Youkilis Retires

[a700hitter]

This is about a month old, but I just came across this. Thanks for the good times Youk!

 

Kevin Youkilis has retired from baseball."Youkilis, after deep thought about family and health, is calling it a career," reads a tweet from the 35-year-old's representatives at Pro Star Management. Youkilis collected 1,053 hits, 150 home runs, and 618 RBI over the course of his 10 major league seasons. He spent 2014 playing for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan. Oct 30 - 2:45 PMSource: Pro Star Management on Twitter

[GomesBeard]

For sure, but talk about a guy who went down the tubes in a hurry......

[RedSoxNC84]

I will never forget that ridiculous batting stance.

[sk7326]

Not a lot of people talk about it in narrative-land, but his breaking down was central to a lot of what collapsed about the Red Sox in general. They have not been able to adequately replace him. He was one of the five or six best offensive players in the league for a couple of years.

[Spudboy]

Not a lot of people talk about it in narrative-land, but his breaking down was central to a lot of what collapsed about the Red Sox in general. They have not been able to adequately replace him. He was one of the five or six best offensive players in the league for a couple of years.

 

YUP.

 

Excellent point. Although it is unfortunate that this is not recognized or popular to think.

[Spudboy]

And I loved watching Youk play. That kind of intensity is needed in spades. Don't see much of it in baseball it seems.

 

The Romanian god of walks.

[jad]

The meltdowns in the dugout after one of his increasingly numerous K's seemed like 'intensity', but they were just idiotic temper tantrums that even pissed his teammates off. I always wished Manny had beaten the crap out of him.

[seabeachfred]

For five solid years Youk was a fixture for us and a productive player. He was a fierce competitor and we could use a few more hungry blue collar types like him now instead of some of the guys we've gotten stuck with. It is too bad the Red Sox waited so long to bring him up---he was 27 when he finally got his big chance. He will be missed..

[Jasonbay44]

Youk was a fantastic player and a key contributor to a championship team. Glad I was able to watch him play. Thanks for the great years Youk.

[a700hitter]

The meltdowns in the dugout after one of his increasingly numerous K's seemed like 'intensity', but they were just idiotic temper tantrums that even pissed his teammates off. I always wished Manny had beaten the crap out of him.

Manny was too busy beating up the old traveling secretary.

[Youk Of The Nation]

He will always be one of my favorite players. I can't even really explain why, I just loved Youk. Thanks for the memories, and the championship.

[User Name]

He will always be one of my favorite players. I can't even really explain why, I just loved Youk. Thanks for the memories, and the championship.

 

Championships. He played a bit in 2004.

[Palodios]

He deserves to retire as a Red Sox. What a great career, ended a bit too short by injuries. I hope his family enjoyed the year in Japan.

[Youk Of The Nation]

Championships. He played a bit in 2004.

 

Yeah but I don't really consider him an integral part of that championship, he was more of a bit player. But he was a huge part of the success in 2007.

[Spudboy]

He deserves to retire as a Red Sox. What a great career, ended a bit too short by injuries. I hope his family enjoyed the year in Japan.

 

Yeah this is how I see it, too.

 

Youk was wildly popular in the Boston area and was seen as one of the boys on the Sox. Short stints in Chicago and in NY should do nothing to diminish his stature in this city.

 

It's not like it was his choice to leave in the first place.

 

Some may see him as a puke. I don't. I'd take 9 Youks any day of the week.

[BSN07]

You could see early on he wasn't going to age well, but he had a really good career and was a stud for a couple years of it. Thanks for the effort and memories Youuuuuk!

[InfernoOrangeSS]

Thank you for the good memories, Youk!

[Dojji]

Shoulda never moved him to third full time. He has several extremely productive years as one of the best first basemen in the league, moves to third and immediately falls apart. I don't believe in coincidences.

 

Youk could spot at third but had never played a full season at third before the Adgon trade and they were asking him to do it for the first time in his life on the back half of a player's big league lifespan? The guy already had injury issues, the extra athleticism required to defend third rather than first can't have helped.

 

Shoulda kept Beltre around and kept Youkilis at a position we knew he could get through a full season at. Getting "creative" to bring in a name player just smacks of the kind of vapid short sightedness we've seen so much of since then.

[Spudboy]

It was my understanding that Youk was a third baseman that was converted to first.

 

Not that it matters now. I think that he was Gold Glove caliber at both positions. I think that he was probably going to sustain injuries anywhere that he played. His aggressiveness probably made that inevitable.

[User Name]

Shoulda never moved him to third full time. He has several extremely productive years as one of the best first basemen in the league, moves to third and immediately falls apart. I don't believe in coincidences.

