The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #50 Carl Yastrzemski

Joining the list at #50 is Boston slugger Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz spent 23 seasons with the Red Sox which are tied with Brooks Robinson for the most seasons spent with a single franchise. Yaz didn’t just play for 23 seasons, he was a productive player for 23 seasons, amassing 18 all-star game appearances, and receiving MVP votes in 14 different seasons. Yastrzemski is the only player in history with 3,400 career hits and 1,800 walks. He’s also the only player in history with 3,000 hits, 1,800 RBIs, 1,800 runs, and 1,800 walks.  Yaz is in the top-10 all-time in hits, doubles, walks, and total bases and he led the league in on-base percentage five times, OPS+ four times, runs, and doubles three times while also winning three batting crowns. He joins Babe Ruth and Ted Williams as the only players in history with 1,800 career walks, 1,100 extra-base hits, and fewer than 1400 strikeouts. He joins Hank Aaron and Stan Musial as the only players in history with 3,400 career hits and 1,100 extra-base hits, and he joins Musial and Albert Pujols as the only players in history with at least 645 career doubles and 450 home runs. Yaz won the AL Triple Crown in 1967 on his way to the league MVP, and he hit .352 with a .438 on-base percentage in two World Series appearances.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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