Yastrzemski signed with the Red Sox organization, which sent him to the minor-league Raleigh Capitals in 1959, where he led the league with a .377 batting average.

[11] Yastrzemski, who had studied business at Notre Dame, fulfilled a promise to his parents by finishing his degree at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, in 1966.

[12] Yastrzemski began his major-league career in 1961[2] and hit his first home run off of former Red Sox pitcher Jerry Casale.

[13] From the beginning, there was tremendous pressure on him to perform as he succeeded to the position of the great Red Sox legend Ted Williams.

[3] He proved to be a worthy successor at the plate and a far superior defensive player with a strong arm, expert in playing off the Green Monster, Fenway Park's left-field wall.

In 12 years as a left fielder, Yastrzemski won seven Gold Gloves and led the team in assists seven times.

[16][17] Yastrzemski enjoyed his best season in 1967, when he won the American League Triple Crown with a .326 batting average, 44 home runs (tied with Harmon Killebrew), and 121 RBIs.

The Red Sox lost the World Series four games to three to the St. Louis Cardinals, losing three times to Bob Gibson.

In an article he co-wrote for the November 1967 issue of SPORT magazine, Yastrzemski credited Boston's remarkable season to manager Dick Williams and an infusion of youth, including Rico Petrocelli and Tony Conigliaro.

Earlier in the game, Yastrzemski began the scoring with a home run off left-handed pitcher Ron Guidry, who was having a career year (25 wins, 3 losses and a 1.74 ERA).

No player has had a longer career with only one team, 23 seasons, a record he shares with Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles.

[3] His final career statistics include 3,308 games played (second all-time and the most with a single team), 3,419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 home runs, 1,844 RBIs, and a batting average of .285.

Yastrzemski was the first player to collect over 3,000 hits and 400 home runs solely in the American League (the feat has since been accomplished by Cal Ripken Jr.).

As one of the top players of his era, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility, with the support of 94% of voters.

In his autobiography, Yastrzemski revealed that he played his last eight years with a damaged left shoulder he kept secret, and said this injury reduced his home run power.

He was also known for modifying his batting helmets by enlarging the right earhole (for comfort) and removing part of the right earflap (for better vision of the ball as it was being pitched).

Opponents made a protracted attempt at tagging out another runner in a rundown or "pickle", but soon were flabbergasted to see a Red Sox player rounding third and heading for home.

[citation needed] A record album of the 1967 Red Sox season, aptly titled The Impossible Dream, featured a song by DJ Jess Cain of praise for "The man they call Yaz", which included the line "Although 'Yastrzemski' is a lengthy name / It fits quite nicely in our Hall of Fame."

The song can be heard, and the album cover seen, in the apartment of Ben Wrightman (played by Jimmy Fallon) in the 2005 film Fever Pitch.

Earlier in the film, Ben's girlfriend, Lindsay Meeks (Drew Barrymore), not yet familiar with the triumphs and tribulations of the Red Sox, is unable to properly pronounce Yastrzemski's name, and has to be corrected by the surrounding fans: "Ya-STREM-ski!"

[44] He is currently a roving instructor with the Red Sox, and was honored by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for Game 1 of the 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018 World Series.

[45] In August 2008, Yastrzemski underwent successful triple bypass heart surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.

His son Carl Michael Yastrzemski Jr., known as Mike, played college baseball for the Florida State Seminoles and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the third round in 1984.

[50] Through the end of the 2017 season, on the all-time lists for Major League Baseball, Yastrzemski ranks first for games played for one team, second for games played, third for at-bats, sixth for bases on balls, eighth for doubles, ninth for hits, ninth for total bases, 13th for extra-base hits, and 14th for RBIs.