Background and career
Kevin Edmund Youkilis (; born March 15, 1979), nicknamed "Youk" , is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman, who primarily played for the Boston Red Sox. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was drafted by the Red Sox in 2001, after playing college baseball at the University of Cincinnati. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees. He later served as a special assistant to Theo Epstein of the Chicago Cubs. Known for his ability to get on base, while he was still a minor leaguer, Youkilis was nicknamed "Euclis: The Greek God of Walks" in the best-selling book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. A Gold Glove Award-winning first baseman, he once held baseball's record for most consecutive errorless games at first base (later broken by Casey Kotchman). He is also a three-time MLB All-Star, two-time World Series Champion, and winner of the 2008 Hank Aaron Award. An intense performer on the playing field, Youkilis was known for his scrappiness, grittiness, dirt-stained jerseys, home-plate collisions, and his strange batting stance. He excelled despite a physique that led many observers to underestimate his athletic ability. He was called "roly-poly" by his high school coach, "pudgy" by his college coach, a "fat kid" by general manager Billy Beane, and a "thicker-bodied guy" by the Red Sox scout who recruited him. As Jackie MacMullan wrote for the Boston Globe: "He does not look like an MVP candidate; more a refrigerator repairman, a butcher, the man selling hammers behind the counter at the True Value hardware store." Youkilis was named to the Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, ranking No. 36 on the list in 2009, No. 38 in 2010, and No. 35 in 2011. Internationally, Youkilis has played for Team USA in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and served as the hitting coach for Team Israel under manager Ian Kinsler at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In 2021, Youkilis was a pregame and postgame analyst for Red Sox broadcasts on NESN. Starting in 2022, he became a color commentator during Red Sox games, working alongside Red Sox play-by-play announcer Dave O'Brien.
Youkilis' Jewish great-great-great-grandfather, a native of 19th-century Romania, moved to Greece at the age of 16 to avoid conscription at the hands of the notoriously anti-Semitic Cossacks. He became homesick, however, and returned to Romania after a couple of years, although he changed his surname from "Weiner" to "Youkilis" to avoid conscription and imprisonment. Youkilis was born in Cincinnati, the son of Carolyn (née Weekley) and Mike Youkilis, a wholesale jeweler. His father was born to a Jewish family, while his mother, a native of West Virginia, converted to Judaism after her marriage. Youkilis has described his father as a "well-known third baseman in the Jewish Community Center fast-pitch softball league." Youkilis is Jewish and had a bar mitzvah at a Conservative synagogue. At the age of 15, he had an uncredited one-line speaking role in the romantic comedy film Milk Money. He attended Sycamore High School (class of 1997) in the northeastern suburbs of Cincinnati, where he played third base, shortstop, first base, and the outfield for the school team (the Aviators) and Nuckols Baseball, which also had Aaron Cook as a pitcher, and won the Amateur Athletic Union National Championship in 1994. He was a four-year letter winner, a two-time All-Greater Miami Conference (1996 and 1997) and All-City (1996 and 1997) player, and All-State his senior season as he led the team with a .475 batting average and finished second all time in home runs. While at Sycamore High School, he was the only player to homer off his future Red Sox teammate Aaron Cook. Youkilis was inducted into the Sycamore Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2017, the school honored him by retiring his jersey number, number 13.
