Eddie Yost Dies at 86, Baseball’s “Walking Man”

If you are a fan of classic baseball history, I am sure you are aware of who Eddie Yost was. Baseball’s “Walking Man” who played for various professional baseball teams, such as the Washington Senators, the Detroit Tigers, and the Los Angeles Angels.

Even though Yost became a baseball superstar, he never actually participated in any minor league positions. Earlier in Yost’s career, he signed up as a free agent with the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) in 1944, and then later started to play professionally with the Washington Senators at the age of 17. A year later, Yost joined the U.S. Army, but then returned to baseball with the Washington Senators in 1946.

Yost became a very talented baseball player. From 1949 to 1955, Yost was involved 829 consecutive games for the Washington Senators, which was the ninth-longest consecutive game streak recorded in MLB history, and also gave Yost a lot of press for this victory.

In 1958, Yost was traded from the Washington Senators to the Detroit Tigers, spending two years with the team until he was selected by the Los Angeles Angels during the 1961 American League expansion draft.

Retiring from playing professionally in 1962, Yost became involved with coaching. For a short period of time, Yost coached the Los Angeles Angels, and then moved back to Washington for the position of third-base coach up until 1968, when Yost became the third-base coach for the Mets, ending his coaching career with the Boston Red Sox in 1984.

The reason why Yost was nicknamed the “Walking Man” was because of the various bases on balls he drew.

Eddie Yost died on Tuesday October 16th of 2012 at the age of 86. The cause of his death was due to a heart-related illness.

Many fans of Yost’s talent have posted their respects on Twitter: