Baseball Quest

Baseball players battling each other with magic? You got to be kidding!

And Yaz is one of the guys you have to defeat to win!

Cecil Cooper

Coop comments.

MILWAUKEE -- The news that Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski underwent triple bypass surgery Tuesday night was a shock to baseball figures around the country, including Astros manager Cecil Cooper, who played with "Yaz" in Boston for six years from 1971-76 ...

"Tremendous competitor," Cooper said of Yastrzemski. "I liken that to a [Craig] Biggio kind of character. He played hard every day -- was very, very competitive. He'd dial up the intensity when he needed to. And a good guy -- you hate for him to be going through what he's going through."

Triple Bypass

Yaz starting down the road to recovery.

BALTIMORE - One day after being taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with pain and tightness in his chest, Red Sox [team stats] great Carl Yastrzemski underwent successful triple bypass surgery last night, the player’s longtime spokesman said.

According to Dick Gordon, Yastrzemski, who turns 69 Friday, made it through the estimated six-hour procedure -- with two hours of prep time -- without any apparent difficulty and completed surgery shortly after 8 p.m. Gordon did not provide a timetable for Yastrzemski’s recovery, but expressed relief and thanks on behalf of the slugger’s family for the prayers and support.

“Everything’s fine. He had a triple bypass and he’s fine,” Gordon said. “He’s in recovery right now. ”

“He didn’t have a heart attack,” Gordon continued. “He came here (Monday) and, after some tests and some evaluations, it was determined he needed bypass surgery.”

Yaz in Hospital

Get better soon.

BOSTON (AP) — Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, the last player to hit for the Triple Crown, was hospitalized for tests Tuesday after experiencing chest pains. The Boston Red Sox confirmed the 68-year-old Yastrzemski was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital and was undergoing evaluation and testing. The team said no further information was immediately available on its longtime great.

Asked whether it was serious, Yastrzemski spokesman Dick Gordon said: "Any time you are in the hospital, it's got to be pretty serious."

A Thought for the Day from Yaz

"I think about baseball when I wake up in the morning. I think about it all day and I dream about it at night. The only time I don't think about it is when I'm playing it."

Triple Crown Threats

My money's on Big Brown.

It's pretty much a three-horse race: Josh Hamilton, Lance Berkman and Big Brown.

Both Hamilton (Rangers) and Berkman (Astros) have more than piqued our interest, although there's still a lot of baseball to play.

Can one of them, please, put a merciful end to major-league baseball's four-decade Triple Crown drought?

The last player to lead his league in batting average, home runs and RBI is now pushing 70. Carl Yastrzemski capped Boston's "Impossible Dream" season of 1967 with baseball's elusive trifecta.

Hamilton -- current Sports Illustrated cover boy -- ranks first in RBI, first in HRs and second in batting average among American League hitters. Houston's Berkman, meanwhile, is tattooing NL pitching at the tune of second in home runs, second in batting average and third in RBI. Big Brown has the easier trip. He needs only to win Saturday's Belmont Stakes to become thoroughbred racing's first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.

Carroll Hardy

In 1961, batting for LF Carl Yastrzemski, Red Sox pinch hitter Carroll Hardy bunted for a single in the eighth inning of a 7-6 loss to the Yankees. Hardy would be the only player to pinch-hit for both Captain Carl and Ted Williams.

Spelling Lesson

From the always entertaining Surviving Grady.

(Hey Red and Denton, when do I get my link?)