When he graduated from high school in 1997, Youkilis was 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and weighed about 227 pounds (103 kg). He was recruited by two Division I schools: Butler University and his ultimate choice, the University of Cincinnati —an institution that was the alma mater of both his father and Youkilis' longtime idol, Sandy Koufax, and had just finished a 12–46 season. UC coach Brian Cleary spotted Youkilis at a winter camp. "I looked at him and said, Well, we need somebody", said Cleary. "I'd love to tell you I saw something no one else did, but he was just better than what we had." While majoring in finance, Youkilis excelled as a player for the Cincinnati Bearcats from 1998 to 2001. "I take no credit", said Cleary. "He coaches himself. He knows his swing. Any time we said anything to him, he was already a step ahead. He made the adjustments he had to make. I just think he's a really smart guy who had a great feel for what he had to do." In his junior year in 2000, he was a second-team All-American and first-team All-Conference USA, as he set school records by hitting three home runs in one game and 19 for the season, and drawing 63 walks in 60 games; still, he went undrafted. "He was kind of a square-shaped body, a guy [who] in a uniform didn't look all that athletic", Cleary said. "He wasn't a tall, prospect-y looking guy. He looked chubby in a uniform. … It wasn't fat. He was strong. [But] I think the body did scare some people away." During the period between his junior and senior years, he played in the Cape Cod League for the Bourne Braves, where he was named a league all-star, and finished sixth in the league in batting average. In his senior year in 2001, he repeated as second-team All-American. He set UC career records for home runs (56), walks (206), slugging percentage (.627), and on-base percentage (.499) with a batting average of .366. "He had a great eye … he hardly ever struck out looking", said Brad Meador, UC's associate head coach. "When he did, you knew the ump missed the call." Cleary, noting how driven Youkilis was to succeed, told his father: "Your son's going to be a millionaire some day. I don't know if it's in baseball, but he's going to make some money one of these days." Yet, when asked what he liked about Youkilis, former Boston scout Matt Haas said: "At first glance, not a lot. He was unorthodox. He had an extreme crouch—his thighs were almost parallel to the ground. And he was heavier than he is now. But the more I watched him, the more I just thought, 'Throw the tools out the window. This guy can play baseball.'" In 2001, at Haas' urging, the Boston Red Sox drafted Youkilis in the eighth round (243rd overall), to the chagrin of Billy Beane, who had hoped that he would be able to draft him in a later round. ESPN reported that: "questions about his defense and power with wood kept him out of the top part of the draft." He signed for a mere $12,000 signing bonus. "Kevin would have played for a six-pack of beer", his father said. "Teams didn’t appreciate performance as much then as they do now", observed Red Sox VP of Player Personnel Ben Cherington eight years later. "His college performance was off the charts. If he [were] in the draft this year, he'd be at least a sandwich pick, if not a first rounder. His performance was that good, in college and on the Cape. Now, teams appreciate what that means. There's no way he’d last that long now." In 2007, he was inducted into the University of Cincinnati James P. Kelly Athletics Hall Of Fame. In 2015, the University of Cincinnati retired his No. 36 jersey number. In 2018, Youkilis took his final exams and graduated the University of Cincinnati with a business degree. In 2019, he was named to the inaugural Conference USA Hall of Fame class.
In 2001, Youkilis made his professional debut as a third baseman with the Lowell Spinners, a Short-Season A Class franchise in the New York–Penn League. He went on to lead the league with a .512 OBP, 52 runs, and 70 walks (against just 28 strikeouts), while hitting for a .317 batting average (third in the league) in 59 games. He also reached base safely by hit or walk in 46 consecutive games (the third-longest such streak in the minor leagues). Peter Gammons wrote that August: "Remember this name: Kevin Youkilis, who resembles Steve Balboni." Honored by the Spinners with a "Youkilis bobblehead night", Youkilis said: "It's an honor—you know you've made it when you get a bobblehead of yourself." Promoted from Lowell towards the end of the season, he played five games with the Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic League, a Low-A Class league. He was named Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year. In 2002, Youkilis appeared in 15 games for Augusta, in 76 games for the Sarasota Sox (40 of them at first base), and in 44 games for the Trenton Thunder. He hit .310, with eight home runs and 80 RBI for the year, and he was voted Trenton's "Player of the Year." His .436 on-base percentage was the fifth-highest in the minors in 2002, and his 80 walks were seventh-most. In recognition of his performance, the Boston Red Sox named Youkilis their 2002 Minor League Player of the Year. After the 2002 season, Boston's then-assistant general manager, Theo Epstein, sent Youkilis to the Athletes' Performance Institute in Tempe, Arizona, where he engaged in an intensive six-week training regimen. Youkilis then moved his off-season home to Arizona, and attended the Institute in the 2004–08 off seasons as well. In 2003, Youkilis started the season with the Portland Sea Dogs. In 94 games, he led the Eastern League with a .487 on-base percentage (best all-time for the team through 2007), and was third in the league with a .327 batting average (second-best all-time for the team through 2007). 86 walks (against just 40 strikeouts), and a .953 OPS, and tied for third with 16 hit by pitch. Later, he earned a spot on the Eastern League All-Star team, the Baseball America AA All-Star team, and on the U.S. roster for the 2003 All-Star Futures Game. After Portland, Youkilis moved up to play for the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Boston Red Sox Class-AAA franchise. During his time with Pawtucket, Youkilis managed to complete a streak he started while in Portland: he reached base in 71 consecutive games, tying future teammate Kevin Millar's minor-league record for consecutive games reaching base. His 104 walks were the third-highest number recorded in the minors in 2003. Asked, however, about the focus in position-playing baseball on five-tool players, Youkilis quipped, "I don't even know if I have a tool."
