'Walking Man' Yost passes away at 86
The New York native made his Major League debut in August 1944 for the Washington Senators. After missing the entire 1945 season while serving in the United States Navy, Yost returned to the Senators and spent the next 13 seasons with the club. He then played two seasons for the Tigers and another two for the Angels.
Yost finished his 18-year playing career with 1,863 hits and a .254 average. He led the AL in walks in 1950, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959 and 1960. In 1951, he led the league in doubles in with 36 and he was named to his first and only All-Star team in 1952. In 1959, he led the league in runs with 115 and also led the league with a .435 on-base percentage in his first season with the Tigers. He went on to lead the league in on-base percentage again the next season with a .414 mark.
In 1961, as the Opening Day leadoff hitter, he became the first to bat for the Angels, an AL expansion team that year. He was the first third baseman in Major League history to appear in more than 2,000 games.
After retiring as a player in 1962, Yost spent 22 years coaching with the Senators, Mets and Red Sox before retiring in 1984. He served as the Mets' third-base coach for nine seasons beginning in 1968, and won a World Series ring with the club in 1969. He coached third base for the Red Sox from 1977-84. Yost managed one game, a loss, in 1963, filling a gap between the dismissed Mickey Vernon and the newly hired Gil Hodges. Yost would follow Hodges to New York five years later.