Eddie Yost

This article is about the baseball player. For the pioneer American balloonist, see Ed Yost.
Eddie Yost

Yost in 1960
Third baseman
Born: (1926-10-13)October 13, 1926
Brooklyn, New York
Died: October 16, 2012(2012-10-16) (aged 86)
Weston, Massachusetts
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 16, 1944, for the Washington Senators
Last MLB appearance
July 28, 1962, for the Los Angeles Angels
MLB statistics
Batting average .254
Home runs 139
Runs batted in 683
Teams

As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards

Edward Frederick Joseph Yost (October 13, 1926 – October 16, 2012)[1] was an American professional baseball player and coach.[2] He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a third baseman for the Washington Senators, then played two seasons each with the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels before retiring in 1962.[2]

Yost batted and threw right-handed.[2] He was nicknamed the "Walking Man" for the numerous bases on balls he drew, and continues to rank 11th all-time among major leaguers in that category, ahead of the likes of Pete Rose, Willie Mays, Stan Musial and Hank Aaron.[3][4] Yost was considered one of the best lead off men and third basemen of his era.[5][6][7][8]

Major League career

Yost was born in Brooklyn, New York where he played baseball and basketball at New York University (NYU) before being signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1944.[2] He made his Major League debut with the Senators at the age of 17 on August 16, 1944, having never played in the minor leagues.[2][9] Yost spent the 1945 season in the United States Navy before returning to the Senators in 1946.[10]

In 1950, Yost posted career-highs with a .295 batting average and a .440 on-base percentage.[2] In 1951 he led the American League with 36 doubles and produced a career-high 65 runs batted in.[2] He earned a place as a reserve player for the American League team in the 1952 All-Star Game.[11] Between August 30, 1949 and May 11, 1955, Yost played in 829 consecutive games for the Senators, the ninth longest consecutive game streak in major league history.[12] Yost's home run totals were diminished by having to play his home games in Washington's cavernous Griffith Stadium.[13] Between 1944 and 1953, he hit only 3 home runs at home while hitting 52 home runs on the road.[14][15]

On December 6, 1958, after 14 seasons with the Senators, Yost was traded to the Detroit Tigers, allowing the Senators to make room for young prospect Harmon Killebrew.[8][16][17] Playing in hitter-friendly Tiger Stadium in 1959, his home run production climbed to a career-high of 21 and, he led the American League with 115 runs scored, 135 base on balls and a .435 on-base percentage.[18] In 1960, he again led the league in base on balls and on-base percentage.[19] Yost spent two seasons with the Tigers before being selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1961 American League expansion draft.[17] While with the Angels during their inaugural season, Yost earned the distinction of being the first Angels player to appear in a major league game, leading off in the team's first game, played at Baltimore on April 11, 1961.[20] In his last plate appearance as a major league player, he received a base on balls.[8]

Career statistics

Yost as New York Mets third base coach, 1969.

In an 18-year career, Yost played in 2,109 games, accumulating 1,863 hits in 7,346 at bats for a .254 career batting average along with 139 home runs, 683 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .394.[2] He ended his career with a .957 fielding percentage.[2] Yost led the American League in bases on balls on six different occasions and logged 1,614 over his 18-year career, ranking him 11th on the all-time walks list.[21] In 1956, he had a .412 on-base percentage while posting a .231 batting average, the lowest batting average with a .400 on-base percentage in major league history.[22] Yost hit 28 home runs to lead off a game, a record which stood until Bobby Bonds broke it in the 1970s.[8]

Yost led American League third basemen eight times in putouts, seven times in double plays, three times in assists and twice in fielding percentage.[8] He set American League career records with 2,356 putouts, 3,659 assists, and 6,285 total chances.[8] His 2,356 putouts ranks him third all-time among third basemen behind Brooks Robinson and Jimmy Collins.[23] In 1960, he surpassed Pie Traynor's major league record for most games played as a third baseman with 1,865 games.[24] Yost was the first third baseman in history to appear in more than 2,000 games.[8] Baseball historian Bill James ranked Yost 24th all-time among third baseman in his Historical Baseball Abstract.[14]

Yost attended New York University during the off-season where he earned a Master's degree in physical education in 1953.[13][14][24]

Coaching career

Yost followed his long playing career with a 23-season career as a coach. After a brief stint as a playing coach with the 1962 Angels, Yost returned to Washington as the third-base coach of the second Senators franchise, under his old teammate, manager Mickey Vernon.[6] When Vernon was replaced by Gil Hodges, Yost briefly served as interim manager, losing his only game as manager on May 22, 1963.[25][26][27] Yost then continued on Hodges' Washington staff through 1967.[6] When Hodges became manager of the New York Mets in 1968, he took Yost with him to New York.[6] Yost was the Mets' third-base coach from 1968 to 1976. He then continued his coaching career with the Boston Red Sox, coaching third in Boston from 1977 to 1984 under skippers Don Zimmer and Ralph Houk.

