"Kevin Youkilis, known for his fiery disposition, was selected for his first All-Star Game."
Yes, he is a "fiery" player and a "grinder" and Kevin Youkilis is a Jew.
According to JTA, he has an honor: Top Jewish player in the 2000s, awarded by Jewish Major Leaguers, a suburban Boston-based organization that each year produces a set of trading cards of Jewish baseball players.
We have few Jewish professional baseball players and we take pride in the achievements of each one. From the Times, July 2008:
Grinder Earns Place in All-Star Spotlight
By JOSHUA ROBINSON
...Youkilis, 29, has been one of the Red Sox’ unsung heroes in recent seasons, delivering a steady stream of base hits from the middle of the order and Gold Glove-caliber defense from either corner of the infield. And, one year after he was overlooked for the All-Star Game when he was posting similar statistics, Youkilis is one of seven Red Sox players who will be back at Yankee Stadium on July 15....
2 comments:
Hey, thanks for the link! I was just blogrolling you as you were linking to my post about that dangerous librarian.
Speaking of Youkilis, have you seen the awesome Denis Leary/Lenny Clarke rant about Youk from a few years ago? The video is here: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/40420/
and this is a transcript of the audio: http://www.sportsgamer.com/forums/other-sports-chat/129176-dennis-leary-lenny-clarke-nesn.html
Denis Leary: Now, Youkilis, is he a Greek kid?
Jerry Remy: No, I don’t think so.
Don Orsillo: I think he’s Jewish.
JR: He’s Jewish, yeah.
Lenny Clark: Really?
DL: That’s fantastic. That’s one bottle of whiskey away from being Irish Catholic. They got the Manischewitz, we got the Jamesons. It’s the same guilt, the same bad food. That’s fantastic, we got a Jewish first baseman! I didn’t know that. This is fabulous. …I’m so proud to have a Jewish first baseman. i didn’t even know!
LC: I hope Mel Gibson doesn’t come into this park. We’ll run him out of here on a rail.
Jerry Remy begins hacking; it sounds as if he might be on the verge of losing a lung. Sean Casey hits a ball sharply in between first and second. Youkilis snares the ball from his knees and tosses to Curt Schilling for the out.
DL: Nice! Yeah, where’s Mel Gibson now! Where’s Mel Gibson now, huh? He’s in rehab! he’s in rehab and Youkilis has got first base, alright Mel! (Don Orsillo giggles uncontrollably.) You happy Braveheart, huh? You see that grab, Mel? I hope in rehab they’re showing replays of that. A Jewish first baseman makes the play, Mel Gibson! Good luck when you come out. Call Jeffrey Katzenberg and ask for a job when you get out. We’ll have a whole Jewish infield by the time he gets out. Bring back Sandy Koufax, Mel Gibson, huh? Braveheart, my ass. Thatta boy, Kev.
LC: We should have Sandy Koufax pitch at Mel’s head.
DL: That should be his community service, get in the box against Sandy Koufax. Guess who’s at first base? Kevin Youkilis!
LC: Now what other Jewish players are there, because I’m not aware.
JR: Gabe Kapler, I think.
DL: Gabe Kapler! We got two Jews on this team, Mel! Where’s your father now, huh?
LC: How about that, Mel?
DL: Yeah. It feels good to get that out, didn’t it?
LC: We’ve got quite a team.
LC: Are we in trouble?
DL: No, we’re not in trouble. They don’t have TVs in rehab.
LC: Oh, I don’t care about Mel.
Beat.
DO: Um, your website’s here. (Points to computer monitor.)
DL: Oh, wonderful!
DL: That’s learyfirefighters.org, and if you go to the Jeremiah Lucey Fund that will help all the New Orleans firefighters, and if you didn’t know, no firefighters, not a single member of that department quit between the time Katrina hit and right now, a year later, not one member.
LC: That’s right.
Beat.
DL: Boy, I’m so happy about that Kevin Youkilis thing.
LC: And Kapler! I didn’t even know!
DL: Well you know what’s gonna happen, Gibson’s gonna make amends: ‘Oh, I love the Red Sox! I love the first baseman!’ Oh yeah, sure you do. Sure you do Mel.
LC: If I were Youkilis and Kapler I’d say, well, listen, am I in your next movie?
DL: Can we put some blue paint on our faces? Come on, Braveheart, huh? Look, I don’t know Mel. Why are we jumping all over him, you know what i mean? He had a little bit of tequila. You know those days. You were there.
LC: Now wait a minute, I never got personal. I never went with religion.
DL: No you didn’t. You always went with the face and the ugly and the fat and the nice dress and your girlfiend.
LC: It doesn’t matter what religion, you treat me good I’ll treat you better.
DL: That’s right.
Curt Schilling throws to Youkilis to pick Craig Monroe off of first.
DL: Ahhhh! Mel gibson take a look at that!
LC: Mel Gibson, eat your heart out! Youkilis tosses the ball to a fan in the stands. And look at that! The ball went to a fan! That’s more than Mel Gibson’s ever done!
DO: See you later.
DL: Hope we didn’t get you in trouble.
DO: Thanks a lot, guys.
And…scene.
I still giggle just thinking about it.
thanks for the comment. yeah i laugh whenever i see the video. i've had a post with link for a while... thanks for the transcript!
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