DeBerry was born in Savannah, Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee. He began his professional baseball career in 1914 at the age of 19 with the Paducah Indians of the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League. He made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians on September 12, 1916, at the age of 21. DeBerry appeared in 25 games for the Indians in 1917, but spent most of the season playing for the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association. He joined the United States Navy in 1918 during the First World War. He returned to professional baseball after the war, playing for the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association from 1919 to 1921.\n', '

DeBerry returned to the major leagues in 1922 when the Brooklyn Robins purchased his contract from the Pelicans. Ironically, the Robins wanted to acquire DeBerry, but the Pelicans would not complete the deal unless Vance was included in the transaction. He was expected to be a backup catcher for Otto Miller however, Miller only appeared in 33 games and DeBerry caught the majority of the Robins\' games that season. He finished the year with a career-high .301 batting average and was third among National League catchers in range factor. From 1923 to 1925, he shared catching duties with Zack Taylor.\n', '

It was during the 1920s that DeBerry developed his association with pitcher, Dazzy Vance and, the two players became known as one of the greatest batteries of their era. With DeBerry as his catcher, Vance led the National League in strikeouts for seven consecutive seasons between 1922 and 1928. Vance also twice led the league in wins. DeBerry caught the no hitter thrown by Vance on September 23, 1925. By 1930, the 35-year-old DeBerry was in decline and Al López had emerged as his successor. He played in his final major league game on September 28, 1930.\n', '

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