Captain Carl

Excellent article on Carl Yastrzemski by one of the best writers around, Stan Grossfeld. My favorite tidbit:

''I remember Ted [Williams] asked me to go fishing with him once at Winter Haven," he says. ''It was one of those ponds that are stocked with fish. He told me not to bring any live bait. I got there and he was already waiting for me. He said, 'What's in the cooler?' and I said, 'I brought a couple of beers.' He said, 'No beer on this boat,' and I said, 'No fishing for me on this boat. See ya.' "

Now Yaz just brings bottled water. ''I haven't drank beer for 15 years," he says.

Yaz was a bit before my time. I remember the older Yaz not the Yaz of '67. I remember that Yaz popped up to end the 78 playoff game but I forget that he also hit a home run off Ron Guidry that day. He was just 5'10" and 180 pounds but he was the first AL player with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. He was one of the all-time greats and I for one will try to appeciate him more.