Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski: Boston Red Sox Personifies Longevity

As a stat junkie, not too many baseball numbers actually make me sit down and contemplate what I just read. Until now, that is.

From 1939 through 1983, the Boston Red Sox primarily used two left fielders.

Ted Williams and Carl Yastremski.

That is 45 years and two left fielders.

True, Ted Williams lost five years to military service and Yastremski was a designated hitter and first baseman at the end of his career, but this fact just staggers me.

Possibly because I grew up as a Phillies fan, falling in love with baseball as a ten-year old in 1978. My idea of longevity was watching Mike Schmidt hold down third base for 18 years from 1972 to 1989.

To put this in perspective, if a 12-year-old boy started following the Red Sox during Williams' first year, that same boy would be a 57-year-old grandfather when Carl Yastremski called it a career.

Forgive me if I seem to be making a big deal out of this, but in this free agency and trade era, I am just floored by this number.

Now for some more numbers that are off the charts.

Let's start with 973 combined home runs; that's an average of a little over 21 homers a year.

Mix in 6,173 combined hits, 977 combined doubles, a combined career fielding percentage of .981, and 35 combined All Star appearances.

What it all comes down to is that the Red Sox must have had a finely run operation in those days to keep two super stars on the roster for so long.

Just imagine what those career numbers would have been had Ted Williams not lost so many years to active service.

I challenge the readers to give me a better example of quality longevity in any pro sport.