| Carl Yastrzemski | |
|---|---|
 Yastrzemski with the Boston Red Sox in 1966 | |
| Left fielder /First baseman | |
| Born: (1939-08-22)August 22, 1939 (age 86) Southampton, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 11, 1961, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1983, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .285 |
| Hits | 3,419 |
| Home runs | 452 |
| Runs batted in | 1,844 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1989 |
| Vote | 94.6% (first ballot) |
Carl Michael Yastrzemski Sr. (/jəˈstrɛmski/yə-STREM-skee; born August 22, 1939), nicknamed "Yaz",[1] is an American former professionalbaseball player whoplayed his entire 23-year career with theBoston Red Sox ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). He started his career primarily as aleft fielder, but also played 33 games as a third baseman.[2] Later in his career, he was mainly afirst baseman anddesignated hitter.[2]
Yastrzemski is an 18-timeAll-Star, the possessor of sevenGold Gloves, a member of the3,000 hit club, and the firstAmerican League player in that club to also accumulate over 400home runs.[3] He is second on the all-time list for games played, and third for total at-bats. He is the Red Sox's all-time leader in careerRBIs, runs, hits, singles, doubles, total bases, and games played, and is third on the team list for home runs, behindTed Williams andDavid Ortiz.[3] He was elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in1989 in his first year of eligibility.[4]
In1967 Yastrzemski achieved a peak in his career, leading the Red Sox to the American Leaguepennant for the first time in over two decades and being voted the 1967American League MVP. Yastrzemski also won theTriple Crown that year, something not accomplished again in the Major Leagues untilMiguel Cabrera did so in 2012.[2][5][6]
Yastrzemski was born inSouthampton, New York, to Karol Yastrzemski (anglicized to Carl) and Hattie Skonieczny.[2] Both his parents were of a Polish background, and young Carl wasbilingual from an early age. Raised on his father's potato farm, Carl played on sandlot baseball teams with his father, who, he maintains, was a better athlete than he was. He graduated in 1957 fromBridgehampton School. Yastrzemski also playedLittle League Baseball, and became the first Little League player to be inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame.[7][8][9] He attendedNotre Dame on a basketball scholarship (his career Long Island high school scoring mark at Bridgehampton broke one previously held byJim Brown) briefly before embarking on his baseball career.
Yastrzemski signed with the Red Sox organization, which sent him to theminor-leagueRaleigh Capitals in1959, where he led the league with a .377 batting average.[1][10] The organization moved him to theMinneapolis Millers for that post-season and the1960 season.[11] Yastrzemski, who had studied business at Notre Dame, fulfilled a promise to his parents by finishing his degree atMerrimack College inNorth Andover, Massachusetts, in 1966.[12]
Yastrzemski began his major-league career in1961[2] and hit his first home run off of former Red Sox pitcherJerry Casale.[13] From the beginning, there was tremendous pressure on him to perform as he succeeded to the position of the great Red Sox legendTed Williams.[3] He proved to be a worthy successor at the plate and a far superior defensive player with a strong arm, expert in playing off theGreen Monster,Fenway Park's left-field wall. In 12 years as a left fielder, Yastrzemski won seven Gold Gloves and led the team in assists seven times.[14][15]
While his first two years were viewed as solid but unspectacular, he emerged as a rising star in1963, winning theAmerican League batting championship with a batting average of .321, and also leading the league in doubles and walks, finishing sixth in theMost Valuable Player voting.[16][17]
Yastrzemski enjoyed his best season in1967, when he won theAmerican LeagueTriple Crown with a .326batting average, 44home runs (tied withHarmon Killebrew), and 121RBIs.[5] Yastrzemski's Triple Crown win in 1967 was the last time a major league hitter won the Batting Triple Crown untilMiguel Cabrera in the 2012 season (conversely, six different pitchers have since won the pitchers' version). He was votedMost Valuable Player almost unanimously (one voter choseCésar Tovar of theTwins).[6] His 12.4WAR was the highest since Babe Ruth's 1927 season.[18]
1967 was the season of the "Impossible Dream" for the Red Sox (referring to the hit song from the musicalMan of La Mancha), who rebounded from a ninth-place finish a year before to win the American League pennant (their first since1946) on the last day of the season.[19] With the Red Sox battling as part of a four-team pennant race, Yastrzemski hit .513 (23 hits in 44 at-bats) with five home runs and 16 runs batted in over the last two weeks of the season, and the Red Sox finished a mere one game ahead of theDetroit Tigers andMinnesota Twins.[19][20] The Red Sox went into the final two games of the season trailing the Twins by one game and leading the Tigers by one-half game. Their final two games were against Minnesota with the pennant and home run title (hence, the triple crown) on the line. In the Saturday game, Yastrzemski went 3 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBI. Killebrew also homered, but the Red Sox won, 6–4. Thus the teams went into the final game tied for first place, and Yastrzemski and Killebrew were tied with 44 home runs apiece. In the final game, neither player homered, but Yastrzemski went 4 for 4 with 2 RBI in a 5-3 Red Sox win. In the two games with the pennant on the line, Yastrzemski was 7 for 8 with six RBIs.
