Boston Red Sox: Was Kevin Youkilis really the “Greek God of Walks?”

In the movie “Moneyball,” Kevin Youkilis was called “The Greek God of Walks” due to his patience at the plate. The Oakland A’s wanted to acquire him from the Boston Red Sox, but it was never meant to be.

Looking back at his career, was Youkilis really the on-base machine everyone thought he was? How did he stack up? For that, let’s head off to baseball-reference.com and take a look at the stat Billy Beane held in the highest regard: On Base Percentage.

Well, Youkilis ranks 165th all time with a .382 OBP … hey, not bad! He’s ahead of some really great names like Schmidt, Yastrzemski, Jeter, Rose, McCovey. That is certainly a list every MLB player wants to be associated with. If I was Youk and saw those names, I would have to pinch myself to make sure it was true. However, despite his nickname, he never had a 100-walk season. He pnly surpassed 90 walks once in his career.

Now, let’s have a little fun with this exercise. What names above the Greek God that you wouldn’t expect? Well hold on to your hats, you are about to be surprised.

Sitting at 152: J.D. Drew with a .383 career on base percentage. Drafted in the first round twice (sorry, Phillies fans!), Drew was a superstar in the making. He certainly had some really fine years, but never quite lived up to that hype (to the delight of Phillies fans everywhere). Still, the guy got on base. Even had a career high .436 in 2004. Incredible!

124: Ken Singleton .388 career OBP. A big, 6-foot-4 outfielder who hit from both sides of the plate, he was a guy who would beat you six ways to Sunday. In 1973, he led the National League with a .425 OBP. Bested Drew in 1977 with a .438 OBP. He was a great player!

77: John Kruk .397 OBP. “Huh? You’re kidding right?” Nope … the guy was able to get on base no matter who was pitching (with the exception of Randy Johnson). Kruk never had a season where his OBP fell below .369. A look at any other stats, they just were so so. He did, however, lead the league in having the best mullet.

62: Brian Giles: .400 career OBP. What? Who? If you are asking that question, you need to look this guy up. I was a big fan of Giles; he could hit, run a little bit, and could make a fantastic catch over the wall at PNC Park as a bonus. A superstar in the late 90s, he hit over 30 home runs four straight years. His 2002 was most impressive: 38 homers, 103 RBI, 135 walks, and a Ruthian OBP of .450.

48: Lance Berkman. .406 career OBP. Could he be the most surprising? Whenever people think of someone like Rickey Henderson, they think about how often he got on first (then steal second), but Berkman? The stats don’t lie. In 10 of his 15 years, he was over 90 walks, with a high of 127 in 2004. In fact, for nine years, he averaged 101 walks a year.

So, Youkilis may not have elevated to god status, but he did have a very nice career. Three All-Star appearances, two World Series rings and a Gold Glove at first base in 2007 when he didn’t make a single error in 135 games. All that to go along with a killer nickname and have a spot in a movie starring Brad Pitt that spread the gospel of the A’s philosophy of winning differently.

Well done, Youk. Well done.