Happy Birthday to the great Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski; no player has played more games for one team than the 3,308 he played for the Boston Red Sox, and he, along with fellow Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, hold the record for most years spent with one team, 23 years. During his twenty-three-year career with the Red Sox, Yastrzemski, nicknamed “Yaz,” wasn’t only the face of the franchise but one of the few greatest players of his time. 

Career Statistics/Accolades (1961-1983):

.285 BA 3,419 HITS 452 HR 1,844 RBI 1,816 RUNS .379 OBP

  • 18x All-Star
  • 7x Gold Glove
  • 3x Batting Champion
  • 1967 MVP/Triple Crown

Yaz, who had durability on his side, ranks third all-time in At Bats (11,988), sixth all-time in Walks (1,845), and eighth all-time in Doubles (646). Yaz was well known for his Batting Stance, holding the bat exceptionally high, which gave his swing a large dramatic arc. Most of his great baseball took place between 1962 and 1970. From 1962 to 68, the strike zone was extended from the top of the batter’s shoulder to the bottom of their knees, giving pitchers more of an advantage. During those years, Yaz led in OBP four times, won 3 Batting Titles, and led the league in Hits and Doubles multiple times. In 1967, his MVP season, he didn’t just win the Triple Crown; he won the Quadruple Crown, which is when you lead the league in Hits and Home Runs, Runs Batted In, and Batting Average, no player since Yaz has done that. [.326 BA 189 HITS 44 HR 121 RBI .418 OBP 112 RUNS] It’s hard to imagine how much better his numbers could’ve been had it not been for the extension of the strike zone. Yaz was the first player in the American League to collect 3,000 Hits and 400 Home Runs. In twenty of the twenty-three years he played, he drew more Walks than Strikeouts.

The Boston Red Sox are one of the most historic franchises in all of baseball, with a history of great players, mainly who played in front of the Green Monster in Left Field; Yaz is one of them, along with Ted Williams, Jim Rice, and Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox didn’t win a World Series during his time, losing to the Cardinals in 1967 and the Reds in 1975, both in seven games. However, you can’t say that the Sox lost because of Yaz. In the 14 World Series games Yaz played in, he batted .352. 

Of course, in 1989, Yaz was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot; that same year, the Red Sox also retired his #8 jersey. In 1999, he was ranked #72 on The Sporting News 100 Greatest Ball Players List. What’s crazy is that Yaz isn’t even the most excellent Red Sox ever lived; that’s how rich the Red Sox history is.

References:

  1. Carl Yastrzemski via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Yastrzemski# 
  2. Carl Yastrzemski Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/yastrca01.shtml