The Red Sox lost theWorld Series four games to three to theSt. Louis Cardinals, losing three times toBob Gibson.[21] Yastrzemski batted .400 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI in the series. After the season, he fell one vote shy of a unanimous MVP award. He also won theHickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year andSports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" Award.
In an article he co-wrote for the November 1967 issue ofSPORT magazine, Yastrzemski credited Boston's remarkable season to managerDick Williams and an infusion of youth, includingRico Petrocelli andTony Conigliaro. Of Williams, Yastrzemski wrote: "He got rid of all the individuality, made us into a team, gave us an incentive, and made us want to win."[22]
In1968 Yastrzemski again won the batting championship.[23] Because of the competitive advantages pitchers enjoyed between 1963 and 1968 (before the lowering of thepitcher's mound following the 1968 season), Yastrzemski's .301 mark in "The Year of the Pitcher" is the lowest average of any batting champion in major league history; he was the only hitter in the American League to hit .300 that season against such formidable pitching, and led the league in on-base percentage and walks.[23]
In1969, Yastrzemski had the first of two consecutive 40-home run seasons as he led the Red Sox to third-place finishes that year and the next. In the1970 All-Star Game he got four hits, tying the record, and was named the game MVP in a losing effort.[24] He is one of two players to win the All-Star Game MVP Award despite playing for the losing team,Brooks Robinson having done so in1966. Yastrzemski's .329 batting average that season was his career high, but he finished second behind theCalifornia Angels'Alex Johnson for the batting title by less than .001.[25] In 1970, Yastrzemski led the league in slugging and on-base percentage, finishing third in home runs.[25] In the early 1970s, Yastrzemski suffered hand injuries that drastically reduced his power and productivity until healed. He also suffered a permanent shoulder injury that reduced his power, causing him to change his distinctive batting stance. Although he hit but 61 home runs over the next four years (1971–1974) as the Red Sox finished second twice and third twice, he finished in the top 10 in batting, and top three in on-base percentage and walks in1973 and 1974, and led the league in runs scored in 1974.[26][27]
In the1975 All-Star Game, Yastrzemski was called topinch-hit in the sixth inning, with two men on base and the American League down 3–0. Without wearing a batting helmet, he hitTom Seaver's first pitch for a home run to tie the score.[28] The three-run homer was the only scoring the American League did that night as they lost 6–3.
Yastrzemski and the Red Sox suffered another World Series loss in1975, losing four games to three to theCincinnati Reds.[29] He made the final out in Game 7 on a fly out to center, trailing by one run.[30] Coincidentally, he also made the final out of the1978 American League East tie-breaker game with a foul pop to third base.[31] This game featuredBucky Dent's famous homer (althoughReggie Jackson's was the eventual winning run). Earlier in the game, Yastrzemski began the scoring with a home run off left-handed pitcherRon Guidry, who was having a career year (25 wins, 3 losses and a 1.74 ERA).[31] It was the only homer theCy Young Award winner allowed to a left-hander all season.
On May 19,1976, Yastrzemski hit three home runs against the Detroit Tigers atTiger Stadium.[32] He then went toYankee Stadium and hit two more, tying the major league record of five home runs in two consecutive games.[33][34]In1978 Yastrzemski, then 39, was one of the five oldest players in the league.[35] On September 12, 1979, Yastrzemski achieved another milestone, becoming the first American League player with 3,000 career hits and 400 home runs.[36] In1982, playing primarily as a designated hitter, an early season hitting streak placed him among the league's leading hitters and saw him featured on the cover ofSports Illustrated and played in that year's All-Star game.
