Tablet Magazine » Kevin Youklis

Who Is This Decade’s Best Jewish Athlete?

Marc Tracy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:00:12 +0000

The Jewish Chronicle solicits nominations, but not before making a few of its own. Israelis Yossi Benayoun, a soccer star, and Arik Ze’evi, a gold-medal- winning judo fighter, are mentioned; so is Jason Lezak, the American gold-medal-winning swimmer.

But maybe the most compelling candidate, whom the JC does not mention, is for Kevin Youkilis. In the past decade, the Boston Red Sox first baseman won two World Series rings, including the first such piece of jewelry won by Boston in nearly 80 years; made himself into a fantastic power hitter (29 home runs, 115 RBIs in 2008); and played a major role in the rise of sophisticated statistical analysis of the game, serving as perhaps the prime example of a player whose superior ability to get walked made him severely underrated. In Michael Lewis’s Moneyball—the most important sports book of the decade—Youkilis’s nickname is “The Greek God of Walks.” But as those who have seen this clip know, Youkilis is not Greek.

Jewish Sports Person of the Decade [Jewish Chronicle]

Huge Yankees-Sox Game Set for Kol Nidre

Marc Tracy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:10:46 +0000

A potentially pivotal game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox has been suddenly rescheduled, and now begins at 8 p.m. on the night before Yom Kippur. The change—motivated by ESPN’s desire to broadcast the match-up as Sunday Night Baseball—prompts the all-important question: will star Red Sox first baseman and Most Famous Current Jewish Ballplayer Kevin Youkilis play against his team’s archrival as it struggles to secure a playoff berth? The issue last arose prominently eight years ago, when Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Shawn Green elected not to play a crucial game that fell on the Day of Atonement. In 1965, as every Jewish boy has been reminded by his mother at one time or another, Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax refused to start Game 1 of the World Series, instead attending shul for Yom Kippur; Dodgers Don Drysdale got shellacked for a loss, and afterward quipped to his manager, “I bet right now you wish I was Jewish, too.” On the other hand, when slugger Hank Greenberg’s Detroit Tigers had a crucial late-season game on Rosh Hashanah, 1934, he played; his two home runs lifted the Tigers to a 2-1 victory. By the time Yom Kippur rolled around, the Tigers had all but clinched a World Series slot, and Greenberg took the day off and entered his synagogue to applause.

One wants to see the hand of Adonai Himself in the uncanny timing whereby the High Holidays always fall smack in the middle of the pennant race and postseason, tempting the talented faithful. Anyway, given that the Sox are currently a mere 6.5 games behind the Yankees, we’d guess most New Yorkers are hoping Youkilis has so many sins that he has no choice but to Kol Nidre the night away.

An Unholy Move by ESPN [New York Post]
Green, Koufax, and Greenberg—Same Dilemma, Different Decisions [ESPN Classic]
Previously: Look, Jews in Baseball!
Yankees Trade For a Jew

Look, Jews in Baseball!

Sara Ivry — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:00:15 +0000

As the pennant race gets underway, it’s time for the annual, “Look! Jews play baseball!” articles, like one in today’s Boston Globe and another in last week’s Connecticut Jewish Ledger. These articles invariably reference Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg before going on to talk about current icons like the Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis. Of course, his year’s clichéd paeans are, arguably, a bit more warranted, as there are a record 14 Jewish major leaguers (three of whom—Youkilis, the Rockies’ Jason Marquis, and the Brewers’ Ryan Braun—played in the All-Star game). It’s more than enough to field a team—and even enough to make a minyan.

Bases Loaded, with Jewish Ballplayers! [Boston Globe]
A Grand Slam Decade for Jewish Majorleaguers [Jewish Ledger]