FENWAY PARK – The last time Mike Yastrzemski and a group of 30 or so family and friends were here, at grandpa Carl Yastrzemski’s sacred home, it was about dreams, chills, and memories to last a lifetime.
“Definitely, one of the greatest experiences of my career,” said Mike, which included his Hall of Fame grandfather throwing him the first pitch. “The whole series was surreal. It still is.”
Nearly six years later, Yastrzemski was back at Fenway Park, rather unexpectedly.
In the waning moments of the MLB trade deadline, literally the final seconds, he was traded from the San Francisco Giants to the Kansas City Royals, a team clawing away at the third and final Wild Card spot.
Yastrzemski stood in front of the Royals dugout before Monday night’s opener, won by the Red Sox, 8-5. He had two hits in his trip back home.
This was different than last time. First off, “gramps” was not throwing out the first pitch, and secondly, Yastrzemski is now a veteran of seven, productive seasons.
First he had to get through his “Giants” emotions.
“I’m taking that part day by day,” said Yaz. “Obviously, there’s a lot of emotions involved when you’re in one organization for seven years. I knew everything about every single person there. And so it was, it was a special place to be for me.”
The Giants were everything to Yastrzemski and, really, his family, which now includes wife Paige, daughter Quinley and son Kai.
“I got called up (to the big leagues) there and debuted there, and had an insane number of memorable moments,” he said.
While there was a strong possibility of a trade, as the day wound down it appeared he might remain a Giant through the end of this season when his contract ran out.
“This is the start of a new chapter. I’m excited. I knew I was going to be a free agent at the end of the year anyways,” said Yastrzemski. “So it’s maybe like ripping the band-aid off and getting it out of the way is the best way to handle it.”
He got the call while with some of his teammates on a San Francisco golf course.
A day later he was in Toronto with his new teammates … in the lineup while his mom, Anne Marie Yastrzemski, flew out to San Francisco to help his wife and kids deal with the move.
In his first at bat … wham! … he clubbed a two-run home run. What a welcome!
“It’s one of those things that you almost knew was going to happen,” he recalled “I’m running on three hours of sleep. I’m changing time zones. I’m driving from the golf course to the airport. It was just chaos. So I knew something would happen.”
He knew the Blue Jays pitcher, Kevin Gausman, whom he played with in 2020 and 2021 with the Giants.
“It was a 2-2 pitch, a splitter from Gausie,” said Yastrzemski. “I hadn’t faced him in a while, and there’s something that was probably fun about seeing a familiar face on the opposing mound. Obviously he wants to punch me out every time, and I want to hit a homer off him every time.”
Yastrzemski said he immediately met with manager Matt Quatraro when he arrived at the park on Friday and pretty much got the lay of the land.
“He was just saying how excited he was to have me. And that was exciting to feel and to hear and then talking to (general manager) J.J. (Picollo), he was super-excited that he got this done,” said Yastrzemski. “And for him to pull it off in the manner that he did, it shows that I was on his radar. That’s a good feeling.”
Quatraro said that Yastrzemski was among the important pieces, which included two starting pitchers.
“(Mike) was really in tune with what it takes to be in the kind of role he’s in on a team that’s looking to win,” said Quatraro. “He understands the pinch hitting part. He understands being hit for. He understands how this game works. He’s been around for a while. He’s been on good teams. He understands what it takes to win. And he seems extremely selfless and just really diving into meeting these guys.”
While it’s been less than a week, Yastrzemski’s influence has already been felt in the clubhouse.
“He’s not only a great person, but he’s got so much knowledge of the game, situations, everything,” said Royals infielder Jonathan India. “I can’t wait to be around him the rest of the season. It’s really nice having a guy like him to lean on.”
With the talent, the veterans and their place in the standings, Yastrzemski said there is already a peace about his role, which is to do anything possible to help the Royals make a run at October baseball.
“There’s no pressure to say that I have to come in here and be a superstar, because I don’t think that’s their expectation. It’s not mine,” said Yastrzemski. “I just want to fit in and help this team win a few more games than they would have if I wasn’t here. That’s exciting for me.”
As for his future, post-2025, Yastrzemski said there is still a lot of tread left in his baseball tires.
While there were thoughts of possibly quitting while in the minors with the organization that drafted him, the Baltimore Orioles, that ship has long sailed.
How much longer does he want to play?
“Forever,” he snapped. “I’m ready to go. I feel like I’ve kept my body in a good place. My body has felt just about as good as it’s ever felt. So it’s just, it’s a matter of just creating opportunity for myself. I love this game so much.”
One similarity to his last visit to Fenway Park in August of 2019 were the amount of people there the last few days, many from Andover and the Merrimack Valley.
The ticket request was the highest of the year for a Royals player. He asked for 30 tickets.
“(Our ticket guy) is getting off cheap too,” said Yastrzemski. “Yeah, 30 is nothing. But I guess we had to cut it off somewhere, though. It’s great being back home. And it’s great playing baseball.”
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.