Why Yaz goes with 'Mike' when ordering coffee

When the Giants acquired Mike Yastrzemski from the Orioles in March, the 29-year-old rookie embraced the new opportunity. After a long journey to the Major Leagues, he is making his mark in San Francisco. Yastrzemski has one of the most recognized names in baseball, and there’s so much more to find out about the outfielder, from his sports icons to Minor League memories to favorite ice cream flavors.

If you had to give yourself a superlative growing up, what would it have been?
Is there such thing as “Most Serious?” I was probably the guy that took everything a little too seriously. If there was a competition, it was do or die. I didn’t make friends in that sense. … Whether there was a debate class, it was dead serious. If it was dodge ball in gym class, I was the last one in there. If it was floor hockey, it was full contact. It was just very intense.

You played over 700 Minor League games. What was your wildest experience?
One of our buses catching on fire in short season [with the Aberdeen Ironbirds]. We were driving to Vermont, I believe, and we were just about to pull off the exit. All of a sudden, guys in the back said, “My seat’s starting to get really hot.” We heard rumblings in the back, and all of a sudden we turned around and we see smoke coming from the bus. Everybody’s like, “Fire! Fire! Bus on fire!” So it pulls over, and everyone sprints off the bus and runs away. The fire department came, and it was one exit short so we had to have a new bus come and bring us another exit.

Outside of baseball, which sports players did you look up to?
Big Patriots guy, so Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi I was a big fan of. On the hockey side of things, I was always a Ray Borque fan. So him, Joe Thornton, when he was with the Bruins. It’s funny now that I’m out in San Francisco, [Thornton]’s with the Sharks, so that’s cool to have some connection there. I really looked up to those guys and loved watching them do their thing. Antoine Walker was my favorite basketball player with his little shimmy. Paul Pierce, obviously, can’t go wrong.

Rank your top three favorite ice cream flavors in order.
No. 1: Half Baked by Ben & Jerry’s. I had it when I was in high school and forever whenever I saw it, I had to get it. Second would be their Americone Dream, which is unbelievable. Then third would be just your standard mint chocolate chip. In Nashville, [my go-to] is Jeni’s.

What is the first concert you went to?
I think my first concert was NSYNC. ... It was that time, I was 10 years old [in 2000] and they were huge. My mom brought me and a couple of my cousins for my birthday. I think it was the No Strings Attached Tour. [My favorite] was JT [Justin Timberlake], obviously. Now that he lives in Nashville, too, hopefully he’s paying attention to this.

If you could play a game of baseball anywhere in the universe, where would it be?
Definitely on the moon, because you could hit a lot of homers there. Absolutely the moon.

Speaking of hitting home runs, what are some goals you have set for yourself?
I don’t put it into numbers. I have long-term goals that I set. Essentially, it was just to get here. Now that I’ve done that, I haven’t completely re-evaluated, but I’ve tried to grasp where I want to go from here. [I want] to wear this Giants uniform until they literally rip it off me.

Which pronunciation of your last name did you get the most?
“Yah-struh-zem-ski.” I’ll let them say it however they want to.

So when you order a coffee, what’s the name you put on the cup?
“Mike.” Standard.