Yankee great Yogi Berra learned the game as a 20-year-old in RI; why he used a pseudonym

Lawrence Peter Berra was known by his famous alias.

“Yogi.”

It served the New York Yankees superstar well for more than 19 seasons, 13 World Series rings and three MVP awards. The catcher reached rare air during his career — he earned the right to be known by one name.

But Yogi wasn’t his only nickname. Meet Joe Cusano.

It might have been the worst-kept secret when a sweet-swinging, 20-year-old, left-handed hitter arrived at Cranston Stadium in July 1945. Cusano was vividly different from everyone else playing in the New England Baseball League.

The Providence Journal called him The Swat King; he was a bull-shouldered corner outfielder who led assaults on opposing pitching. His earliest known debut was for the Cranston Firesafes and it occurred 80 years ago when Berra appeared for Cranston on July 25, 1945.

The Journal’s recap of Cranston’s 15-6 thumping of New London Electric Boat the following day states that the trio of Ed Cummings, Jim Mackey and none other than Joe Cusano led the way in the victory.

Cusano entered the game in the sixth inning and went 2-for-2. But why use the pseudonym?

Seaman Second Class Berra was still serving his commitment to the Navy in 1945. And he was already signed by the Yankees.

He enlisted at 18 years old and was in Normandy on June 6, 1944, at just 19, as a gunner’s mate. He was responsible for the operation and maintenance of all weapons onboard while also manning one of the ship’s machine guns throughout the mission. Berra earned a Purple Heart medal for his actions on Utah Beach that day.

Neither the Navy nor the Yankees would particularly approve of Berra’s extracurriculars with Cranston. So, the slugger ditched Yogi for Joe Cusano and the Italian-American was right at home with the Firesafes.

No explicit mention of Cusano’s real identity was found in The Journal’s archives until 1949. In the July 28 edition of the paper, Earl Lofquist wrote that "Yogi was playing baseball for the New London Submarine Base as Berra in the afternoon, and as Cusano for the Cranston Firesafes at certain other times."

One would like to think that everyone knew Cusano’s roots but never even thought to mention it. They had a future Hall of Famer in their backyard and one that certainly earned the right to a few extra swings.

Debbie Ort, secretary to the chancellor at Roger Williams University, helps baseball legend Yogi Berra into his robes before graduation ceremonies at the university in May 2001. Berra, a former New York Yankees star and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, received an honorary degree from the university that day.

Cusano on the Firesafes

It didn’t take long for Cusano to become a hit in Cranston. By July 29, he was already considered a regular for Cranston and manager Jack O’Donnell sat him, along with a few other starters, during a busy schedule that week.

Cusano was headlining The Journal’s sports section by early August. The slugger led Cranston to a 7-3 win over the Pawtucket Slaters in what would be a championship preview (more on that later) in Cranston. Cusano hit two home runs in front of the 6,300 in attendance and the show was officially on for the Firesafes.

The Journal called Cusano’s fourth-inning home run a “prodigious belt” that carried over the right-center-field fence for a 4-2 lead. His second home run was belted in the sixth and was pulled over the right-field wall. Cusano, playing right field that day, batted sixth in that contest and finished 3-for-4 at the plate.

The corner outfield spots were his primary position with the Firesafes as Gus Andersen backstopped Cranston. Andersen was so popular that he not only commanded catcher from a Hall of Famer, but the Firesafes hosted a “Gus Andersen Night” in September. He was awarded a watch from Firesafes club officials and a war bond from the New England League for winning the batting championship.

The extra time in the outfield served Berra well, though. He played left field early in his career with New York and appeared there in a game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sept. 22, 1956.

Yankees great Yogi Berra was honored in 2015 during a spring training game.

Red Sox front office staff member John Pohlmeyer was in the press box that night and is quoted by The Journal’s Joe McHenry for saying that Berra looked right at home in the outfield.

“I remember when Yogi played for the Firesafes down in Cranston," Pohlmeyer said then. "He played the outfield all right in those days. Could he swing that bat? Well, he still does. And he was a popular guy down in Rhode Island. Looks all right tonight, don’t he.”

Cusano had another two-home run day on Aug. 12 vs. Lawrence. And he tallied a third in a nightcap against Worcester as Cranston clinched the top seed in the New England Baseball League standings with the pair of wins.

One note: Just days before appearing in Cranston as Cusano, Yogi Berra hit a grand slam against the Firesafes with his New London Submarine Base team. He finished the game by going 5-for-6 with two home runs for the Navy club. Might this be where Cranston introduced the idea of Berra playing for them?

Yankees legend Yogi Berra at a sports memorabilia show at the Holiday Inn at the Crossings in Warwick in 1994.

Playoffs and league championship

By Sept. 1 and maybe earlier, Cusano was batting cleanup for the Firesafes. He protected Andersen in the semifinal lineup against Lynn when Cranston posted a 9-6 triumph at Cranston Stadium. Cusano went 2-for-4 with a run scored in the win, but the most interesting story to come out of the game was on Lynn’s side.

The Frasers, oddly enough, used an ineligible player in the game. New England Baseball League president Bob McGarrigle granted Cranston’s protest of the player. Little did McGarrigle know, or maybe he did and just didn’t care, Cusano had been playing with Cranston all season.

Cranston’s win set up a meeting with neighboring Pawtucket for the championship.

In the first two games, Cusano was held in check for the most part. He managed a 1-for-4 performance in Cranston’s 4-3 win in Game 1 and went 0-for-2 in the second contest — an 8-5 Firesafes triumph in 10 innings.

Pawtucket took Game 3, 7-1, behind its submarine pitcher as Charlie Bird twirled a three-hitter with Cusano managing one of those tallies. But in Game 4, batting in the five-hole, Cusano showed up. He went 2-for-3 with a two-RBI ground-rule double in the first inning of a 3-0 win. He smacked another double later in the game in front of the 6,500 in attendance at Pawtucket Stadium.

New York Mets manager Yogi Berra sits in the dugout at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati during the 1972 season.

In the Game 5 championship-clincher, Cusano went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in the 6-1 finish on Sept. 12. Cusano also cut down Warren Huston with a “bullet-like” throw from right field. The assist had Huston out at the plate with yards to spare.

Pawtucket manage Don Maynard didn’t mince words after the series when he said Cranston was “the strongest club to ever play in this league.”

Berra in the following years

Cusano played just one summer with Cranston as Yogi Berra moved to New York’s farm system in 1946. There’s a brief mention of Berra in The Journal in June 1946 after he hit a home run for the Newark Bears. The paper referred to him as the 1945 New England League home run king.

Another mention of Berra playing for Cranston was released on Sept. 26, 1946. By this time, he had already been called up by the Yankees after hitting 15 home runs and driving in 58 for Newark. By 1956, the secret didn't need to be kept and McHenry delivered the tell-all with a feature on Berra. The story appeared in the paper on Aug. 26, 1956, as Berra begins by recounting the rigors of big-league catching.

McHenry, who covered the ball player extensively, details his career further before writing that Berra's hometown of St. Louis and Norfolk “knew Yogi Berra first but Rhody got into the act early.”

He ends the piece by acknowledging the worst-kept secret in Rhode Island baseball history.

“Yogi is a shrewd catcher today and his batting is as good as it ever was. And it has always been good, even when he was Joe Cusano and his baseball skills hadn’t brought him to Yankee Stadium. In those days, he belonged to Uncle Sam first and secondly to Rhody.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Yankee great Yogi Berra learned the game as a 20-year-old in RI; why he used a pseudonym