EDDIE "THE WALKING MAN" YOST - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 299232

EDDIE YOST
The third baseman praises fellow ballplayer Gil Hodges and proclaims "He should be in baseballs 'Hall of Fame'"
Autograph Letter signed: "Ed Yost", 1 page, 5½x8½. No place, 1989 August 17. Written to "Dear Jay", in full: "Gil Hodges was the best first baseman of his era. Be-sides being a great home run and R.B.I. man, he was an ex cellent fielder. He was a man of fine character; religious, kind, under-standing, and the same time a disciplinarian. He should be in baseballs 'Hall of Fame'. Wishing you the best of luck and success. Sincerely" Eddie Yost's (1926-2012) keen eye earned him eight seasons with 100 or more walks; he led the AL six times. He also led the AL with 36 doubles in 1951, and scored an AL-high 115 runs for the Tigers in 1959. Yost led third basemen in putouts a major league record eight times. When he retired in 1962, he had played a major league record 2,008 games at 3B, and held AL records for putouts, assists, and chances at 3B. He played 838 straight games from July 6, 1949 until sidelined by tonsillitis in 1955. No player with fewer than 200 HR has matched Yost's 1,614 career walks. Yost, who never played in the minor leagues, spent two more seasons as a Major League coach - mostly as a third base coach, with the Washington Senators, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox, finally retiring in 1984. GIL HODGES (1924-1972), who played first base for the Dodgers (1943, 1947-1961) and was an original member of the New York Mets (1962-1963), drove in 100 runs in seven consecutive seasons (1949-1955) and drove in both runs in the seventh game of the 1955 World Series, giving the Brooklyn Dodgers their only World Championship. Hodges managed the Washington Senators (1963-1968) and then the New York Mets from 1968 until a fatal heart attack in Florida, April 2, 1972. He led the Miracle Mets, who had been chronic losers in their first seven seasons, to a World Championship in 1969. Normal mailing folds. Lightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.