Young Yastrzemski Hopes to Follow Father to Majors

The name may be a difficult to spell but the memories are clear and easy to recall.

Carl Yastrzemski thrilled Boston Red Sox fans for the better part of two decades and will likely make it to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown the first year he is eligible.

Now there is another Yastrzemski around, hoping to mirror the success of his famous father.

Mike Yastrzemski is currently in the Chicago White Sox organization, traveling from one minor league to another, learning the ropes and hoping to get a chance to make it with the parent organization.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder is hardly the mirror of his father. For one thing, he is a switch hitter (his father batted left-handed) and the smaller Yaz doesn’t possess the power of his father, yet.

One thing Mike Yastrzemski does have is patience. He didn’t expect to be given an easy ticket to the majors because he has a famous name.

“I’ll know when I’m ready, after I play in Double A and Triple A,” Yastrzemski says. “I’m going to give it 100%. If I see myself hitting .210 or .215, well, I’ll have to give this thing a second look. But if I can steadily improve, then I’ll know that I’m going keep going.”

For the first half of the Sox’s Birmingham season, Yaz was closer to his goals of staying around. His average stayed around the .280 to .290 mark for the better part of the season.

“I’d like to be doing better,” Yaz says. “The main thing is to stay consistent. I want to stay away from going 10-for-10 and then go 0-for-30.”

There are distinct differences between father and son and Mike Yastrzemski would not have hit any other way.

“No, we aren’t that alike. Baseball is a funny game. He had so many different stances, for example. Not me. I go up there and I’m relaxed. I take the attitude to be comfortable is important. I want to go out there and play.”

Little Yaz talks to Big Yaz frequently about his progress and isn’t afraid to ask for advice.

“Not a hell of a lot, but quite often, if that makes sense. He’s always moving around, so am I,” Yastrzemski explains. “When we get to a point where we can both talk, I do call him and ask his advice.”

When Yastrzemski broke into organized ball--he was originally drafted by Texas in 1983 and then by Atlanta in 1984--his father had some advice for him.

“The thing he told me that really stuck with me was about the mental aspects of this game,” Yaz recalls. “It isn’t always the physical tools that make you a good hitter. There are a lot of guys around me with a lot of physical talent and I’ve found that my father was right. You play 140 games a year and you have to stay mentally sharp.”

Have others tried to influence his career?

“No, not really. It’s mainly my dad,” he says.

Still, Yastrzemski is likely to encounter comparisons with his father as he gains a higher profile in the minor leagues and ultimately, when he reaches the major leagues.

“I’m not concerned about it. Baseball is a very individualized sport,” says Yaz, who will celebrate his 25th birthday on Saturday. “My stance is different. I switch hit, he didn’t. Our styles are different. If people compare us, well, then they will compare us.”

Yastrzemski, a member of the National Honor Society when he played at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., explains he wasn’t in a hurry to rush into baseball.

“I was originally drafted by the Rangers but the reason I didn’t sign with them was because I wanted to finish school,” said Yastrzemski, who went on to play at Florida State University.