Personal life and family

While playing for the Detroit Tigers in 1961–62, Yost married Patricia Healy, who worked for their front office in public relations.[28] They had two daughters, Felita Yost Carr and Alexis; a son, Mike; and two grandsons, Edward and Joseph. Patricia died on January 6, 2007.[29]

Yost's daughter Felita competed in ice dancing during the 1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.[30][31] Following her active career in ice skating, she is now a coach of figure skating.[32][33]

His grandson Edward played varsity baseball at Huntington Beach High School in California and is a lefthand pitcher.[34] Edward was a member of the 2015 HBHS varsity baseball team which won the California Interscholastic Federation – Southern Section Division 1 Championship on June 6, 2015.[35] Edward Yost is currently playing for Pepperdine University as part of the Pepperdine Waves baseball team.[36]

Yost died of cardiovascular disease in Weston, Massachusetts on October 16, 2012, aged 86.[37][38]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Eddie Yost, dubbed "The Walking Man", passes away at age 86". NBC Sports. 2012-10-16.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Eddie Yost". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  3. ↑ Heft, Herb (October 1950). Washington's Yost Becomes Majors' New Walking Man. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Povich, Shirley (May 1953). Walking Man Starts Swinging. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  5. ↑ Dexter Charles (June 1958). Oh, Where Are The Lead Off Men?. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Gapay, Les (December 1971). Major League Coaches Labor In Obscurity. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  7. ↑ Vass, George (August 1999). 20th Century All-Overlooked Stars. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Eddie Yost at the SABR Bio Project, by Andrew Schiff and Matthew Silverman, retrieved 31 October 2010
  9. ↑ Richman, Milton (February 1949). Yost Bypasses All Farms. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  10. ↑ Dexter, Charles (March 1951). Yost-Senator From New York. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  11. ↑ "1952 All-Star Game". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  12. ↑ "Consecutive Games Played". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  13. 1 2 Middlesworth, Hal (December 1960). 12 Years In The Wrong Park!. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  14. 1 2 3 James, Bill (2001). The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York: Free Press. p. 558. ISBN 0-684-80697-5.
  15. ↑ "Eddie Yost Home Run Log". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  16. ↑ "Nats Trade Eddie Yost To Detroit". The Pittsburgh Press. 6 December 1958. p. 43.
  17. 1 2 "Eddie Yost Trades and Transactions". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  18. ↑ "1959 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  19. ↑ "1960 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  20. ↑ "April 11, 1961 Angels-Orioles box score". retrosheet.org. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  21. ↑ "Career Leaders & Records for Bases on Balls". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  22. ↑ Lowest Batting Average With .400 On Base Percentage. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). June 2004. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  23. ↑ "Career Leaders & Records for Putouts as Third Baseman". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  24. 1 2 Middlesworth, Hal (October 1960). 17 Years At Third Base!. Baseball Digest (Books.Google.com). Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  25. ↑ "1963 Washington Senators". retrosheet.org. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  26. ↑ "May 22, 1963 White Sox-Senators box score". retrosheet.org. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  27. ↑ "Eddie Yost Manager Record". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  28. ↑ Ferrigno, Michael. "Wellesley's 'Walking Man,' Eddie Yost". WickedLocal.
  29. ↑ Weber, Bruce (October 17, 2012). "Eddie Yost, Baseball's Walking Man, Dies at 86". New York Times.
  30. ↑ "Starting Orders 1997 US Championships". Ice Skating International.
  31. ↑ "U.S. Figure Skating Results". Las Vegas Sun. February 12, 1997.
  32. ↑ "Jade Esposito & Nathan Rensing – Winter Skate Finale". Patriot Palace.
  33. ↑ Mittan, Barry. "The Ballerina and the Sailor". Golden Skate.
  34. ↑ Sciacca, Mike (May 13, 2015). "High School Baseball Roundup: OV captures Golden West League title". LA Times.
  35. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (June 6, 2015). "Baseball: Huntington Beach wins first Division 1 championship". LA Times.
  36. ↑ "Official Baseball Roster – 2015-16 Fall Roster". Pepperdine Waves.
  37. ↑ Mitchell, Houston (October 18, 2012). "Eddie Yost dies, baseball player nicknamed 'The Walking Man'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-10-18.
  38. ↑ "Patricia H. (Healy) Yost". Boston.com (The Boston Globe via Legacy.com). January 2007. Retrieved 2012-10-18.

External links

Managing/coaching
Preceded by
 Los Angeles Angels coach
1962 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
George Case		 Washington Senators third-base coach
1963–1967 		Succeeded by
Bobby Hofman
Preceded by
Salty Parker		 New York Mets third-base coach
1968–1976 		Succeeded by
Tom Burgess
Preceded by
Eddie Popowski		 Boston Red Sox third-base coach
1977–1984 		Succeeded by
Rene Lachemann
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