"Statue an ultimate Boston tribute for Carl Yastrzemski" by Dan Shaughnessy | Globe Staff, September 23, 2013
There’s nice symmetry in the unveiling of a Carl Yastrzemski statue on the last home date of this 2013 season. The 1967 Red Sox were the Cardiac Kids, a band of baseball brethren who vaulted from ninth place to first and made it to the seventh game of the World Series. They saved baseball in Boston. And now we have the 2013 Cardiac Adults, a worst-to-first edition that went from loathed to loved in seven short months....
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Because of his performance and longevity, Yastrzemski is a New England baseball institution. A generation of New Englanders grew up, married, and began raising families while Yaz patrolled the patch of grass in front of the Green Monster. From 1961-83, a tourist tour through Boston included the State House, the Hatch Shell, the Union Oyster House, and Yaz at Fenway. No player in baseball history played more seasons (23) with one team.
When Yaz retired, he disappeared. Twenty-three years on the field was enough. He left us his game and rarely felt compelled to come back to his longtime summer workplace. He was not one for coaching, managing, or lacing up the spikes for an old-timers’ game. Literature has J.D. Salinger, film has Garbo, the Dodgers have Koufax, and we have Yaz; an iconic figure who just wants to be left alone.
“I don’t like to reminisce about when I played,’’ Yaz said in 2011. “I had my day in the sun and it’s over with.’’
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