Writing for ESPN, John Sickels evaluated him as follows in mid-2003:Youkilis is an on-base machine. He never swings at a bad pitch, and is adept at working counts and out-thinking the pitcher. Unlike some guys who draw lots of walks, Youkilis seldom strikes out. He makes solid contact against both fastballs and breaking pitches. Youkilis' swing is tailored for the line drive, and he may never hit for much home run power. But he hits balls to the gaps effectively, and could develop 10–14 home run power down the road. Youkilis does not have very good speed, though he is a decent baserunner. His defense at third base draws mixed reviews. His arm, range, and hands all rate as adequate/average. He doesn't kill the defense at third base, but he doesn't help it much, either, and is likely to end up at first base down the road.Youkilis spent the 2003–04 winter in Mexico, playing for Navojoa of the Mexican Pacific League. In 2004, he appeared in 32 games for Pawtucket, hitting .258 with three home runs, and a .347 on-base percentage, before being called up to the Red Sox on May 15. In his minor league career through 2005, he batted .299 with a .442 OBP while playing 340 games at third base, 59 at first base, and two at second base.
On May 15, 2004, Youkilis was called up for the first time. "I didn't sleep much", Youkilis said. "I got about four hours of sleep. … They told me the night before I was playing.... I got in there, and man, I was just amped up and excited." During his first major-league game in Toronto, with his parents watching from the second row behind the dugout, Youkilis (in his second at bat) homered against 1996 Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen, becoming just the seventh player in team history to hit a home run in his first game. As a prank, the team initially gave Youkilis the silent treatment when he returned to the dugout after his homer. "This one will go down probably as the greatest day of my life", he said. Later, Youkilis was swept up in the team's ritual annual hazing, in which he and other rookies were made to wear skimpy Hooters waitress outfits, orange satin shorts and tight, clingy white tank tops, for the team trip from Canada through US Customs in Florida. "I walked into the locker room, and all my clothes were gone", Youkilis said. "There was just a Hooters outfit and shoes." When Red Sox regular starting third baseman Bill Mueller was placed on the disabled list, Youkilis became the everyday third baseman until Mueller returned on July 2 and was named the American League (AL) Rookie of the Month for May, after leading AL rookies with nine walks and a .446 OBP as he batted .318 with 7 RBI, and 15 runs in 13 games. Noting ways that his life had suddenly changed, he said: "I'm staying in the best hotel I've ever stayed in, and my paycheck has quadrupled." In mid-July, he was sent back down to AAA, however, to make room for Ramiro Mendoza, though he was brought up again towards the end of the month. On September 24, which was Yom Kippur, Youkilis appeared in the dugout in uniform, but declined to participate in the game out of deference to the religious holiday. Youkilis was named the club's Rookie of the Year by the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. For the season, in 44 games, he saw an average of 4.67 pitches per plate appearance, first among major leaguers with at least 90 plate appearances. As Youkilis observed, "Fighting off pitches, fouling off pitches, laying off pitches, making it so the opposing pitcher can't breathe; that's my job." He was on the roster for the Red Sox for the 2004 American League Division Series (ALDS), making his sole appearance in Game 2 against the Anaheim Angels. "It's been an unbelievable ride", Youkilis said. "It's a great first year, a year you probably can't top. Hopefully, it ends like a Cinderella story." He was removed from the roster for the next round, the American League Championship Series (ALCS), and was on the roster but did not play in the World Series.
