Kevin Youkilis Retires, but his Impact is Still Felt
Typically a 10 year big league vet retiring would not get any run on a site dedicated to the Minor Leagues like this one, but when that vet is Kevin Youkilis, we make an exception.
Despite playing over 1,000 games between the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and New York Yankees and being a three time All-Star, the legend of Youkilis is rooted in the 2003 book Moneyball.
Youkilis was dubbed the “Greek God of Walks” and was considered a “fat Double-A third baseman” in the book, but he was just the kind of guy Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane was looking for. Youkilis represented the transition from a purely scout driven baseball world to one that is heavily influenced by sabermetrics.
Baseball America recently reposted a March 31, 2003 article on Kevin Youkilis where they basically graded him out to be an average player, and pointed out that in the 2000 MLB draft, Michael Vick was drafted but Youkilis was not despite setting school home run records his junior year at Cincinnati.
Youkilis may not have been on any top prospect lists, but it was clear he could work a count and draw walks (hence the nickname). Youk, as he was affectionately called by fans, walked 18% of the time in the minors, and 13% of his plate appearances at the big league level. He never hit more than eight home runs in a single minor league season, but the fat third baseman turned that fat into some power in the big leagues, as he hit double digit home runs seven times, more than 20 twice, and 19 two more times.
Youkilis has changed the way so many scouts and fans watch young players at the plate. Now, when I am at a minor league game, I pay attention to how a player tracks the ball while at the plate and what kind of approach he takes, rather than purely looking at the physical tools. This was likely an inevitability to come given small markets needing to find an edge, but the Moneyball and a player dubbed the Greek God of Walks carried the torch and made working a count and drawing walks mainstream.