Batting average .254 Role Baseball player Home runs 139 Height 1.78 m | Runs batted in 683 Weight 77 kg Name Eddie Yost Education New York University | |
 | ||
Died October 16, 2012, Weston, Massachusetts, United States | ||
Eddie Walking Man Yost Dies At 86
Edward Frederick Joseph Yost (October 13, 1926 – October 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball player and coach. 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.
Contents
- Eddie Walking Man Yost Dies At 86
- Major League career
- Career statistics
- Coaching career
- Personal life and family
- References
Yost batted and threw right-handed. 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. Yost was considered one of the best lead off men and third basemen of his era.
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. 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. Yost spent the 1945 season in the United States Navy before returning to the Senators in 1946.
In 1950, Yost posted career-highs with a .295 batting average and a .440 on-base percentage. In 1951 he led the American League with 36 doubles and produced a career-high 65 runs batted in. He earned a place as a reserve player for the American League team in the 1952 All-Star Game. 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. Yost's home run totals were diminished by having to play his home games in Washington's cavernous Griffith Stadium. Between 1944 and 1953, he hit only 3 home runs at home while hitting 52 home runs on the road.
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. 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. In 1960, he again led the league in base on balls and on-base percentage. Yost spent two seasons with the Tigers before being selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1961 American League expansion draft.
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. In his last plate appearance as a major league player, he received a base on balls.
Career statistics
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. He ended his career with a .957 fielding percentage. 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. 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. Yost hit 28 home runs to lead off a game, a record which stood until Bobby Bonds broke it in the 1970s.
Yost led American League third basemen eight times in putouts, seven times in double plays, three times in assists and twice in fielding percentage. He set American League career records with 2,356 putouts, 3,659 assists, and 6,285 total chances. His 2,356 putouts ranks him third all-time among third basemen behind Brooks Robinson and Jimmy Collins. In 1960, he surpassed Pie Traynor's major league record for most games played as a third baseman with 1,865 games. Yost was the first third baseman in history to appear in more than 2,000 games. Baseball historian Bill James ranked Yost 24th all-time among third baseman in his Historical Baseball Abstract.
Yost attended New York University during the off-season where he earned a Master's degree in physical education in 1953.
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. When Vernon was replaced by Gil Hodges, Yost briefly served as interim manager, losing his only game as manager on May 22, 1963. Yost then continued on Hodges' Washington staff through 1967. When Hodges became manager of the New York Mets in 1968, he took Yost with him to New York. 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. They had two daughters, Felita Yost Carr and Alexis; a son, Mike; and two grandsons, Edward and Joseph. Patricia died on January 6, 2007.
Yost's daughter Felita competed in ice dancing during the 1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Following her active career in ice skating, she is now a coach of figure skating.
His grandson Edward played varsity baseball at Huntington Beach High School in California and is a lefthand pitcher. 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. Edward Yost is currently playing for Pepperdine University as part of the Pepperdine Waves baseball team.
Yost died of cardiovascular disease in Weston, Massachusetts on October 16, 2012, aged 86.