Comments on: Olde Sox: Carl Yastrzemski Was The Most Red Sox

By: MJ

MJ — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 18:37:10 +0000

Yaz was good to fans, too, unlike Ted Williams. I’m sorry but one thing prevents me from Williams Worship— the classless act of not tipping his cap to the fans at his last home game. Inexcusable.

By: Chris D

Chris D — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 00:19:24 +0000

Yaz’ legendary work ethic allowed him to be a productive player for over 2 decades. His understanding of the angles and dimensions of the “Green Monster”gave him the ability to play very shallow and to cut down runners trying to stretch a single into a double. They cannot make them like him anymore. A true Redsox.

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 12:27:22 +0000

Been a Red Sox fan since the Impossible Dream year when I was 8. Yaz was of course my idol – and was there at Yaz Weekend when he retired. Still have a Yaz shrine in my office. Really really hard to place Teddy Ballgame, Yaz and Big Papa. Williams was the greatest Red Sox player without a doubt – or maybe much argument. Big Papi is the all time Red Sox MVP – again, not sure it’s much of an argument with 3 rings in which he played leading roles. Yaz is sort of Mr. Red Sox – the heart and soul of the “modern” Red Sox baseball fan base; for sure the most popular Red Sox in the last 50 years.

By: Walt in Maryland

Walt in Maryland — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 17:59:24 +0000

Very enjoyable read, thanks.

I’m fascinated to read an assessment of Yaz from someone who isn’t old enough to have seen him play, and to compare it to my own idealized version. I was 10 years old in 1967, and Yaz was my Hero, period.

For many years, I was unable to discuss Yaz’ career in objective terms, and I’m still not sure I can.

I would like to add a couple of things to your account, if I may. First, you describe Yaz as having a “rifle arm,” and his assist totals certainly suggest that.

But Yaz’ arm was most notable for its accuracy. Teammates like Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans and Reggie Smith had MUCH stronger throwing arms.

Yaz was originally a shortstop, and he played a very shallow LF, especially at Fenway. No one was better at aggressively charging balls hit in front of him, and coming up throwing with a quick, accurate release.

Second, you didn’t mention his serious wrist injury in 1971, which largely sapped his power. Yaz played through it, of course, like he did everything else. But after hitting 40-plus homers three times in four years, he never reached 30 homers again over the next 14 years.

Finally, here’s my all-time favorite trivial tidbit about Yaz. When he graduated from Bridgehampton H.S. in 1957, Yaz was the all-time leading high school basketball scorer in Long Island history.

His record stood for about a decade until it was broken by Julius Erving.