kinder, gentler era of sports autobiography. Nowhere does he dish on or diss teammates and rivals, aside from stating the well known (Mickey Mantle drank too much, pitcher Ryne Duren drank way too much, and so on). Nowhere does he regale us with proof of his prowess as a lover and a party boy. True, we come away with the strong impression that he was not enamored of former Yankee General Manager George Weiss, but he has no low blows to throw at the man. He also mentions, though barely in passing, his 14-year self-imposed exile from Yankee Stadium owing to his ill treatment by owner George Steinbrenner. But if Yogi has axes to grind, there are no whetstones here. Instead, he concentrates on a straightforward, year-by-year account of the ten seasons between 1947 and 1962 that ended with his being fitted for another world championship ring. Even in this discussion, he breaks no new ground and doesn't offer particularly compelling reading, but it's rather nice today to hear one of the old-time, all-time greats hold court. Recommended for most public library baseball collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/03.]-Jim Burns, Jacksonville P.L., FL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.