Yogi Berra slaps a harmonica from utility player Phil Linz

On August 20, 1964 — Due to a misunderstanding caused by Mickey Mantle misinforming his teammate that their manager Yogi Berra had asked for the harmonica to be played louder, Phil Linz was playing Mary Had a Little Lamb”  a confrontation occurs on the back of the team bus between the skipper, who had actually asked for the music to stop.

As told by Mel Stottlemyre – “Yogi told Phil he was going to shove the harmonica up his ass if he kept playing — plus a few other things. I don’t know if it scared Phil but he tossed the harmonica toward Yogi, who slapped it out of the air and whacked it off Joe Pepitone’s knee.

Linz apologized the next day and he was fined $200,

With a bus full of reports the event was well well-publicized Linz apologized the next day and he was fined $200. Some say that seeing that side of Berra fired up the third-place team, who had just lost four consecutive games to the White Sox in Chicago, to a successful pennant run, but may have reinforced the perception Berra had lost control of the team with so much dissension on the club, leading to his dismissal after Game 7 of the World Series.



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Sources:
Baseball Reference August 20
National Pastime August 20
Retro Sheet
Hall of Fame
SABR Games Project
Replay The Game

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