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April 27, 2007

Latest Yastrzemski working hard to live up to his name

Bill Kipouras, Staff writer

DANVERS — He’s enormously proud of his grandfather, Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.

But Mike Yastrzemski — “Yaz” to his teammates on the St. John’s Prep baseball team — doesn’t want to be singled out for celebrity status because he has a famous last name. He can do without the attention.

The 16-year-old sophomore left-handed pitcher and outfielder from Andover has lived up to the responsibility. Still, he just wants to be “one of the guys,” as he puts it.

“The kids I meet don’t judge me by my name or whatever. Everybody’s close as a group,” Yastrzemski said. “It’s nice to be like everybody else, just blend in. You want to be your own person, your own individual.”

It doesn’t bug him like it used to when he was younger. Yastrzemski would tell people he wasn’t related to his famous grandfather, who had a brilliant 23-year career with the Red Sox.

“I told people that so I wouldn’t get special attention,” he admitted. “But I’ve learned to deal with it in other ways.

“My grandfather hasn’t been to any games yet, but whenever I’m struggling with my hitting he’s always there for me. We’ll go down to Dave Bettencourt’s facility (DB’s in North Andover) and he’ll give me tips on what I’m doing wrong.”

He said that Bettencourt, the veteran local coach, has been a “big help” to him since Yastrzemski began working with him as a 9-year-old. Yastrzemski also plays for Bettencourt’s New England Firebirds AAU club out of North Andover.

Yastrzemski lost his father three years ago due to complications following hip surgery. His grandfather has been there to provide guidance for him.

“He’s been a really strong influence, very special to me. My grandfather is a very generous man,” said his grandson. “He’s very quiet and doesn’t like to be around people. He gives me advice to stay straight in line in school and to focus on academics.”

Mike Yastrzemski must be attentive. He had a 3.81 grade point average after his freshman year and one term made the prestigious headmaster’s list.

His late father, Mike, a former Florida State star outfielder who played five years in the Chicago White Sox organization, was all set to attend St. John’s Prep when the family moved to Boca Raton, Fla.

“My mom (Anne-Marie) thought the Prep would be a good school for me. I knew some kids who went here and was interested in the baseball program,” said Yastrzemski, who played JV hockey last winter. “It has an excellent combination of academics and athletics.”

Yastrzemski is from a well-known Andover family. His grandfather, Charles Wesson, was a longtime selectman and his six daughters, including Mike’s mother, were involved in cheerleading and sports at Andover High.

His closest friends on the baseball team — Kyle Pettoruto of Andover, Jordan Edgett of Lynn, Dave DeCelle of Haverhill and Danny Haugh of Andover — will tell you that Yastrzemski is quiet and humble.

“He’s the All-American boy. Nothing out of the ordinary about him,” said Pettoruto. “He’s one of the guys on the team, and that’s the way he likes it.”

And Pettoruto knows that Yastrzemski loves to sleep. He and Haugh used to pick him up for a 5 a.m. tryout in the Prep gym.

“I’d have to pry him out of bed,” Pettoruto said.

Yastrzemski, who is 1 for 6 for St. John’s this spring, does have one luxury as the grandson of the man who made the 1967 Red Sox Impossible Dream season possible.

“I go to spring training two or three weekends each year,” said Yastrzemski, who, along with Chris Carmain of Methuen, are the only two sophomores on the Prep varsity. “I have a cousin, Casey, at Concord-Carlisle who joins me. We fly out after school on Friday and return home Sunday night. My grandfather works with us and Dwight Evans instructs us, too.

“We practice with the minor league guys. We’re in the big locker room and have our own lockers. We eat with the team, and for the games we watch from behind the cages. It’s awesome.”

That taste of the big league life whets Yastrzemski’s appetite.

“It’s what I want to do,” said Yastrzemski, who was a brilliant youth league player in Andover. “I constantly work at it, but you think of the odds of making it — slim to none, pretty much. I think about it a lot and the advantage kids have down South and California and in the Southwest. We play 20 games or so; they play 60 or 70.

“I’ve talked to my grandfather about it. He says the same thing as everyone else; it’s rare for someone from around here to make it. You have to work hard if that’s what you want.”

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