1976 Topps #230 - Carl Yastrzemski

• Mr. Yastrzemski had a long and distinguished career with the Boston Red Sox. Carl has a lot of black ink on his baseball reference stat page:

• batting (1963, 1967, 1968)

• home runs (1967)

• RBI (1967)

• hits (1963, 1967)

• runs (1967, 1970)

• doubles (1963, 1965, 1966)

• walks (1963, 1969)

• on base percentage (1963, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970)

• slugging (1965, 1967, 1970)

• Lifetime:

• 18 All Star Games

• 1 MVP (1967) - 5 top-ten finishes

• 1 Triple Crown (1967)

• 7 Gold Gloves

• 2nd in games played (3,308)

• 3rd in at bats (11,988)

• 6th in hits (3,419)

• 8th in doubles (646)

• 6th in walks (1,845)

• Carl also had a lot of success in the post season. He batted .400 with three home runs in the 1967 World Series, .455 with one HR in the 1975 ALCS, and .310 in the 1975 World Series.

• The first time Carl came on my "radar" was in the 1975 World Series. My father had bought a scorebook and was teaching me how to keep score. I didn't know why he wrote in "Yaz" until I saw the full name on the TV screen. I was really proud of myself later when I learned how to spell his last name.

• Yaz was signed by the Red Sox in 1958. He batted .377 as an infielder for Class B Raleigh in 1959 and .339 for AAA Minneapolis in 1960. Carl had the unenviable task of succeeding Ted Williams as the Boston left fielder in 1961.
• Listed below are articles that were written throughout (and after) Carl's career. They can probably tell his story better than I can.

• Here is a May 20, 1963 Sports Illustrated article about Carl

• Here is a December 25, 1967 Sports Illustrated article announcing that Yaz was Sportsman of the Year for 1967.

• Here is a March 16, 1970 Sports Illustrated article about "The Team that Eats Managers."

• Here is a July 10, 1972 Sports Illustrated article about Yaz that wonders whether or not he has lost his power after some injuries.

• Here is a September 24, 1979 Sports Illustrated article about Carl's 3000th hit.

• Here is a September 1981 Baseball Digest article recalling Carl's most memorable games.

• Here is a November 1989 Baseball Digest about how tough of an opponent Yaz was.
• Here is a November 2000 Baseball Digest article about Yastrzemski.

• Carl's identity was stolen by his late son Mike late in his life. Carl was stuck with quite a few of his son's debts.
  

• Carl is now a roving instructor with the Red Sox. Here is his webpage.

• Liked to face: Jim Perry (.300, 5 HR in 140 AB); Jim Slaton (.409, 4 HR in 88 AB); Wilbur Wood (.324, 4 HR in 74 AB); Blue Moon Odom (.447, 5 HR in 47 AB)

• Hated to face: Gaylord Perry (.161 in 87 AB); Jim Hunter (.219 in 114 AB); Sam McDowell (.190 in 63 AB)