Kevin Youkilis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|---|---|
| Boston Red Sox — No. 20 | |
| First Baseman | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| May 15, 2004 for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
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| Hits | 235 |
| HR | 21 |
| RBI | 116 |
Kevin Edmund Youkilis (born March 15, 1979, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American first baseman and right-handed batter who plays for the Boston Red Sox.
Prior to 2006, he primarily played third base. He has also seen innings at second base and in left field.
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[edit] Early life
Youkilis was a member of the 1994 Sycamore High School team that won the AAU National Championship.
In college, he was a 2-time All-American in four seasons for the University of Cincinnati, where Sandy Koufax once also played baseball. He set Bearcats career records with 53 home runs, 206 walks, a .627 slugging percentage, and a .499 on base percentage.
The Red Sox drafted him in the 8th round in 2001.
[edit] Minor leagues
He made his debut with the Class A Lowell Spinners, hitting .317 in 59 games while earning Player of the Year in the New York - Penn League. In only 183 at bats, he walked 70 times.
He climbed through three levels of the organization in 2002, going from Augusta to Sarasota to Portland, where he hit .344 in 44 games. He was voted Boston Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year.
In 2003, he tied Kevin Millar's minor-league record by reaching base in 71 consecutive games. He was voted onto the Eastern League All-Star team.
In 2004, Youkilis was batting .258 with three home runs and a .347 on base percentage in 32 games with Triple-A Pawtucket when he got the call to the Red Sox.
Youkilis had a .441 career obp in the minor leagues. He demonstrated a good knowledge of the strike zone, collecting 270 base on balls in his first 325 games, and walking almost two times for every time he struck out.
[edit] Major League career
[edit] Boston Red Sox (2004-present)
Youkilis went 2-for-4 in his big league debut. In his second at-bat, he homered off of former Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen.
In his first major league campaign in 2004, Youkilis hit .260 with 7 home runs and 35 runs batted in in 208 at bats, and walked 13.7% of the time (which would have put him 5th in the league, had he had sufficient at bats). He batted .339 with runners in scoring position.
In 2005, in only 79 at bats, he hit .278 with a .400 OBP. He saw an average of 4.68 pitches per plate appearance, the most by any Red Sox player with at least 50 at-bats, and walked 15.1% of the time (which would have had him at 2nd in the AL, if he had had sufficient at bats).
In 2006, he switched from his natural position at third base to be the starting first baseman for the Red Sox, replacing the departed Kevin Millar. Youkilis filled in at third base when necessary. Also, even though he had no outfield experience, injuries forced Youkilis into left field for 18 games where he did a fine job, playing error-less defense with 3 assists. He demonstrated his versatility offensively by batting in every spot in the lineup except ninth. He was very valuable batting leadoff, due to his excellent ability to get on base.
In 2006, Youkilis led the major leagues in both pitches-per-plate-appearance (4.42) and sacrifice flies (11). He was 7th in the league in walks (91), 8th in doubles (42), 9th in walk percentage (13.8%),[1] and 10th in times on base (259). He also scored 100 runs. He hit .325 with runners in scoring position, and .375 (with a .524 OBP) with runners in scoring position with two out.[2]
Red sox manager Terry Francona indicated in December 2006 that he would likely bat Youkilis second in 2007.[3]
[edit] Awards
- 1999 All-American Collegiate Player
- 2000 Conference USA All-Star IF
- 2001 2nd team College All-American 3B
- 2001 Conference USA All-Star IF
- 2001 Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year
- 2002 Trenton Player of the Year
- 2002 Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year
- 2003 Futures Game All-Star
- 2003 Eastern League All-Star Utility
- 2003 International League Post-Season All-Star
- 2004 American League Rookie of the Month - May
- 2006 Hank and Sandy Most Valuable Jewish Player Award [4]
[edit] Trivia
- Kevin looks a lot like his Dad, Mike, who has been known as "Tank" and "Bear" throughout his life in Cincinnati.
- Played on the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
- While it may sound like he is being booed when Youkilis takes the plate, or has a big hit at Fenway Park, Boston fans are actually cheering "Youk..." in a low, long voice, as they did with Lou Merloni.
- He had a prominent appearance in the book "Moneyball", receiving the nickname "The Greek God of Walks" for his proficiency in getting on base. When asked about the nickname, manager Terry Francona remarked: "I've seen Youkilis in the shower, and I wouldn't call him the Greek god of anything." [5]
- Despite the "Greek God of Walks" nickname, Youkilis is not Greek. He is actually a Romanian Jew.
- Youkilis played his first major league game on May 15, 2004. After he hit a home run in his debut, his teammates, as a prank, remained seated on their dugout benches and ignored this feat. Youkilis proceeded to the dugout and hit imaginary high-fives until his teammates gave in and congratulated him.
- In May of 2004, a group of female Red Sox fans created the Yahoo! Groups message board "DOKY" or "Daughters of Kevin Youkilis". Originally started as a humorous take-off on the infamous "SoSH" or "Sons of Sam Horn" message board, it has turned into a place for Red Sox, baseball, and Youkilis fans to discuss the game and Kevin's playing, and friends and relatives of Youkilis, and Youkilis himself, often post messages there.
- The Red Sox were the only team to have 4 Jewish players on their team at once when Gabe Kapler, Youkilis, Adam Stern, and Craig Breslow were on the team.
- On Yom Kippur in 2004, he asked his parents what he should do, and didn't play, but did suit up in the dugout to support his team.[6]
- In August 2006, Rescue Me stars Denis Leary and Lenny Clarke discovered that Youkilis was Jewish on live television, and proceeded to make fun of Mel Gibson's recent anti-semitic comments.[7][8]
- Officials of the Israel Baseball League, for which Dan Duquette is director of player development, hope to compete in the 2009 World Baseball Classic with Youkilis.[9]
[edit] Career statistics
| Games | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 263 | 856 | 149 | 235 | 60 | 2 | 21 | 116 | 5 | .275 |
[edit] References
- ^ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=7049 Kevin Youkilis]. ESPN.com (2007-02-24). Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
