Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Youk Yelps Yep

On the day the Redsocks traded Kevin Youkilis to the Whitesocks, a voice inside me knew he'd someday be a Yankee. I didn't think it would happen this fast, but it was a certainty: Before Youk's career ended, we would get him.

BTW, it's the same knee-buckling sense of predestination that I have about Big Papi: He'll wear pinstripes someday. It's as if the ghost of George Steinbrenner will rise up through his sons and make the deal -- get another Randy Johnson or Gary Sheffield, another toys that old George coveted in life. He always wanted David Ortiz, but claimed the "baseball people" botched it. On the day the Redsocks cut him loose, the clock will start ticking. Bank on it.

Tonight, for better or worse, the circle has been navigated. The fates have been appeased. As Mustang says below, "It happened." I would add this: It had to happen. Nothing could stop it.

And now, what do we do with those t-shirts?

49 comments:

Tex Message said...

Once a guy is a Yankee, I'm routing for him. But dang... this one stings like a bastard.

Tiny Tim said...

I asked Santa for a frontline starting pitcher and he gave me that crazed monkey Youkilis. This ain't Christmas. It's Halloween.

Joba the Huh? said...

Does this mean I cannot lowbridge his ass during intrasquad games?

Jeff said...

Desperate times calls for desperate measures, but point blank - Youk hails from great baseball soil in Cinncinnati and lead in Boston. A RH stick was needed.
Now, Yanx fans pray that Melky becomes the Melky Way
On a goon squad outfitted with Dickerson, Nunez....
Maybe add a nifty, cheap utility guy in Joe Mather or re acquire Jose Tabata from Pittsburgh.

Stang said...

I hate this team.

Doom "The Mayan Prophet" said...

These are the end times. Take cover on the 21st!

Dr. Peter Venkman said...

"Dogs and cats living together"

Anonymous said...

Add more salt on the wounds. Imagine D. Young joining the Joe G goon squad!!!!

Horace Clarke said...

Favorite movie rental on this blog now? Escape from New York with Kurt Russell???!
Especially if Cashman signs junkyard dog face - like in Sylvester/ Tweety Bird cartoon - D Young

el duque said...

Just close your eyes and think of Yogi.

bennyboy said...

Come on Mustang. Didn't you root for Damon? Wasn't that Game 4 play in the 2009 World Series thrilling? It's not so bad. I'd rather have Youkalis than Mike Lamb.

Kimberly Brennan said...

Do I have this right? In 2013 the Dodgers will pay $14 million for a season's worth of pitching from Zack Greinke. In 2013 the Yankees will pay $12 million to Kevin Youkilis to shave his beard. People should stop picking on ME.

Butch Hobson said...

Hey guys he will be fine. I remember the 80's like they were yesterday.

Graig Nettles said...

My place on the infield has been VIOLATED. Sacrilege!

Pete Franklin from the grave said...

The light @ the end of the tunnel is not the 12/27 new age Y2K- broadway limited
Within two years some if you baseball fans will be boasting about the farm pipeline on the mound and in the outfield.
Mark V my words

pepitone said...

Has anyone seen my hair dryer?

Phil Linz said...

Pepitone, I pawned your hair dryer when I pawned my harmonica. Do you need to borrow a new shirt?

Stephen King said...

Send the shirts to me I think there will be a market in the Boston area!

Sweet Lou Piniella said...

When I was a player, we beat the crap out of Red Sox infielders. We didn't ask them to join the team. We sure didn't pay them millions of dollars. We got 'em in a headlock and punched the daylights out of them 'til the umpires broke up the brawl. That, gentlemen, is Yankees baseball.

Pete Franklin from the Grave! said...

Time to accept the fact that cAshman in the back of his mind is thinking about 2014
Perhaps Curtis Blow is gone by 2014
Perhaps . Like that tune from the 90s BBC young swingers show- perhaps3!
Perhaps Melky Way Mesa is the best outfield prospect
To arrive since BernieW
Perhaps Dante, Jr switched to scorned outfield spot
Corner not scorned, but somebody here will make a joke
Out if that
Youth must be served, but it is bitter without 94 wins alongside !!
Something in my gut tells me that the father/son Bichette
Tandem should be reunited in Colorado !
Latin arms race- the Yankee fans prayer title!!!
Side note in baseball and sports - if the Saints players walk away with just a fine for bounty play in NFL - financial betting? Then Pete Rose should be in HOF
Well, good luck to Dollar General Hardware Hank in keeping his 50 million to splurge on more pasta around town.
George should have bought his hometown team!

Tim Raines said...

Sounds like Cuban MC Rodrieguez!

Lee Guetterman in Oakland said...

I wish I had some of the God given talent some if the Yanx Latin arms are bestowed with!

G. Gordon Liddy said...

There is an incredible Yankee fan @ a college where they putt the Masters .
He even boos lame in between innings acts hired by Cal Ripken enterprises, who doesn't take responsibility for how lame the entertainment is and detrimental to the purity of the game!
Plus I look better bald!

Alphonso said...

I will provide a more comprehensive posting when possible but, for now, I simply reiterate:

I will not watch any Yankee game in which Youkilis plays for us. I can only hope he goes on IR early.

The Cook of San Jose, Ca. said...

Who would have thought the Giants would win two WS with Cain, Lincecum and the flake from USC, Zito, who could be a Spaceman Lee love child?

Anonymous said...

Sure beats Andy LaRoche or Blake DeWitt!

Michael Moore Bush said...

