Eddie Yost

Edward Frederick Joseph Yost (October 13, 1926 – October 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) 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. Yost was considered one of the best leadoff hitters and defensive 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 signing with the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1944. 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. 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 limited by Washington's cavernous Griffith Stadium. Between 1944 and 1953, he hit only three 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.

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. 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. 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. Yost then continued on Hodges' Washington staff through . 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.

Eddie's son, Michael is current Boston College indoor pole vault record holder.

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 played for Pepperdine University through 2019 as part of the Pepperdine Waves baseball team.

Yost and his family had moved to Boston's western suburbs during his tenure with the Red Sox and he lived there in retirement. He died of cardiovascular disease in Weston, Massachusetts, on October 16, 2012, aged 86.