Major League Career
Yost was signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1944. He made his Major League debut with the Senators at the age of 17 on August 16, 1944, having never played in the minor leagues. Yost spent the 1945 season in the United States Navy before returning to the Senators in 1946.
In 1950, Yost posted career-highs with a .295 batting average and a .440 on base percentage. In 1951 he led the American League with 36 doubles and produced a career-high 65 runs batted in. He earned a place as a reserve player for the American League team in the 1952 All-Star Game. Between August 30, 1949 and May 11, 1955, Yost played in 829 consecutive games for the Senators, the ninth longest consecutive game streak in major league history. Yost's home run totals were diminished by having to play his home games in Washington's cavernous Griffith Stadium. Between 1944 and 1953, he hit only 3 home runs at home while hitting 52 home runs on the road.
On December 6, 1958, after 14 seasons with the Senators, Yost was traded to the Detroit Tigers, allowing the Senators to make room for young prospect Harmon Killebrew. Playing in hitter-friendly Tiger Stadium in 1959, his home run production climbed to a career-high of 21 and, he led the American League with 115 runs scored, 135 base on balls and a .435 on base percentage. In 1960, he again led the league in base on balls and on base percentage. Yost spent two seasons with the Tigers before being selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1961 American League expansion draft. While with the Angels during their inaugural season, Yost earned the distinction of being the first Angels player to appear in a major league game, leading off in the team's first game, played at Baltimore on April 11, 1961. In his last plate appearance as a major league player, he received a base on balls.
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