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Carl Michael Yastrzemski
Boston Red Sox
Outfield
Born: August 22, 1939, Southampton, NY
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent, November 29, 1958
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1961-83
World Series Appearances: Boston Red Sox 1967, 1975
Hall of Fame Induction: 1989
For over two decades, Carl Yastrzemski was a mainstay at Fenway Park, as the team's regular left fielder, then first baseman and finally designated hitter. One of the all-time Red Sox fan favorites, Yastrzemski made his first of 18 All-Star teams in 1963, while also being awarded his first of seven Gold Gloves. That was also the season he won his first of three batting titles with a .321 average. He'd produce consistently stellar seasons throughout the 1960s, culminating with his triple crown win in 1967 (.326 average, 44 home runs, 121 RBIs) en route to the league MVP award and an American League pennant for his Impossible Dream Red Sox. Yastrzemski continued his superstar output throughout the 1970s, again helping to lead the Red Sox to the World Series in 1975. On September 12, 1979, he became the first American League player with 3,000 career hits and 400 home runs.
Hall of Fame Induction: 1989
For over two decades, Carl Yastrzemski was a mainstay at Fenway Park, as the team's regular left fielder, then first baseman and finally designated hitter. One of the all-time Red Sox fan favorites, Yastrzemski made his first of 18 All-Star teams in 1963, while also being awarded his first of seven Gold Gloves. That was also the season he won his first of three batting titles with a .321 average. He'd produce consistently stellar seasons throughout the 1960s, culminating with his triple crown win in 1967 (.326 average, 44 home runs, 121 RBIs) en route to the league MVP award and an American League pennant for his Impossible Dream Red Sox. Yastrzemski continued his superstar output throughout the 1970s, again helping to lead the Red Sox to the World Series in 1975. On September 12, 1979, he became the first American League player with 3,000 career hits and 400 home runs.
He retired at the end of the 1983 season having appeared in 3,308 games, second on the all-time list behind Pete Rose (#120). His career at-bats (11,988), hits (3,419), doubles (646) and walks (1,845) are all currently in the top ten all-time. Yastrzemski tallied 452 home runs and 1,844 RBIs, and along with Ted Williams (#650), the player he replaced, is at the top of just about every offensive category on the Red Sox all-time lists. His #8 was retired by the Red Sox in 1989, the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #641
The Card / Red Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index +1
1969 Season
An amazing year for any other player, Yastrzemski's 1969 season could be considered a down year by his standards, as it came in-between his career years of 1967, 1968 and 1970. He played in all 162 Red Sox games, batting .255 with 40 home runs and 111 RBIs. The RBI tally led the club and his home run total tied him with Rico Petrocelli (#215) for the team lead. Yastrzemski finished in the top ten in the American League for slugging and on-base percentage, runs scored, home runs, RBIs and walks. He led all outfielders with 17 assists and won his fifth of seven career Gold Gloves.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #148
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (25): 1960-84
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2025 Topps Archives #258
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 3,033 in the Beckett online database as of 2/28/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Crazy Boxes)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. I'm not even sure how best to describe the fifth table I visited. I typically steer clear of tables that look incredibly disorganized or tables that look as if the dealer put minimal effort into his/her display. This table was both. But the crudely designed, hand-made sign advertising "Entire Table is 50% Off" made me stop and at least look at what was in the 1969 Topps hodgepodge of cards. And I'm glad I did. It took me a solid 20-25 minutes to go through the cards that were loosely in order, but I found seven cards I needed with either mislabeled prices (?) or prices that hadn't been updated since the 1980s. I paid $7.50 for this perfectly decent Yastrzemski card, the first of seven cards purchased from what I'm calling the Crazy Boxes table, and I wished I had made this table my first stop.
Collectors had already seen this photo on Yastrzemski's 1968 Topps card. The write-up on the back highlights his Triple Crown win in 1967 and his recent back-to-back batting titles. His two opening day home runs in 1968 came off the Tigers' Pat Dobson (#231) and Daryl Patterson (#101) in a 7-3 win.
Yastrzemski signed reprints of this card for the 2018 Topps Heritage set.
Accuracy Index: The card slips to a +1 for the repeat photo.
Inserts: Yastrzemski is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set. He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.
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1969 Season
An amazing year for any other player, Yastrzemski's 1969 season could be considered a down year by his standards, as it came in-between his career years of 1967, 1968 and 1970. He played in all 162 Red Sox games, batting .255 with 40 home runs and 111 RBIs. The RBI tally led the club and his home run total tied him with Rico Petrocelli (#215) for the team lead. Yastrzemski finished in the top ten in the American League for slugging and on-base percentage, runs scored, home runs, RBIs and walks. He led all outfielders with 17 assists and won his fifth of seven career Gold Gloves.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #148
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (25): 1960-84
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2025 Topps Archives #258
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 3,033 in the Beckett online database as of 2/28/26.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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