Red Sox: Top 10 Carl Yastrzemski moments
Known to millions of Boston Red Sox fans simply as, “Yaz,” Carl Yastrzemski is one of the greatest players in the history of Major League Baseball.
For 23 years, Carl Yastrzemski put on the number eight and played left field for the Boston Red Sox, earning 18 All-Star selections, seven Gold Glove awards, and the 1967 American League MVP.
The 1967 season would be the greatest of Yaz’s career. In addition to the MVP Award, Yaz won the Triple Crown, leading the league in home runs (44), RBI (121), and batting average (.326). Not only did Yaz record legendary statistics, he led the Red Sox to the World Series, beating the Minnesota Twins and his archival, Harmon Killebrew, in the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox would go on to lose the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.
After a career that spanned three decades, Yastrzemski retired in 1983, after playing in 3, 308 games, the most, at the time, in MLB history. He recorded 452 home runs, 3,419 hits, 1,844 RBIs, and a .285 batting average.
Six years later, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, on his first year of eligibility, with 94.63% of the vote. His number eight was retired by the Red Sox that same year. In 1999, he was named to the Baseball All-Century Team, and in 2013 the Red Sox built a statue in his honor.
For 55 years, Carl Yastrzemski has been a staple of Red Sox Nation. Here are his top ten moments:
Next: Moments 10 and 9
Number Ten: 472 Foot Home Run
While he may not have looked like the power hitters of today, Carl Yastrzemski was one of the most dominant power hitters of his day. He recorded 452 home runs throughout his career, and sits at 37th on the all-time home run list. In six separate seasons, he recorded over 100 walks, and in 1968 led the league with 119, and finished with a career total of 1,845, sitting at six on the all-time walk list.
Number Nine: Triples Twice Against the Yankees
On April 19, 1967, the Boston Red Sox and Jim Lonborg squared off against the New York Yankees and Fred Talbot. The game would be one for the record books, as the two teams battled for 18 innings, before the Yankees beat the Red Sox 7-6.
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While the Red Sox would go on the lose the game, Yastrzemski did not take a play off. He recorded five hits in nine plate appearances, and did something that not many baseball players have ever done in the game’s history: hit two doubles and two triples in one game. He scored two runs, recorded an RBI and a walk.
Yaz would go on to finish the season with four triples, 31 doubles, and a league-leading 112 runs scored. It would be an MVP caliber season, to say the least.
Next: Moments 8 and 7
Number Eight: Two-Run Single Ties The Game in Season Finale
If you haven’t figured it out by now, Yaz’s 1967 season was not only the best of his career, but one of the best seasons of any player in MLB history. And in 1967, as the regular season came to a close, Yaz did not cool down.
In the final game of the regular season, the Red Sox found themselves, in the bottom of the sixth inning, down two runs to the Minnesota Twins. With two men on base for the Red Sox, Yaz came to the plate and roped a single into center field to drive in two runs and tie the game.
The Red Sox would go on to score five runs, and beat the Twins 5-3. The series would be a preview to the American League Championship Series, where the two teams would face off, and the Red Sox would emerge victorious. Boston finished the 1967 atop the American League, with a 92-70 record, second only to the St. Louis Cardinals, who finished the season with an astounding 101-60 record.
Number Seven: Yaz Saves No-Hitter With Phenomenal Catch
In addition to his abilities behind the plate, Yaz was an elite fielder, continuing the legacy of the great Ted Williams in left field. During his 23 year career, he earned seven Gold Glove awards.
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In 1967, the Red Sox, with Billy Rohr on the mound, squared off against the Yankees and future Hall of Fame inductee Whitey Ford. In his first start as a major league pitcher, the 21 year-old Rohr was just one strike away from pitching a no-hitter against the mighty Yankees. However, Elston Howard hit a single into right field to end the bid.
However, the no-hitter was almost ended earlier in the inning, when Tom Tresh hit a long fly ball to left field. Yaz, however, was there to save the no-hitter, by making a Willie Mays-like catch, diving back and making the one-handed grab.
Next: Moments 6 and 5
Number Six: 1975 ALCS Two-Run Home Run
The Red Sox faced the Oakland A’s in the 1975 American League Championship Series. In Game Two, with Reggie Cleveland on the mound for Boston and Cy Young winner Vida Blue on the mound for the A’s, the Red Sox emerged victorious, winning 6-3.
However, in the bottom of the fourth, the Red Sox found themselves down 3-0, when number 8 came to the plate, and belted one over the Green Monster to cut the lead to one.
The Red Sox would go on to score four more runs, and win the game 6-3.
Number Five: Guns Out Reggie Jackson in 1975 ALCS
In Game Three of the same series, Yaz got the chance to show off his defensive prowess and his cannon of an arm.
At the end of the fourth inning, future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson tried extending a left field single into a double. It did not go well.
Moving to his right, Yaz fielded the ball and threw a one-hopping bullet to second base to get a sliding Jackson out.
The Red Sox would go on to win the game 5-3, wining the series and earning a trip to the World Series where they faced off against the Cincinnati Reds and the Big Red Machine. Per, “The Curse,” the Red Sox would lose the series in seven games.
Next: Moments 4 and 3
Number Four: Three Homer Game
On May 19, 1976, Yaz joined an elite club when he hit three home runs in one game. Against the Detroit Tigers, Yaz pulled two moon shots into the right field bleachers, and hit one more across the field over the left field wall.
The next day, at Yankee Stadium, Yaz would hit two more home runs, tying the major league record for five home runs in two games.
He finished the 1976 MLB season with 21 home runs, 102 RBIs, and 14th in MVP voting.
Tied- Number Three: Yaz Hits 44 Homers in 1967
While it may seem odd by today’s standards, Yaz’s Triple Crown winning season, where he led the league with 44 home runs was quite an achievement. While the individual totals that comprised his Triple Crown were not extraordinary or record breaking, and would be achieved by dozens of major leaguers, no player would win the Triple Crown again until Miguel Cabrera, forty-five years later, in 2012.
Tied- Number Three: 1967 World Series Game Six Home Run
The Boston Red Sox battled the St. Louis Cardinals for seven games in the 1967 World Series. The two teams split the first two games, and then the Cardinals won Game 3 and Game 4. The Sox then came back and won Games 5 and 6.
Boston’s Game 6 victory, in large part, can be attributed to Carl Yastrzemski, whose fourth inning home run tied the game, shifting the momentum and carrying the Sox to an 8-4 victory.
The Red Sox would go on to lost Game 7, 7-2.
Next: Moments 2 and 1
Number Two: 400th Home Run
On July 24, 1979, Yaz hit his 400th home run off the A’s Mike Morgan, who, when asked by The Boston Globe, said:
“The pitch, was a fastball I got up high. If I had gotten that pitch by him I would have thrown a breaking pitch next. No, I didn’t know it was his 400th homer. I’d rather give it up to him than anybody. He’s a great ball player, one of my heroes. I must have 10 or 15 baseball cards of Carl Yastrzemski. “
It was a great moment for Red Sox fans, who, for nearly a month were eagerly waiting for Yaz to reach this feat. He currently sits at 37 on the all-time home run list, with 452 home runs.
Number One: 3,000th Hit
On September 12, 1979, Yaz recorded his 3,000th career hit, against the New York Yankees. He became the first player to hit 400 home runs and 3,000 hits solely in the American League. He currently sits at number nine on the all-time hit list.
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Yaz’s achievements as a member of Red Sox nation are legendary. He truly is one of the greatest players in MLB history. His humility both on and off the field have made him an All-Time Fan Favorite.