Oh, and he’s also Jewish, which is unusual for a big league baseball player. Just over 200 of the 23,115 men who have worn a big league uniform are/were Jewish. Youkilis never made a big deal of it when he played here, and many of us thought he was Greek because “Moneyball” called him “the Greek god of walks.”
Things changed for Jews around the world on October 7 when Hamas invaded Israel and massacred civilians. Israel subsequently declared a state of war and anti-Semitism has increased in recent weeks. No longer content to sit on the sidelines, Youk uses his social media platforms to educate others and push back against hate.
“My father passed away three years ago and he was very proud of his Jewish heritage,” Youkilis said from California. “I know he would have spoken. So for me it was like, “What would my dad do?” and ‘What would my father want me to do?’
“I don’t consider myself a celebrity. I just feel like there are a lot of Jews who are suffering. »
Youkilis’ Twitter avatar is a photo of him wearing his Team Israel baseball cap. In early November, Youk reposted a tweet featuring a photo of Harvard students surrounding a Jewish student at an anti-Israel protest and wrote, “I wish I was back in Boston to march alongside my Jewish brother at this time when these cowards had to use a mob mentality to try to intimidate.
In another tweet, dated November 13, Youkilis wrote: “I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations with my Jewish friends and family over the past few weeks. The hatred shown in public and online has only brought us closer together. A flame has been lit and we have never been more proud of our Jewish heritage than today.
“As a baseball player, you develop a thick skin because of words,” Youkilis said. “I can laugh at some of these things online. But some things aren’t funny because they are lies and outright lies. October 7 will go down as one of the worst days in Jewish history. And the amount of hatred shown towards the Jewish people is astronomical.
“I talked about it on my news feed, on my Instagram. I knew he was always there, but he stayed pretty quiet. But for some reason, this October 7 thing – which was just disgusting beyond words – was like a steroid for people who feel empowered. And I felt it was time to stand up and defend the Jewish people. I just try to post positive things.
“Growing up in Cincinnati, I was a minority within a minority, being Jewish and a baseball player. It was just different in many ways. But one of the great things about coaching with Team Israel in the WBC this year is that a lot of baseball players have told me that I’m their inspiration. When I was young.
“My message now is that we all need to be more educated. Find out. In the Jewish religion, we are taught that it is inappropriate to idolize individuals. On social media, people start to idolize individuals and take everything they say as fact. So really educate yourself and don’t take someone else’s word as fact.
“As for all Jewish people, life is hard. There are unfortunate times, but you have to dig deep and hope and believe that we will all find a better solution eventually, but it will take a lot of time and a lot of struggle.
“Remember that shouting on social media does nothing or solve the problem. Try to be positive and bring light to your family and friends, and come together and be united.
▪ Quiz: San Diego’s Blake Snell became the seventh pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in both leagues. Name the other six (answers below).
▪ Do you think we’re in the throes of a slight championship drought here in New England? New York has the Yankees, Mets, Jets, Giants, Knicks, Nets, Devils, Rangers and Islanders, and the last championship any of them won was Super Bowl XLVI (you remember that one?) when the Giants beat the Patriots, 21-17, on February 5, 2012, in Indianapolis. As of Friday, that represents a drought of 4,309 days.
Our last title came on February 3, 2019, when Tom Brady and the Patriots defeated the Rams, 13-3, in Atlanta in Super Bowl LIII.
▪ Did the Krafts learn nothing about Boston politics? In the 1990s, Bob Kraft was rebuffed when he wanted to build a stadium for the Patriots in South Boston, and much of the problem was the family’s inability to get former Mayor Thomas Menino involved. The proposal to build in Southie never saw the light of day.
When John Henry & Co. purchased the Red Sox in 2001, CEO Larry Lucchino forged a long-standing alliance with Menino, which worked well over the next decades whenever the Sox wanted to make improvements to Fenway Park or use city properties in the surrounding area. he.
Given this history, it was incredible to read last week that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was excluded from negotiations between the Kraft Group and the city of Everett over a proposed football stadium near the Boston border.
