On This Date in Sports September 12, 1979: Yaz 3K
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Longtime Boston Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski collects his 3,000 with an eight-inning single off Jim Beatie of the New York Yankees. Yaz is the 15th player in MLB history with 3,000 hits and the second to join the 3,000-hit club following Lou Brock during the 1979 season. Yastrzemski is also the first American Leaguer with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
Carl Yastrzemski was born on August 22, 1939, in Southampton on New York’s Long Island. Yaz excelled at baseball and basketball, earning a scholarship to Notre Dame. As scouts looked to sign him to a baseball contract, Yastrzemski insisted on going to Notre Dame during the off-season. This did not sit well with scouts from the New York Yankees, who offered him a contract. Eventually, he would choose to sign with Boston Red Sox in 1958.
Carl Yastrzemski would become the Red Sox heir apparent in Leftfield. With Ted Williams retiring after 22 seasons in 1960, Yaz joined the big club in 1961. At times the 22-year-old struggled, hitting .266 with 11 home runs and 80 RBI in his rookie season. Two years later, Yastrzemski had a breakout season, earning his first appearance, while leading the American League with a .321 average. It would be the first of three batting crowns won by Yaz.
The finest season of Carl Yastrzemski’s career came in 1967 when he won the Triple Crown with a .326 average, 44 home runs, and 121 RBI. It would take another 45 years before Miguel Cabrera won a Triple Crown. Yaz would win the American League MVP in 1967 as the Red Sox surprised the experts and made the Impossible Dream run to the World Series.
Carl Yastrzemski became a fan favorite in Boston over the next decade as made it to the All-Star Game 18 times. He was also a tremendous fielder, earning seven Gold Gloves while playing against the Green Monster at Fenway Park. In 1979, as Yaz entered the twilight of his career, he made history by hitting his 400th home run on July 24th off Mike Morgan of the Oakland Athletics.
Facing the rival New York Yankees and Catfish Hunter, Carl Yastrzemski needed just one hit to reach 3,000 as he batted third and played first base in Don Zimmer’s lineup on September 12th. In his first at-bat in the first inning, Yaz worked out a walk and scored on a two-run home run by Jim Rice. After a flyout in the third, Yastrzemski batted again in the fourth with Boston taking a 5-1 lead. Once again, he failed to reach base, ending the inning with a grounder. Yaz also hit a ground ball in the sixth, with the Red Sox holding an 8-1 lead in what would be the penultimate appearance by Catfish Hunter in his Hall of Fame career. With two outs in the eighth, Carl Yastrzemski strolled to the plate one last time and singled to rightfield, for base hit number 3,000. He was mobbed by teammates as the game came to a halt. Yaz would be lifted for a pinch-runner, Jim Dwyer who scored the game’s final run as Boston won 9-2.
Carl Yastrzemski would play four more seasons, retiring in 1983 with 3,419 hits, 452 home runs, and 1,844 RBI. All of this while batting .285 for his career. Yastrzemski would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989.