Carl Yastremski was a boyhood hero of mine who recently who celebrated his 75th birthday. Even though now I primarily a hockey(Boston Bruins) while I was a kid in the 70's I was a big Red Sox fan. Yastremski was the iron work horse of the Boston Red Sox.
One of the highlights as a kid was going to Fenway to see the Sox play. The day was July 8, 1976 they were playing the Minnesota Twins. This was the era of the classic line including the likes of Fisk, Lynn, Rice, Evans among other great players of time. Luckily we had seats along the third base side of the park with a great view of left field which was Carl's usual position. I do remember being so excited I got nauseous.
Yaz had a good day going 2-4 that day with a home run in the 3rd inning and 3 RBI's. Perhaps my favorite part was the final out. It was a pop up to left that Yaz handled with a knee sliding catch to close out the 8-4 victory over the Twin that featured the legendary Rod Carew.
I admired his seriousness and work ethic. He came to play every day. He wasn't always the best player on the field but rarely did anyone give more effort. He has always remained my favorite Red Sox player of all time.
Thanks Carl for giving us fan's your best!
Happy Birthday!
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