In 1942, the St. Louis Cardinals overlooked Berra in favor of his boyhood best friend, Joe Garagiola Sr. On the surface, the Cardinals seemed to think that Garagiola was the superior prospect, but team president Branch Rickey actually had an ulterior motive. Rickey already knew that he was going to leave St. Louis to take over the operation of the Brooklyn Dodgers and was more impressed with Berra than he let on, he apparently had planned to hold Berra off, until he could sign him for the Dodgers. However, the Yankees signed Berra for the same $500 bonus ($ in current dollar terms) the Cardinals offered Garagiola before Rickey could sign Berra to the Dodgers.