On the blog today, my pick for one of the three outfield slots in my 1960s American League All-Star team, and I went with Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski:
Easy
to pick the legend for this squad, as he had his best decade of his
lengthy career in the 1960s, marked by three batting titles, an MVP
monster year in 1967 when he took the red Sox on his shoulders and
helped them reach the World Series,
The
man was at his height of his game at the time this photo was taken,
already a three-time batting champion, Triple Crown winner in
1967, and five-time Gold Glove winner.
As someone who grew up in New York City during the second half of his
career, it's really easy to forget that Yastrzemski was a Long Island,
New York boy before he went on to become a New England legend.
And how could he NOT become a legend, what with 23 years of Major
League ball, all with the Red Sox, turning in three batting titles, a
Triple Crown in 1967 along with an MVP Award, seven Gold Gloves, 18
all-star nods, and 25 league-leads in primary offensive
categories.
By the time he did the retirement tour in 1983, he scored 1816
runs, collected 3419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 homers, 1844 runs batted in
along with a .285 batting average.
He was just plain awesome…