“It is unusual for a project of this magnitude and impact on the City of Boston land to be proposed without any outreach or conversation with the city,” a spokesperson for Wu said after the he state legislature failed to reach agreement on the stadium proposal.
▪ I had a good laugh when former Patriot Matt Chatham tweeted his displeasure with the Bengals’ injury report after quarterback Joe Burrow came out of a loss Thursday night with a sprained wrist.
“If it is determined that Burrow’s injury was known and hidden, every penny of NFL-approved bets that changed hands…should be refunded immediately…by the league,” Chatham tweeted. “Or they deserved to be prosecuted.”
That’s rich coming from someone who played six seasons for Bill Belichick, who usually makes a joke about the injury report. Patriots fans who take great pride in the team’s grudge against the league don’t have to cry over money lost because a team was not disclosing the health status of players. That’s why we call it “playing.”
▪ I still haven’t gotten over Joe Mazzulla’s semi-hostile response to a rather benign question from the Globe’s Gary Washburn after the Celtics lost in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. When Wash asked if the Celtics perhaps took too many 3-pointers in that rare loss, the 35-year-old Celtics coach responded, “I just finished reading a great article that you you wrote in 2016 – “The Celtics shot too many threes.” What is your fascination with too many threes over the past seven years? »
Wow. How does Mazzulla read a seven-year-old Globe column the night the Celtics play the 76ers? It gave me chills. Mazzulla was an assistant coach at Fairmont State in 2016.
Now I’m afraid to ask Red Sox boss Craig Breslow why he hasn’t yet paid big for some free agent talent. I’m afraid Breslow will say, “I was just reading a great article you wrote about the 2014 Giants-Royals World Series when you said the Red Sox should sign the Giants’ free agent third baseman to a big contract, Pablo Sandoval. as soon as the series is over.
▪ The Red Sox informed spring training season ticket holders that they will receive free parking at JetBlue Park this Grapefruit League season.
▪ The Sox return to Springfield for “winter weekend,” but there is no mention of another “town hall.” Hmmm.
▪ Look for a big Baseball Hall of Fame class in the summer of 2024. Todd Helton (no, thanks) will likely be enshrined, likely with Billy Wagner and first time candidates Adrian Beltré and Joe Mauer. Lou Piniella has a good chance of being elected by the veterans committee.
▪ The Oakland A’s began playing Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” after home wins in 1981. Kool drummer/co-founder George “Funky” Brown died last week and news of his death emerged the same day MLB owners voted to approve the A’s move to Las Vegas.
▪ His colleague Kevin Paul Dupont, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, declares it’s time to retire the number from Bruins winger Wayne Cashman. Agreed. I know nothing about hockey and 50 years later I remember Cashman wearing number 12.
▪ Congratulations to the Newburyport High School field hockey team for scoring three goals against Watertown in a 4-3 loss at the state championship in Worcester last Saturday. Watertown won its third straight state crown and 21st overall for coach Eileen Donahue, but the most important title might have been Newburyport’s. Watertown’s 41-game shutout streak.
Watertown finished 2023 with a 22-0 record and entered the state finals with 132 goals and zero allowed.
▪ Happy to report that after the early season hysteria over Deion Sanders and Colorado, the Buffaloes will finish last in the Pac-12, just like they did last season. After they were destroyed 56-14 by Washington State last weekend – Colorado’s seventh loss in eight games – the myth of Coach Prime is officially shattered. I wonder if Sanders still “keeps the receipts”?
▪ Imagine a Division 1 Super Bowl championship game at Gillette Stadium between Xaverian and St. John’s Prep (Danvers) next Wednesday, six days after the traditional rivals play their Thanksgiving game, a Xaverian victory 23-21.
▪ Holiday greetings to the family of former Worcester Telegram scribe Tim Connolly, who had a 21-year career at the T&G, taught journalism at Assumption and Clark for 30 years, and died in May.
▪ What would Kraft give to have Taylor Swift in his suite for the Dec. 18 Patriots-Chiefs game on “Monday Night Football”?
▪ Quiz answer: Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, Max Scherzer.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. follow him @dan_shaughnessy.
