Kevin Youkilis
American Baseball First Baseman
| Date of Birth | : | 15 Mar, 1979 |
| Place of Birth | : | Cincinnati, Ohio, United States |
| Profession | : | Baseball Player, Actor |
| Nationality | : | American |
| Social Profiles | : |
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Kevin Edmund Youkilis, nicknamed "Youk", is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman, who played primarily 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 joined as a special assistant to the Chicago Cubs and former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein.
Known for his ability to get on base while he was still a minor leaguer, Youkilis was nicknamed "Euclis: The Greek God of Walking" in the best-selling book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Gold Glove-winning first baseman, he once held the baseball record for most consecutive games without an error at first base (later surpassed 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.
Background and early life
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."
College
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 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. I think the body did scare some people away."
Life after baseball
On October 30, 2014, Youkilis announced his retirement from baseball. In February 2015, Youkilis was hired by his former GM Theo Epstein as a scout and development consultant for the Chicago Cubs.
In August 2016, Youkilis, along with his brother Scott, purchased the Los Gatos Brewing Company, and re-opened it as the Loma Brewing Company, a brewpub in Los Gatos, California. The brewery was subsequently named as the 2017 California Commercial Beer Brewery of the Year.
In 2018, Youkilis was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 2022, Youkilis began working as an analyst on Red Sox broadcasts for the New England Sports Network.
Moneyball
Michael Lewis's 2003 best-seller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game focuses on Oakland Athletics' General Manager Billy Beane's use of Sabermetrics as a tool in the evaluation of potential prospects. In the book, Lewis discusses then-prospect Youkilis in detail, and refers to him as "Euclis, the Greek God of Walks", a moniker that has stuck. Beane put more stock in empirical evidence than in scouts' hunches, and did not care that Youkilis was pudgy (or, as Lewis put it in the book, "a fat third baseman who couldn't run, throw, or field"), but just loved his ability to get on base (helped in no small part by the ballplayer's 20/11 vision). The book brought minor leaguer Youkilis his first national recognition.
Lewis also revealed that Beane repeatedly tried to trade for Youkilis before Youkilis reached the major leagues, but his attempts were blocked by then-Red Sox GM Theo Epstein.
Asked by a reporter what he thought of the nickname, Youkilis quipped, "It's better than being 'the Greek God of Illegitimate Children.'" But according to his father, "Kevin disliked that 'Greek God of Walks' stuff." "It was frustrating to hear fans say, 'Get a walk!'" Youkilis said. "I'll take a walk—a walk's as good as a hit—but don't you want me to hit a home run or something?"
Family
In November 2008, Youkilis and Enza Sambataro held a wedding ceremony in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, though the couple never formalized their wedding. The ceremony was attended by Red Sox teammates Mike Lowell, David Ortiz, and Dustin Pedroia. Sambataro, a Newton, Massachusetts native, was CEO of Youkilis's charity, Hits for Kids, until the couple split up in 2010.
In February 2012, the Boston Herald reported that Youkilis was engaged to Julie Brady, the sister of National Football League quarterback Tom Brady. Two months later, the couple were quietly married in New York City, and a pregnancy was rumored at that time. Twelve months after the Boston Herald article, the wedded couple, along with their infant son, were featured in a 30-minute program on the YES Network. The family lives in Los Gatos, California.
In popular culture
Youkilis made an appearance in season 1, episode 8 of the Travel Channel show Man v. Food. The episode was recorded at Boston's Eagle's Deli and featured Youkilis rooting against host (and New York Yankees fan) Adam Richman in an eating challenge. In 2011, he appeared in the music video for the Dropkick Murphys song "Going Out in Style".
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