 

Youk could spot at third but had never played a full season at third before the Adgon trade and they were asking him to do it for the first time in his life on the back half of a player's big league lifespan? The guy already had injury issues, the extra athleticism required to defend third rather than first can't have helped.

 

Shoulda kept Beltre around and kept Youkilis at a position we knew he could get through a full season at. Getting "creative" to bring in a name player just smacks of the kind of vapid short sightedness we've seen so much of since then.

 

Dojji, i'm sorry but i can't help myself. Every time you bring up that we should've kept Beltre a surge of anger rises from my feet all the way to the top of my head only rivaled by seeing the SUV of the ******* that consistently parks in my parking spot on a near-daily basis.

 

Don't give us the "should have kept Beltre" speech after you hated so much on the guy.

[seabeachfred]

Shoulda never moved him to third full time. He has several extremely productive years as one of the best first basemen in the league, moves to third and immediately falls apart. I don't believe in coincidences.

 

Youk could spot at third but had never played a full season at third before the Adgon trade and they were asking him to do it for the first time in his life on the back half of a player's big league lifespan? The guy already had injury issues, the extra athleticism required to defend third rather than first can't have helped.

 

Shoulda kept Beltre around and kept Youkilis at a position we knew he could get through a full season at. Getting "creative" to bring in a name player just smacks of the kind of vapid short sightedness we've seen so much of since then.

 

You may be seeing it again next season too Dojii. This looks very much like the disastrous debacle we suffered when we went on a spending spree and got stuck with clubhouse moaner Carl and clubhouse lawyer Gonzo.

[Dojji]

Dojji, i'm sorry but i can't help myself. Every time you bring up that we should've kept Beltre a surge of anger rises from my feet all the way to the top of my head only rivaled by seeing the SUV of the ******* that consistently parks in my parking spot on a near-daily basis.

 

Don't give us the "should have kept Beltre" speech after you hated so much on the guy.

 

I admitted I was wrong on beltre awhile ago. I've never been afraid to admit I was wrong and I was dead wrong about Beltre. He won me over over the course of that season and the numbers since make it clear he should have been kept around, the Adgon debacle just makes the hindsight even clearer.

[User Name]

I admitted I was wrong on beltre awhile ago. I've never been afraid to admit I was wrong and I was dead wrong about Beltre. He won me over over the course of that season and the numbers since make it clear he should have been kept around, the Adgon debacle just makes the hindsight even clearer.

 

Fair enough.

[a700hitter]

Beltre is putting up a Hall of Fame career. We should have kept the guy without a doubt.

[sk7326]

Would be nice to have Beltre - although from the "things that we did not anticipate" area which was referred to earlier here. The Sox letting Beltre walk was defensible given the strategy - but Youk's body falling to pieces so quickly put a blowtorch to much of the plan.

[SCM33]

For sure, but talk about a guy who went down the tubes in a hurry......

 

 

He wasn't a regular until he was 27. 3 years later he was fat and looked about 45 years old. He aged about how you should when you factor in that he got fat and had a limited skill set.

 

Thank for the memories though YOUK

[User Name]

The funny thing is that Beltre's contract, which seemed like insanity at the time, has been an absolute bargain for the Rangers. They've gotten elite production out of the 3B position every year that Beltre has been there. You don't even need advanced stats to see that, but a quick look at his $/value tells you he's been worth significantly north of 100 million dollars. Quite simply, the Sox misjudged the situation, and so did most of us. Keeping Beltre and Youkilis at the corners and getting pitching instead of Crawdord would have probably resulted in a drastically different 2011.

[seabeachfred]

I admitted I was wrong on beltre awhile ago. I've never been afraid to admit I was wrong and I was dead wrong about Beltre. He won me over over the course of that season and the numbers since make it clear he should have been kept around, the Adgon debacle just makes the hindsight even clearer.

 

No Dojii, you're not afraid to admit you were wrong and neither am I, but there is someone who was wrong on at least a half-dozen things this past season and he still hasn't fessed up to it. OTOH, I wasn't much on Beltre either at the time but I was ignorant of just how badly playing in that airport in Seattle inhibited his production. Well for all of us that's water under the bridge. Now we have to hope that signing Sandoval and Ramirez is not Part Two of the Gonzales and Crawford caper. If we can get off the dime and sign Lester before he gets away and then swing a trade for Cueto we might be in business.

[User Name]

You're essentially wrong all the time about everything, but would never admit it. Pot, meet kettle.

[Spudboy]

I missed the boat on Beltre too. His Texas contract has been a bargain even with the injuries.

 

Oh well.