BRADENTON, Fla., March 13 — It was 8:30 on Monday morning, and the greatest living Yankee was watching a DVD in his underwear.

Yogi Berra, two months from his 81st birthday, had the seat at
Joe Torre's desk in the manager's office at Legends Field in
Tampa. He was wearing a gray Spalding T-shirt, white
undershorts and navy blue baseball socks pulled up to his
knees. It is the clubhouse apparel of a baseball lifer, and Berra
is still in his element.

As players filed in for a bus trip to McKechnie Field here , Berra
and others watched a collection of highlights narrated by Mickey
Vernon, a star of Berra's era for the Washington Senators.
Berra was enthralled.

"I've got to get a copy of that," he said. "It's got old guys and
presidents throwing out the first ball and everything. That was a
tradition — you open up with the president. I saw Truman, I saw 
Ike, I saw them all on opening day. We're going back, though."

Berra, of course, can go back as well as anyone. He won 10 World
Series in a Hall of Fame career with the Yankees, and he remains an 
icon of the game. These days, though, he is more than a symbol.

Berra travels to almost every spring training road game, as he has
for years, and he is not afraid to make a suggestion.

"Yesterday, we were having trouble locating the ball with our pitchers
because of the mound out there," said catcher Kelly Stinnett, recalling
a game in Winter Haven against Cleveland. "He thought maybe
I should put the target up a little sooner. I said, 'Hey, that's cool.'
Anything to help."

Berra did not make the trip here Monday for the Yankees' 9-8  loss
to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After the morning workout in Tampa,
he left to spend a few days with Arnold Palmer at the Bay
 Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando.

But Berra will return Sunday, and Torre says he expects him to
stay for the rest of camp. Berra rides to road games in a car with
Torre and the coaches Ron Guidry and Lee Mazzilli. Guidry picks up
Berra in the morning and often dines with him at night.

"He just loves it," Guidry said. "He epitomizes what baseball's all
about. To be able to hang around him as much as I have, it's a
pleasure."

Torre smiled as he described the one problem with long road
trips: bathroom breaks. He described a scene in which Torre, Berra,
Guidry and Mazzilli pulled into a gas station off the highway.

Berra and Guidry got out of the car, in full uniform.

"I'm sure people were looking around, wanting to know where the
cameras were," Torre said. "They must have thought it was a
commercial."

There is always a funny side to Berra's visits. A couple of years ago,
Berra told Torre he was leaving for Washington to film a television
advertisement. Torre asked which company Berra was endorsing.
"Amtrak," he replied. He meant to say Aflac, the insurance company.

"He's beautiful, absolutely beautiful," Torre said, laughing. "But
through it all, when he's talking about baseball, he's right on. He
comes down here, and it comes back to him. I should get a tape
recorder — not to laugh at, but to see how much is in the tank."

Berra said he enjoyed watching the rookies at spring training; last
March, he took a liking to pitcher Sean Henn.

Berra's last full-time job was as a coach for the Houston Astros from 1986 to 1992. 

"I stayed in baseball, until I quit," Berra said. "But I enjoy it, I really do.
It gets me away from the cold weather. But I enjoy watching the
catchers. It's fun. You pick up stuff and talk to them."

Berra spent 14 years in a self-imposed exile from the Yankees,
staying away after George Steinbrenner, the principal owner,
fired him as manager just 16 games into the 1985 season. He
reconciled with Steinbrenner and returned in 1999.

Jorge  Posada was emerging as the starting catcher then, and
he has developed a close bond with Berra. At first, they talked about
the technical aspects of catching.

More recently, Berra has stressed the mental aspect.

There is not much more to teach, he said.

"He's been here long enough," Berra said. "He knows it better than
I do. But you still watch."

Now, Posada said, Berra's advice is simple: have fun. Catching is
the hardest position on the field, Berra will say, so be prepared and enjoy yourself.

"He makes things easy," Posada said. "I think our relationship is
more of a friendship than anything."

Still, this is not just any friend. This is the man who coined "It ain't
over till it's over." This is the catcher who jumped into Don Larsen's
arms after a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. This is a legend
in double-knits.

"In a funny way, you look at him when you're talking to him and
you think, 'You're talking to Yogi Berra,' " Posada said. "Who's got
the luxury of having somebody like that?"

In Tampa or Winter Haven, Sarasota or Clearwater, and even
at a rest stop or two in between, the Yankees still have Yogi Berra.