A Yastzemski playing at Fenway Park.
This is real life in the 21st century, although I don't think anyone would have thought this a decade ago.
However, thanks to the San Francisco Giants, it is happening -- this week.
That's right. Mike Yastzremski, the grandson of Carl, is a member of the team and since the Red Sox have a three-game home series against the Giants, that means they are playing against a team with a Yaz on it.
Let that sink in: they're playing against a Yaz. First time it's ever happened at Fenway Park. His granddad was a Red Sox lifer, as many old timers know, so this is gonna be a bit weird -- and very interesting.
The rookie outfielder is having a quality season this year. Through 96 games played, he has 18 home runs and is hitting .265 with an .833 OPS. Remember, he plays in San Francisco which is not the most hitter-friendly ballpark going either, so he's surely an above-average hitter.
Some more background on him: he grew up in Andover and attended high school at St. John's Prep in Danvers. He then attended Vanderbilt University -- what some would call "the Harvard of the south".
Little Yaz, as we will refer to him for the rest of this blog post, is 29 and has played professional baseball since 2013. He was picked in the 14th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, who stupidly got rid of him early this season, trading him for some guy named Tyler Herb who no one has heard of and has an ERA over 6.00 at the Triple-A level.
Oh, and in case you wanted to know: no. Pablo Sandoval will not be coming back to Boston for this series. He's ducking out -- because he has another "injury", or so he claims....