Athletics' Kemp, Giants' Yastrzemski Make Their Bay Area Mark as a Shared Experience

Oakland Athletics second baseman Tony Kemp and San Francisco Giants center fielder Mike Yastrzemski have been the best of friends since their college days at Vanderbilt. This weekend, they will face off against each other as the Giants host the A's for three games.

The Giants and the A’s, who meet Friday night in Oracle Park for the first time in the 2020 regular season, will always maintain a rivalry.

With the teams playing in stadiums just eight miles away from each other and with fans of one team working with or sometimes living with or recreating with fans of the other, it will sometimes get heated.

This story isn’t about that. This is about Oakland second baseman Tony Kemp and San Francisco center fielder Mike Yastrzemski. They can play for the same time or they can play for the most heated of rivals, but they always will be besties.

They were roommates as well as teammates in college at Vanderbilt. Yastrzemski was a groomsman when Kemp married his wife, Michelle. They live within five minutes of each other in Nashville in the offseason. They workout together.

Yastrzemski was an early supporter of Kemp’s +1 Effect campaign in which the A’s second baseman tried to create dialogue around the subject of race and racism in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Yastrzemski was one of a number of Giants who took a knee during the Giants’ preseason visit to the Coliseum in a July 20 exhibition game, which meant a great deal to Kemp.

The point is, social distancing doesn’t come naturally to these two men. They’re tight.

When Kemp was still bouncing between the Major Leagues and the minors last year, Yastrzemski was getting his shot with the Giants. And when his power numbers began to spike, he gave due credit the Giants’ coaching staff, but was also quick to thank Kemp.

Throughout the 2018 postseason, they talked lots of baseball. To that point, Yastrzemski had spent half a decade in the Orioles’ minor league system without getting a sniff of The Show. Kemp kept reinforcing that Yastrzemski was worthy. And they talked hitting.

Kemp preached the importance of keeping the bat in the strike zone longer and keeping a level plane through his swing.

“I did a lot of drills with him, and we talked about mindset,” Yastrzemski said. “He was really helpful to bounce stuff off.”

Kemp, who credits Yastrzemski for helping him become a complete bunter to round out his offensive skills, said after the exhibition game “it was huge” seeing Yastrzemski take a knee on July 20.

“I talked to Yaz a lot in the offseason,” Kemp said. “To know I had an impact on his life like that, through the ‘+1 Effect’ campaign like that is huge.

“Brings a smile to my face, gives me chills talking about it because, to impact somebody like that, and to do the things that he’s doing,” Kemp said, breaking into a smile. “You know, I had a conversation with him he said ‘Yeah man, honestly it’s a little bit scary, but I’m glad I did it, I’m glad that I was able to use my voice and my platform to bring awareness to these things that are going on in the world today.’”

Competitors? Yeah. Rivals? You bet. Buddies? No doubt.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Inside the Athletics on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.