Boston Red Sox Retire Carl Yastrzemski's Jersey

On August 6, 1989, the Boston Red Sox retire Carl Yastrzemski's No. 8 jersey.

Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox (1961–1983). He was primarily a left fielder, with part of his later career played at first base and as a designated hitter.

Yastrzemski is an 18-time All-Star, and the 1970 All-Star Game MVP. He is the possessor of seven Gold Gloves, including three consecutive from 1967-1969. He is a member of the 3000 hit club, and the first American League player in that club to also accumulate over 400 home runs.

Since then Cal Ripken Jr. has matched the feat.

He is second on the all-time list for games played, and third for total at-bats.

He is the Red Sox' all-time leader in career RBIs, runs, hits, singles, doubles, total bases, and games played, and is second on the team's list for home runs behind another Red Sox great, Ted Williams, his predecessor in left field.

In 1967, Yastrzemski achieved a peak in his career, leading the Red Sox to the American League pennant for the first time in over two decades, in that season being voted the American League MVP, and was the last winner of the Triple Crown for batters in the major leagues until Miguel Cabrera achieved the feat in 2012.

Sports Illustrated named Yastrzemski the Sportsman of the Year after winning the Triple Crown.

Yastrzemski retired in 1983 at the age of 44, although he stated in his autobiography Yaz that he was initially planning on playing the 1984 season, until he tired from a long midseason slump. He also stated that had he known how good Roger Clemens would have been as a pitcher, he would have played in 1984 to have a chance to play with him.

Yastrzemski would finish his career with a .285 career batting average with 3,419 hits, 452 home runs and 1,844 RBIs.

Yastrzemski was inducted into the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 with 94.63 percent of the vote on the first ballot in which he appeared.

In 1999, Yastrzemski ranked number 72 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. That same season, he was named a finalist to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

As of the 2008 baseball season, on the all-time lists for Major League baseball, Yastrzemski ranks at number one for games played for one team, a record shared with Baltimore Orioles great and Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson.

Yastrzemski is number two for games played with 3,308, number three for at-bats, number six for hits with 3,419, number six for bases on balls with 1,845, number eight for total bases, number eight for doubles with 646, number nine with 1,157 extra base hits and 12 for RBIs with 1,844.

In addition, Yastrzemski only trails Ty Cobb in hits collected with a single team, and trails only Cobb and Tris Speaker in hits collected playing in the American League, both of whom played before World War II.

2001 MLB All-Star Game

On July 10, 2001, the MLB All-Star game took place and the Seattle Mariners were well represented. Eight members of the team that would win a record 116 games played at hometown Safeco Field, yet it was Cal Ripken Jr. who stole the show. Before the game, Ripken was offered his old shortstop position by Alex Rodriguez (Ripken had been a third basemen for several years). Then, in the third inning, Ripken sailed the first pitch he saw from Chan Ho Park over the left-field wall for a home run, making him the oldest player (40) to hit a homer in an All-Star game.

The American League won 4-1 and Ripken Jr. was named the MVP. It was both he and Tony Gwynn's final season, and the two were honored after the game. For Ripken it was the perfect sign off for what was a tremendous career in Baltimore. Gwynn had been named as an honorary All-Star and was unable to play in the game, to the disappointment of many.

Also making headlines was honorary third base coach Tommy Lasorda, the former Dodgers manager. In the sixth inning, Vladimir Guerrero's shattered bat flew out of his hands and right at Lasorda. It knocked the former Dodger to the ground, where he tumbled on his back. Initially, everyone was nervous when the old man hit the grass, but the masses erupted in laughter when they saw he was okay.

The humor in seeing Lasorda fall on his backside was that he was an explosive manager who, among other things, was not timid when it came to dropping obscenities.

Cal Ripken Jr. Plays 1,000th Consecutive Game

On June 25, 1988 Hall of Famer and Baltimore Orioles great, Cal Ripken Jr. plays consecutively for 1,000 games. He would go on to play a total of 2,131 consecutive games breaking the record previously held by Lou Gehrig, in 1995 and in 1998 he would see his consecutive game streak end at 2.632.

