Everyone knows that San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski comes from baseball royalty.
The 34-year-old native of Andover, Mass., has put together a solid career in his own right. He’s played the last six seasons for the Giants and has provided them solid defense in the outfield and quality production of the plate.
Recently, he hit his 12th home run of the season. It was a big milestone for him, as it was the 100th home run of his career.
As it turns out, it was a big milestone for his grandfather, Hall-of-Fame outfielder Carl Yastrzemski, as well.
Mike Yastrzemski’s home run made him and his grandfather the fourth grandfather-grandson duo to each hit at least 100 home runs in their career.
Some of the other combinations to do it are well-known baseball names. The list includes former Giant David Bell and his grandfather Gus Bell, as well as brothers Aaron Boone and Bret Boone and their grandfather Ray Boone.
“It was huge,” Yastrzemski said to MLB.com. “I feel lucky to play long enough to even have a chance at that, let alone to do it. To tack on that many as a guy who started so late in his career in the big leagues, I’m feeling pretty humbled and very lucky today.”
Mike Yastrzemski is definitely a late bloomer. He turned down a contract with Seattle coming out of high school to play college baseball at Vanderbilt. With the Commodores he improved his draft standing but was still only selected in the 14th round by the Baltimore Orioles in 2013.
He worked his way through the Orioles’ system until spring training in 2019, when Baltimore dealt him to the Giants for a minor league pitcher. That helped pave the way for Yastrzemski to make his Major League debut later that season.
For his career he is slashing .240/.324/.457/.781 with 100 home runs and 305 RBI. He has one more arbitration-eligible season in 2025 before he can become a free agent.
His grandfather had one of the longest careers in Major League history, as he played 23 seasons for the Boston Red Sox. While he never won a World Series ring, he was an 18-time All Star, a seven-time Gold Glove winner, a three-time batting champion and an American League MVP.
He also won the American League Triple Crown in 1967, when he batted 326 with 44 home runs and 121 RBI. He was a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.
And now, he and his grandson are etched forever in Major League Baseball history.
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