John Kerry released from his Boris Karloff creepy Masterpiece theatre voice and hr renounces his House testimony in early 70s.
Cats , dogs, John Boehnsr French kisses Nancy Pelosi @ the New Year's Party
Jeff LOria takes over Yankees and plants an art gallery in Bronx RF replacing the bleachers.
David Samson becomes mayor of NYC.
Any other end of the world ideas????

Anonymous said...

The tea label??

Art Fowler's ghost said...

And Brien Taylor not learning the ball room brawl lesson espoused in Bull Durham!!!

Pete Franlin's ghost from the grave! said...

Yeah, graig, you and Chambliss could have played in front of 9 thousand fans by Lake Erie most of your career with Pete Franklin taking you over the coals!

Horace Clarke said...

Espn gave it to billy the breck boy Beane

Moe Berg said...

Do I smell Red Sock hate or a strong whiff of anti-semitism? No, not you El Duque, but your lame co-writers and hangers' on. Youkilis will do fine and he will bring some fire to this team that has long been missing.

Rudy May and Ken Singleton said...

The Yankers due to George and his 1994 zest has much karmic debt to pay. Shutting down 1994 season, the Fernando Seiguinoil imbalances with John Wetteland trade and the forgettable Irabu and Vasquez deals. Selig may have swept the name Expos into the dustbin of history, but George created much karmic debt for his son and heirs!!!! 12/27!!!
The only way for debt to be paid off will be Yanx losing to the NAsty Nats in WS! Kkkkkkklkkk
Oh, that's right ! They choke and lose to a bunch of tigresses and a junk yard dig faced guy like D Young who could be a 2013 Yankee

Martin Luther said...

Red Sock hate, not anti-semitism.

Anonymous said...

Mor Berg shot pictures in Japan before WW2 during a baseball tour???

Anonymous said...

Martin Luther if living today would park himself in bleachers and drink beer! Plus he was a Lou Gehrig fan in 30s!

Moe Green, Las Vegas NV said...

I see no evidence of ant-semitism here, Mr. Berg. Furthermore, "Baseball America" lists Mr. Youkilis' religious affiliation as "necromancy". Can you provide specifics, sir, as to your most serious allegations against we "lame hangers-on"?

Moe Berg said...

Dear Moe Green,
Evidence? I quote the clear headed Benny Boy's response to the moronic Mustang
"Come on Mustang. Didn't you root for Damon? Wasn't that Game 4 play in the 2009 World Series thrilling? It's not so bad. I'd rather have Youkalis than Mike Lamb."

So explain the hate of Youkilis vs Damon or for that matter Boggs. Is he overpaid, yes. Compare what he's getting to Victorino or Napoli.

There have been only 3 or 4 Jewish Yankees in all of baseball history. Probably a baseball per capita low.
Why can't new york's Jewish bb fans celebrate? Give the guy a chance.

Moe Green, Las Vegas NV said...

Dear Moe Berg: No sane individual would trivialize ant-semitism. And you make a legitimate point, that the Yankees can boast a substantial Jewish fan base yet haven't fielded a lot of Jewish players. We don't have to go into the deplorable acts of anti-semitism that characterised some of baseball's greats. However, the Yanks aren't too representative of Hindus either. The "phases" of ethnicity in MLB is a subject too broad for this blog. However, some fans' preference for Johnny Damon's personality, coupled with the underrepresentation of Jewish ballplayers on the Yankees, does not constitute anti-semitism. Speaking only for myself, Youkilis attempted to charge the mound against Joba. If St Peter was at bat and attempted to charge a Yankee pitcher, I'd be booing St Peter. Which reminds me, neither Sts Peter nor Paul could handle the change-up. But Moses could really turn on that fastball!

Moe Green, Las Vegas NV said...

Just noticed the Virgo Hargut comment in another, more recent thread in the blog. It DOES suggest an element of anti-semitism. However, in this thread, all appear (to me at least) to be innocent. Now I am off to teach St Christopher how to throw the knuckleball.

Moe Berg said...

Points well taken Moe. My lapsed yarmulke is tipped. Still Mustang is forever an a-hole for more reasons than this.

Michael Corelone said...

Didn't Moe Green get a bullets right through the glasses into eye???
By the way, Yankees farm system advanced more than Red Sox
Do we really need this blog to sound like a comment section of a rock video stream on you tube
Some of you folks sound like you have not graduated from the goomy bears HS years mentality

Moe "One Eye" Green said...

Michael, hard to take you seriously when you cannot even spell your surname correctly. Discussing the sociology of baseball isn't important to you? Did you ever watch the Ken Burns's series on baseball? Ponder the importance of the New York Yankees in American culture? Probably not, as you were ravenously chewing on your "goomy bears". This is a "high culture" blog, which you apparently don't understand.

Moe Green, Las Vegas NV said...

Whoops. Should not have made "Burns" possessive. That's the kind of thing that happens when somebody shoots out your eyeball. Can't proofread worth a "goomy bear".

The Godfather's Hit man said...

Hey, Moe, I guess sandy didn't wash your smart mouth up the coast to Boston to hang out with all the chowder heads
I guess you should become a grammar teacher since you seem to be an anal prick!

el duque said...

This is what I was afraid of. Youkilis is driving us apart.

Bill "Spaceman" Lee said...

Dukie is right. Can't we all just get along and commune with nature? OK, now it's time to sing along with BRONSON ARROYO and his two pals, Barney the Purple Dinosaur and Sesame Street's Big Bird! All three will be pitching for the Cincinnati Redlegs this upcoming season! Isn't that special? Can you say that? S-P-E-C-I-A-L!

Barney the Dinosaur said...

Trade me. I'm afraid of Sin Choo Choo and his Magic Train.

joe de pastry said...

Rooting for Youk won't be as painful as rooting for Clemens.