This Day In Baseball History: May 19, 1976

This Day In Baseball History: May 19, 1976

                It was on this date in 1976 that Boston Red Sox first baseman Carl Yastrzemski played in his 2293 game, passing Red Sox legend and Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams for the most games played in the history of the franchise. During the game, Yaz collected four hits in four at-bats, scored four runs and had four RBIs in Boston’s 9-2 win against the Detroit Tigers in Tiger Stadium. Three of his hits were home runs.

                Yastrzemski would go on to play in 3308 career games (all with Boston) and finished with 3419 hits, a .285 batting average, 452 home runs, 646 doubles, 1844 RBIs and 168 stolen bases. He was an 18-time All-Star, won seven Gold Gloves as an outfielder, and won the American League’s MVP Award in 1967. He played in two World Series during Boston’s 86-year championship drought, and played well in  both, despite the Red Sox falling short of winning. In 1967 against the St. Louis Cardinals, he batted .400 with ten hits, three homers and five RBIs. In the 1975 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, he batted .310 with nine hits and four RBIs.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1989.