In regards to Yastrzemski's defensive skills, I can attest that he did seem to have a quick read on the path of the ball; I watched a lot of games at Fenway pre-1967, and as a high school outfielder, that was one of the things I noticed. Far from being as adept as Jackie Bradley Jr, but so is everyone else. And when they played on the road, I remember young Yaz at being very good at cutting the ball off before it got to the gap. He broke his leg/ankle? in ST 1972, which cost him most of the year, and, to my memory, his wheels never quite recovered -- but by then he was already entering his mid-30's.
Before 1967, Yaz was the whipping boy in the Boston media. Before the days of the proliferation of the radio talk shows, certain sports writers (Cliff Keane, Tim Horgan and Larry Claflin) used to portray him as a diffident underachiever. Yaz was presented as the epitome of the "Country Club" attitude that was in the clubhouse in the days before Dick Williams. Remember, in the off-season before 1967, the Sox almost traded Yaz to the Athletics for 2B Dick Green. In fact, Yaz was by far the Sox best position player since the retirement of Ted after 1960. Tony C. was a star, but he also swung at too many bad pitchers, was a horrible situation hitter and was a wild card in RF and on the bases. The fact is, that very few people SAW Yaz play that many games. Back in the '60s, only 35-40 games were telecast, and the Sox drew well under a million each year. And in the days preceding video tape, there were very few highlights to be seen on TV, save for a few hastily developed feet of film from the early innings of a home game and shown on the old Channel 5 by Don Gillis. Die-hard fans HEARD Yaz playing on the radio. (Yaz' play to preserve Rohr's no-hitter was the greatest catch i ever HEARD -- Ken Coleman's voice went up more octaves than Yma Sumac.)
The amazing thing about Yaz is how, at the age of 28, he somehow committed himself to an off-season program of conditioning that made him into the complete offensive player. Working with Gene Berde at the Colonial CC in Lynnfield. I still don't know how 3 months of training made such a difference. If that happened today, we'd swear Gene Berde had put him on a PED regimen that would be the envy of Balco. In any event, his 1967 season was the best I ever saw -- maybe Cabrera's 2012 season matched, but the 1967 Red Sox were a very average team, save for the best starter, in Lonborg, and the best player in Yaz. He basically revitalized the franchise, and also saved Fenway Park. (If the Sox had continue to languish near the bottom, they would have ended up playing in Foxboro in some horrid multi-purpose stadium.) I heard Felger this summer, discounting Yaz' impact, noting how he never won a title, and all he did in 1967 was lead the Red Sox to second place. That's how ignorant turds, raised on NHL style playoff systems, view losing a World Series. Fact is, before 1969, in MLB, you played 162 games to finish first in your league. Then the two pennant winners played a best of seven. Winning a pennant meant something in 1967. Playing in a World Series meant a lot, as well. After 45 years of baseball playoffs, it's easy to forget.