Mike Yastrzemski's return to SF replays tired old debate amongst Giants fans

There may have been a brief cease fire in the Brandon Belt Wars after the “Baby Giraffe” departed the SF Giants following the 2022 season, but some new wars began  shortly thereafter amongst fans. The Mike Yastrzemski and Tyler Rogers Wars were perhaps not quite as intense as they were with Belt, but fans really were divided on those two players as well.

The Yastrzemski Wars have been renewed briefly since the Atlanta Braves are in town. Yastrzemski, and a whole bunch of former Giants, are on the Braves and the Giants made a very nice video commemorating Yastrzemski’s time with the team.

They even went so far as to call him a Forever Giant, a phrase used derisively or sarcastically by some fans but which seemed to be entirely apt for Yastrzemski. Unless you ask some fans who brought up the fact that the team never won a playoff series with Yastrzemski and consider him “mid.”

Was Yastrzemski a star player? Not by any stretch. But was he solid, reliable, and on the whole an above average player for the seven seasons he played for the team? Without question.

Yes, he will be associated with an era of Giants baseball that was decidedly mediocre but that does not mean he should not be celebrated. He and other Giants of that era like Wilmer Flores exemplified what it means to be a Giant during their years with the team so even if the team didn’t enjoy tremendous success while he played with them he still deserves the moniker of “Forever Giant.”

He played with class, carried himself well, was a great teammate, and represented the city of San Francisco well. Those things may seem saccharine to some but they matter to fans which is why a lot of people were very sad to see him go when he got traded to the Kansas City Royals last season.

Yastrzemski's numbers prove he was a solid Giant

But if the intangible stuff isn’t your bag, let’s dig into the numbers. During his time with San Francisco he hit .237/.323/.440 with 109 home runs and drove in 321 runs. He was always considered an above-average right fielder and was even a finalist for a Gold Glove Award in right field in 2024.

He could be very streaky at the plate and struck out a lot at times but he was a solid player overall and did a lot of little things right like getting a bunt down for a hit when the defense had a shift on him or making smart decisions as a base runner.

He’s the sort of player who, if you took a kid to a ball game, you’d say, ‘Watch the way that guy in right field plays. That’s the right way to play the game.’

To some that may not mean much and maybe the promise he showed in his first few seasons led to disappointment when he didn’t turn into a star player. But Yastrzemski is most definitely a Forever Giant and there are a lot of fans in San Francisco who will always cheer for him no matter what team he plays for.

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