Bridgehampton native Carl Yastrzemski will be immortalized in a statue at Fenway Park to be unveiled later this year.
The Boston Red Sox are honoring Yastrzemski with a statue that captures the moment he tipped his helmet to fans before his final at-bat, ending his 23-year career with the team, on October 2, 1983.
Jastrzemski, who graduated from Bridgehampton High School in 1957, was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame for having played the most games – 3,308 – of any player in Major League Baseball history up to that point.
The statue will be only the third at Fenway Park. It will be placed between one of the statues of Ted Williams and “The Teammates” depicting Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Williams.
A dedication ceremony will be held on Sept. 22 at 11 a.m. before the Red Sox take on the Toronto Blue Jays. It will be placed at the entrance to Gate B of the park
“It's a great honor,” Yastrzemski said in a statement released by the Red Sox on Wednesday. “Having a bronze statue at Fenway Park is something I could never have imagined, and I am very grateful to the Red Sox for this kind gesture.”
Yastrzemski, 74, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game after his statue is unveiled.
Born in Southampton, Yastrzemski is the son of a potato farmer. While a student at Bridgehampton High School, he set many records in baseball, basketball and football.
After graduation, he attended the University of Notre Dame on a scholarship to play baseball and basketball. He left as a freshman to play with the Red Sox, first playing with Raleigh of the Carolina League. He was promoted to the Triple A Minneapolis Red Sox in 1960 and went to the Major Leagues in 1961, taking over left field from Williams.
Yastrzemski hit 452 career home runs, scored 1,816 runs, drove in 1,844 runs, struck out 646, had a .379 on-base percentage, won seven Rawlings Gold Gloves, was an 18-time All-Star and had a first-season Triple Crown in the 'Impossible Dream” Red Sox to the American League championship in 1967, the Red Sox said. The Red Sox won the pennant in 1975.
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