Kevin Youkilis

e first basemen who have clearly earned a spot on the AL squad: Justin Morneau, Miguel Cabrera, and Kevin Youkilis.  Mark Teixeira (.232/.345/.408), however, belongs at home.  Butler (.322 batting average, .377 On-Base Percentage, 42 Runs Batted In) should be left off the roster only if Joe Girardi chooses to carry only three first basemen AND Kansas City is represented by outfielder David Dejesus (.331 average, .398 OBP, 35 RBIs).

Continue reading "Who's on first at the Midsummer Classic?"

Kevin Youkilis charging the mound: Youk let his emotions get the best of him on Tuesday night after getting plunked in the back for the second consecutive night.  The Red Sox need Youk’s bat in the lineup and his glove in the field.  Now they have neither for five games.

Continue reading "Poor behavior on and off the field is Bad for Ball"

As I watched Jacoby Ellsbury steal home against the Yankees Sunday night, I thought to myself: "This pretty much sums it up." An aging Andy Pettitte forgets to deliver from the stretch, letting a youthful Ellsbury elude another future Bingo regular, Jorge Posada's, tag at the plate. Would Justin Masterson have made the same error? The two ballclubs could not be headed in more opposite directions. Every year, the Red Sox seem to call up another hyped prospect, while the Yanks continue to overpay for limited talent, and shun their farm system.

Continue reading "Red Sox continue to steal away Yanks' future"

him out of the lineup and Manny being Manny in Dodger Blue since the trading deadline, Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis carried the Red Sox offense for the bulk of the season.  In addition to leading the league in hits, doubles, and runs scored, Pedroia walked 50 times versus only 52 strikeouts, finished second to Joe Mauer in batting average, and perhaps most impressively, stole 20 bases while being caught just once all season.

Continue reading "20 wins for Moose"

It’s the All-Star Break once again, that mythical halfway point in the season (I say “mythical” because most teams have played 95-96 games, more than the 81 that’s the true midway mark). Traditionally, it’s time for the teams to take a breath, collect themselves and iron out any kinks in their batting stroke or the pitching rotation—several starters made relief appearances or threw out of turn in the past game or two, knowing that three or four days of rest was coming for all of them.

Continue reading "Gimme A Break!"

ankees looked like they might escape without further damage, if they could only get one more out.

Kevin Youkilis, his right hand twitching restlessly the way it does when he holds his bat aloft, slammed a deep shot to left field and Damon chased it back, leaping to make the catch at the wall, in what could have been a spectacular play. Instead, he slammed against the unpadded chain-link fence behind him, which jostled the ball loose, leading to one of the odder sights of the day.

Continue reading "More Bad Yankee Luck"

year.  It was never an easy decision who to vote for.  This year’s top choices are Kevin Youkilis and Justin Morneau, and if you’re a forgiving Yankee fan, Jason Giambi.  All of these guys can hit the ball, and Youkilis is a gold-glove defender, but he and Giambi are the only A.L. first basemen on the ballot who are slugging over .500, and “the Giambino,” as the Baseball Tonight cast calls him, is hitting just .259.  Of the trio, Youkilis is the best choice, but the competition simply isn’t what it used to be.

Continue reading "This year’s All-Star Game should be no contest"

Little by little, the Red Sox that we saw win the World Series last season are coming back.

Kevin Youkilis is up to batting .375, JD Drew is off to a hot start batting .316 and Coco Crisp is putting up an awfully good fight to hold on to the centerfield job and now Boston seems content to hold onto him until it gets blown away by a trade offer. Manny Ramirez, who has started slowly the last couple of seasons, is also on fire and leading the team in RBI’s and coming through with a big hit almost every time the Red Sox need one, none bigger than his ninth inning home run last night in Cleveland to put the Red Sox ahead 6-4. Dustin Pedroia is also beginning to sting the ball around the field with more authority and sooner or later Mike Lowell will come off the disabled list and David Ortiz will snap out of his funk and the offense will be back to hitting on all cylinders.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"