If you can spell his last name, I’m impressed, but if you have to call him “Yaz,” I don’t hold it against you. Carl Yastrzemski was one of the best players in Red Sox history, which is saying a lot considering how many great players have worn the Boston uniform. It is fitting that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the same year as Johnny Bench, against whom he competed in one of the greatest World Series contests ever. Yaz only received eight fewer votes than Bench in the Hall of Fame vote, with 94.6% support from the BBWAA.
Yastrzemski’s career highlights include the 1967 AL MVP, the same year that the left fielder achieved the coveted “Triple Crown.” The Triple Crown had only been achieved fifteen times prior to Yaz’s 1967 season, and only once since (Miguel Cabrera in 2012). It is considered one of the toughest offensive achievements in baseball. His 12.4 WAR in 1967 is the most in a single season for any ballplayer not named Babe Ruth.
Yaz was no flash-in-the-pan, though. He was named to 18 All-Star teams while slugging 452 home runs and collecting 3419 hits in his 23-year career. I think Yastrzemski might be one of the most underrated players in history, perhaps because he followed Ted Williams, one of the greatest left fielders in history.
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