Carl Yastrzemski Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Full name Carl Michael Yastrzemski
Born August 22, 1939, Southampton, New York
First Game: April 11, 1961; Final Game: October 2, 1983
Bat: Left Throw: Right Height: 5' 11" Weight: 175

Selected to the Hall of Fame in 1989
Named AL Most Valuable Player by Baseball Writers' Association of America (1967)
Named Major League Player of the Year by The Sporting News (1967)
Named AL Player of the Year by The Sporting News (1967)
Named All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (1970)
Named outfielder on The Sporting News AL All-Star Team (1963, 1965 and 1967)
Won AL Gold Glove as outfielder (1963, 1965, 1967 to 1969, 1971 and 1977)

CARL YASTRZEMSKI
This article was written by Herb Crehan and Bill Nowlin and is presented in part, courtesy of the Society for American Baseball Research

Saddled with the burden of replacing one of baseball's legendary players, Carl Yastrzemski carved out his own iconic Hall of Fame career, eventually escaping Ted Williams' extraordinary shadow enough to win 3 batting titles and 7 Gold Gloves, and earn 18 All-Star selections. In Boston, where he played the entirety of his 23-year career, he is remembered especially for his Triple Crown season that led Boston to its Impossible Dream in 1967.

Born August 22, 1939, in nearby Southampton, New York, Carl Michael Yastrzemski came of age in Bridgehampton, Long Island (population 3,000) where he often played alongside his father in local semi-pro games. Father Karol Yastrzemski (the name was Anglicized to Carl) and Yaz's uncle Tommy owned an inherited 70-acre potato farm, their work a "legacy from Poland, folks coming over here and doing what they knew from the old country." (1)

In his first of two autobiographies, Yaz wrote, "I'm told that when I was 18 months old my dad got me a tiny baseball bat, which I dragged around wherever I went, the way other babies drag blankets or favorite toys. I vaguely remember playing catch with him as a very small boy, but my first clear memory is hitting tennis balls in the back yard against his pitching after supper every night when I was about six. Later we played make-believe ball games between the Yankees and the Red Sox, my two favorite teams..." (2)