To this day Ripken Jr. is still holds the most games played consecutively.

 

Ripken Jr. giving a curtain call farewell to his fans at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Ripken Jr. finished his career with a .276 batting average, 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, 1,078 extra base hits, 603 doubles, 1,129 walks 1,647 runs and 1,695 RBIs in 3,001 games played. All of which are Baltimore Orioles records.

Ripken Jr. was the 1982 American League Rookie of the Year, and was a 19-time All-Star; making the All-Star team in every season he played except for his Rookie campaign. He was the All-Star Game MVP twice in 1991 and 2001, and is still the All-time leader in MLB All-Star fan balloting with 36,123,483 votes. He has the most starts at shortstop for the American League in an All-Star game with 15, and 17 in total with two at third base.

He won the World Series once with the Orioles in 1983, was a two-time Gold Glove winner in 1991 and 1992. He was an eight-time Silver Slugger award, including four straight from 1983-1986. He was a two time American League MVP in 1983 and 1991. Ripken was the 1991 Home Run Derby winner and in 1992 he received the Roberto Clemente and Lou Gehrig Awards.

In 1999 Ripken Jr. was named to Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team. That same yea he was ranked number 78 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Ripken Jr. had his iconic number eight Baltimore Orioles jersey retired in 2001, that same year he was ranked the third greatest shortstop all-time in The New Bill James Historical Abstract.

He was elected into the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 with 98.53 percent of the vote on the first ballot in which he appeared. The third highest for a player ever, and the highest ever for a position player.

Yankees' Lou Gehrig Game Streak Ends

On May 2, 1939, that Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak ended.  The streak was halted at 2,130 after Gehrig sat out a game against the Detroit Tigers, which the Yankees would go on to win by a score of 22-2.

Yankees Captain Lou Gehrig giving his famous speech after he retired from baseball.

Gehrig’s consecutive games streak would be one of his greatest achievements and perhaps the most notable highlight of his career.  He became known for his durability and perseverance, as his streak saw him play through several injuries.  For example, on July 13, 1934, Gehrig suffered a “lumbago attack” and had to be assisted off the field.  The following day he was listed at shortstop and batted in the leadoff position.  Following his first at bat of the game, he was replaced and given the rest of the game off to heal his aching back.

Gehrig’s record would stand until September 6, 1995, when Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles would play in his 2,131 consecutive games.  When Gehrig first established his record of 2,130 consecutive games, many thought it would never be broken.  Despite that not being the case, it did stand for a remarkable 56 years.

Gehrig goes down as one of the greatest players to ever don the Yankee’s pin-stripes and the nickname “Iron Horse” for the consecutive games played streak had his career cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disorder now commonly known in the United States and Canada as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Despite the debilitating disease Gehrig finished his career with a .340 batting average, with 493 home runs, 2,721 hits and 1,995 RBIs. He was a seven-time All-Star, a six-time World Series Champion with the Yankees. He also won two MVP awards in 1927 and 1936. He was the Yankees captain from 1935 to 1938 and the Yankees retired his no. 4 jersey on July 4, 1939. He became the first baseball player to have his uniform number retired (January 6, 1940); his July 4, 1939, fans voted farewell speech as the fifth-greatest moment in Major League Baseball history in 2002.

Gehrig won a triple crown in 1934 batting .363 with 49 home runs and 165 RBIs, but did not win the MVP award that year. He became the only player in MLB history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons as he did so in 1927, 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936.

With St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial, he is only one of two players with at least 500 doubles, 150 triples and 450 home runs in his career. He is also only one of four players with Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Musial to end career with a minimum .330 batting average with 450 home runs and 1,800 RBIs. He is also only one of two players to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season three separate times.

Gehrig was named a member of the MLB All-Century team in 1999, MLB All-Time team in 1997 and was inducted into Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 through a special election.

Gehrig was also the first athlete ever to appear on a box of Wheaties