Yastrzemski retired at the end of the1983 season at age 44,[37] though he wrote in his autobiographyYaz that he was planning on playing the1984 season until he was tired from a long midseason slump. He also said that had he known how goodRoger Clemens would be, he would have played in 1984 to have had a chance to play with him.
No player has had a longer career with only one team, 23 seasons, a record he shares withBrooks Robinson of theBaltimore Orioles.[3] His final career statistics include 3,308games played (second all-time and the most with a single team), 3,419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 home runs, 1,844 RBIs, and a batting average of .285.[2] He had 1,845walks in his career, and 1,157 extra base hits. Yastrzemski was the first player to collect over 3,000hits and 400 home runs solely in the American League (the feat has since been accomplished byCal Ripken Jr.).[38] He was named to theAll-Star Game 18 times.[2] Yastrzemski won three American Leaguebatting championships in his career.[4] In addition, he trails onlyTy Cobb andDerek Jeter in hits collected with a single team, and trails only Cobb, Jeter andTris Speaker in hits collected playing in the American League. Yastrzemski is alsoFenway Park's all-time leader in hits, doubles, and RBIs. By the time of his retirement, he was the all-time leader in plate appearances, since surpassed byPete Rose.
As one of the top players of his era, he was elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility, with the support of 94% of voters. He is one of the few Hall of Famers to directly succeed another Hall of Famer at the same position.[38] For his entire career with the Red Sox, he wore uniform number 8. The Red Sox retired this number on August 6, 1989, after Yastrzemski was elected to the Hall of Fame.[39] In 1999, Yastrzemski ranked 72nd onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.[40] That same season, he was named a finalist to theMajor League Baseball All-Century Team.[41] Prior to his induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1986, Yastrzemski was inducted into theNational Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.[42] He was inducted into theSuffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Baseball Category with the Class of 1990.
Yastrzemski thought thatTommy John was one of the hardest pitchers for him to hit against. This surprised John, who remembered Yastrzemski hitting him well while he was with the White Sox (1965–71). John concluded that Yastrzemski must be remembering his years with the Yankees beginning in 1979, when John fared better in their matchups.[43]
Along withJohnny Pesky, Yastrzemski raised the2004 World Series championship banner over Fenway Park.[44] He is currently a roving instructor with the Red Sox, and was honored by throwing out theceremonial first pitch for Game 1 of the 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series.[45] In August 2008, Yastrzemski underwent successfultriple bypass heart surgery atMassachusetts General Hospital. The Red Sox honored him with a statue outside Fenway Park on September 23, 2013. Yastrzemski threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park on April 4, 2025, after a ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the1975 Boston Red Sox team.
His son Carl Michael Yastrzemski Jr., known as Mike, playedcollege baseball for theFlorida State Seminoles and was drafted by theAtlanta Braves in the third round in 1984. He started his professional career with theDurham Bulls and eventually played for twoChicago White Sox affiliated teams in theTriple-APacific Coast League, first with theHawaii Islanders in 1987 and then ending his playing career with theVancouver Canadians in 1988.[46] He died in 2004 at age 43 from ablood clot after having hip surgery.[47]
Carl's grandsonMike Yastrzemski (Carl Jr's son) plays for theKansas City Royals.[48] He was drafted by the Red Sox in 2009 and theSeattle Mariners in 2012. However, he did not sign with either team, as he played college baseball for theVanderbilt Commodores. He signed with the Baltimore Orioles after being selected in the2013 MLB draft. He rose through Baltimore'sfarm system, reaching Triple-A with theNorfolk Tides by 2016. In March 2019, he was traded to theSan Francisco Giants organization, and he made his MLB debut with the Giants on May 25, 2019.[49] On September 17, as a member of the Giants, in his first game played atFenway Park, Mike went 2-for-7 with a home run and a double.[50] In the next game of the series on September 18, Carl threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Mike.[51]
Through the end of the 2017 season, on the all-time lists for Major League Baseball, Yastrzemski ranks first for games played for one team, second for games played, third for at-bats, sixth for bases on balls, eighth for doubles, ninth for hits, ninth fortotal bases, 13th forextra-base hits, and 14th for RBIs.[2]
| Category | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | XBH | SB | CS | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG | FLD% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 3,308 | 11,988 | 1,816 | 3,419 | 646 | 59 | 452 | 1,844 | 5,539 | 1,157 | 168 | 116 | 1,845 | .285 | .379 | .462 | .988 |
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle May 14, 1965 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
