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Celebrating Red Sox Legend Carl Yastrzemski's 80th Birthday

By Kevin Aquino

World Series - Los Angeles Dodgers v Boston Red Sox - Game One
World Series - Los Angeles Dodgers v Boston Red Sox - Game One / Rob Carr/Getty Images

Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski turns 80 years old today and has a resume as impressive as any living star in the game. Yaz spent all 23 years of his MLB career with the Red Sox, and is commemorated in the team's Hall of Fame, as well as the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Nobody has worn No. 8 for the Red Sox since Yastrzemski's final season in 1983 and no one ever will again, as Yaz's jersey is one of Boston's 12 retired numbers.

Yaz won AL MVP in 1967, though the Red Sox came up short in the World Series against the Cardinals. A 3,000-hit club member and the first AL player to accumulate over 400 home runs, it feels like the only thing to slip away from Yaz is a championship ring.

The New York native was also an 18-time All-Star, earned a Triple Crown in 1967, and showed his well-rounded game as a seven-time Gold Glove Award winner and three-time AL batting champion.

The Hall-of-Famer's legacy is immortal through his play, but Yaz also has a grandson who's currently in the league, Mike Yastrzemski of the Giants. The 28-year-old's first Major League hit may not have gone according to plan, but he has a lot of time to make a name for himself.