Yaz By: Carl Yastrzemski and Gerald Eskenazi

Carl Yastrzemski was, of course, the Hall of Fame left fielder for

the Boston Red Sox. During his 23 seasons with the Sox he say some of the highs and the lows of the franchise. From the Impossible Dream of 1967 to the Boston Massacre in 1978. In this book, Yaz recounts his personal story as a baseball superstar. It explores his early years as his legendary determination was formed. It follows him through college and his entire Major League career. Along the way, the reader gets to live all the events in his life right along with him. There may not be another player to complete a 23-year Red Sox career, which makes Yaz’s story one for the ages.

I am just a little too young to have been a fan of Yaz. I didn’t experience the joy of the ’67 season. Maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I should have. While it was nice to read the stories, it wasn’t a trip down memory lane for me. Plus, not to knock Yaz, his life isn’t especially interesting. There were no scandals to report, or teammates he was slamming. He just went about the business of playing baseball every day. It was a wonderful, if very simple, retelling of a baseball life. If you grew up watching Yaz roam left field in Fenway, you’d probably like this book a lot more. It just didn’t do much for me.

Rating: 2 bases