He can still bring a Fenway sellout crowd to its feet. No one who was around here in 1967 will ever forget.
Appropriately enough, Carl Yastrzemski threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the opening game of the 103d World Series at Fenway Park Wednesday night. Yaz, now 68, made the toss as the club again honored the most important Red Sox team of all time (yes, kids, the '67 gang did more to rescue this franchise than the champs of '04).
After a couple of curious postseason first-ball chuckers - a kid who came close to committing fan interference in the American League Division Series and a first baseman from the Baltimore Orioles - the team chose the ultimate showcase to honor its greatest living player: The man we call Yaz.
Yaz is not seen much around here these days. He's forever on the ball club's masthead as a "player development consultant," and puts in early-morning hours with the Sox hitters every year in Fort Myers, Fla., but his role with the team is entirely ceremonial. He lives in a small town north of Boston with his wife, tries to take a walk every day, and goes fishing as often as possible.
Yaz has never been comfortable with his fame. He appreciates his place in New England sports history, but Baby Boomer fans who bombard him with questions and recollections of 1967 often come to realize that they know more about his career than he does. Yaz played 23 years with the Red Sox, and when he was done, he was done. He is not one to sit around talking about the glory days. I once asked him to recall highlights from his 18 All-Star selections, and while he did his best to remember the moments, he said, "1975. County Stadium. I hit a home run in that one. Not sure who I hit it off. Might have been Seaver."
Might have been Seaver?
It was, in fact, a home run off Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. But who among us could hit a homer in an All-Star Game against one of the greatest pitchers of all time and not be quite sure of the identity of the pitcher? You can be pretty sure that Ted Williams could remember the count on all 521 of his home runs.
The Red Sox this summer have gone to great lengths to honor the men who forever changed baseball here 40 years ago. A good number of them returned with Yastrzemski Wednesday night and stood behind him on the infield grass when Captain Carl bounced a one-hopper to Doug Mirabelli.
"It was great," said Yaz. "It's been great all year. This is my second time back this year, second, third. A lot of them have been back five, six times. We were together Opening Day."
It would be impossible to explain what Yaz did here in 1967, but one can't go wrong by simply saying that he carried the team to its first pennant in 21 years. He did it at the plate and in left field. He did it with clutch hitting that is now associated with David Ortiz. He won the Triple Crown, scalded the ball down the stretch, then went 7 for 8 at Fenway on the final two days of the regular season - both must-win games. In his second World Series game, Yaz hit two home runs at Fenway. There was simply nothing he couldn't do. He was MVP, Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, inspired a classic song by Jess Cain, and got a loaf of bread named after him.
"Not only did that year bring the franchise back to life, but I think it changed the whole attitude of the Red Sox organization," he said. "I think the organization became winners."
There was more to Yaz than 1967, of course. He went on to become the first American Leaguer with 3,000 hits and 400 homers. He continued his clutch hitting every time the Sox got into October. In 1978, when he was 39 years old, he was still quick enough to pull a homer down the right-field line against Cy Young winner Ron Guidry (25-3) in the one-game playoff. He retired in 1983, and except for his Hall of Fame induction, we really haven't seen him much. He comes to Fenway for an occasional first pitch, but usually hits the road long before the seventh-inning stretch.
He likes what he's seen of the 2007 Sox.
"I went to spring training with the big club this year," he said.
YAZ QUOTES:
And if I have my choice between a pennant and a triple crown, I'll take the pennant every time.
Carl Yastrzemski
I think about baseball when I wake up in the morning. I think about it all day and I dream about it at night. The only time I don't think about it is when I'm playing it.
Carl Yastrzemski
Quotes
“Yaz did it all the time. We'd be on the road and he'd call, 'C'mon, we're going to the ballpark.' I'd say, 'Christ, it's only one o'clock. The game's at seven.' He lived, breathed, ate, and slept baseball. If he went 0-for-4, he couldn't live with it. He could live with himself if he went 1-for-3. He was happy if he went 2-for-4. That's the way the man suffered.”
— Outfielder Joe Lahoud
I was a lousy hitter in May doing the same things that made me a great hitter in June.
Carl Yastrzemski
I was lucky enough to have the talent to play baseball. That's how I treated my career. I didn't think I was anybody special, anybody different.
Carl Yastrzemski
The three-thousand hitting thing was the first time I let individual pressure get to me. I was uptight about it. When I saw the hit going through, I had a sigh of relief more than anything.
Carl Yastrzemski
This is a strange game.
Carl Yastrzemski
You don't always make an out. Sometimes the pitcher gets you out.
Carl Yastrzemski
When Carl Yastrzemski retired in 1983 after 23 seasons in Boston, he was the all-time Red Sox leader in eight major categories - games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, total bases, RBI and extra base hits. An intense performer, Yaz played in more games (3,308) than any other American Leaguer, topping 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. A 14-time All-Star, he won seven Gold Glove Awards. A three-time batting champion, Yastrzemski was the American League MVP in 1967 when he won the Triple Crown, batting .326 with 121 RBI and 44 home runs.
