Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski received another honor on Sunday, this time in the form of a statue.
Yastrzemski played his entire baseball career with the Boston Red Sox and the team unveiled a statue outside the right-field entrance of Fenway Park. His statue also happens to be in-between one of Hall of Famer Ted Williams and one of Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr. The latter statue is called “teammates.”
After a 30-minute ceremony, Yastrzemski said, “I’m deeply honored to stand before you today, seeing this statue in front of the place that I called home for 23 years. This is as important to me as being elected to the Hall of Fame and having my number retired. It’s a tremendous honor.”
Many former teammates of “Yaz” and current Red Sox players were in attendance for the ceremony. Former teammates included Dwight Evans, Bill Lee, and Hall of Famer Jim Rice. Current players included Jonny Gomes, Daniel Nava, and Dustin Pedroia. Red Sox manager John Farrell was also there to see the unveiling of the Yastrzemski statue.
This season’s Red Sox team has been compared to the 1967 team, which happens to be the year Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown.
The comparisons haven’t gotten past Yastrzemski either. “”In a way there’s a lot of similarities, playing as a great, great unit. Different guys doing something every day. That’s what you need to win the division, which they did. The comparisons I make is it was a very tight unit. I’m just waiting for the playoffs. I can’t wait for the playoffs to start.”
Red Sox fans were already having a great weekend after the Red Sox won the AL East title on Friday night after beating the Toronto Blue Jays. The statue was just the icing on the cake of a great weekend.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino dubbed Sunday “Carl Yastrzemski Day” in the city.
Yastrzemski’s 23-year baseball career with the Red Sox made him an 18-time All-Star, earned him seven Golden Gloves, and a member of the 3000 hit club. Just a few of the reasons “Yaz” was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989.
You can watch the ceremony and unveiling of the statue below.