It was because I used to deliver papers to him. The paper cost two cents and he always gave me a nickel. I go back 40 years with Berra to his days as a fading Yankee star in the late 1950s into the early 1960s, his first managerial term with the Yankees, his shocking firing in 1964 after losing the World Series to the Cardinals, his coaching and managing days with the Mets, his return to the Yankees as a coach under Billy Martin and his quick time march as field boss under team Boss George Steinbrenner. Berra describes in his book when he officially became Yogi to himself as well as others. Sign them Yogi.
Nicknames matter in sports.
They excite the memory and warm the fans. A guy named George Ruth might have hit 714 homers but hardly would have become the icon of his age without the tag of Babe. I think not. He was a Pee Wee and so were we all in our sandlot battles. Not a chance.