Mustachioed.

Kevin Youkilis' facial hair saga continues in this video on the Sox website. In the video he polls his teammates about which style they would vote for. At least in the video they seem to go for the moustache. I've got to say: it may just be my personal issue with him but the moustache gets my vote.

Takes One to Know One.

(AP Photo)

Kevin Youkilis' hirsute mug is legendary. He looks like Yukon Cornelius. When he shaved it over the winter it just looked wrong. He's currently running a drive on his charity's website which would allow fans to pick the style he will use to decorate his mammoth chin on opening day. But the man has little tolerance for other people's choice of facial hair. Says Youkilis of Diamondbacks pitcher Clay Zavada's handlebar number "That thing is disgusting." Alright, so Zavada may look as if he's a cape and a top hat away from tying a damsel in distress to the railroad tracks but really guy?

Knuckleheads.

You've got to think that one of the worst things about playing against the Red Sox is Tim Wakefield. If the knuckleball is working that day, then all that work you've put in in the batting cage is for nought. You've spent hours making something akin to a science out of hitting and for this particular game it comes down to luck. Conversely with R.A. Dickey having joined the Mets, one of the best things about playing for the Sox must be never having to try to hit a knuckleball.

Except in spring training when Wakefield throws live batting practice to David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia:

"Wow," Ortiz yelled at the top of his lungs after an unhittable knuckler dropped right over the plate. "What was that?"

A grinning Wakefield talked a little smack from the pitchers mound.

"You hitting that one? You hitting that one?" the 43-year-old knuckleballer teased.

Ortiz then bowed out, but laughed loudly as Pedroia twisted himself in a knot swinging and missing. Youkilis finally got a ball out of the infield, popping weakly to shallow center, and letting out a proud, "Aww yeah!" at the accomplishment."

Captions, Series Three.

More Globe photos:

No Daisuke! No! There may be too many pitchers but there is a better solution.


Jon Lester is aware of my softening opinion of him and he will glare me back to indifference.


A giant among men.

Author! Author!

Given that just today Dustin Pedroia proclaimed that baseball players did not have the ability to write well, it seems that they wouldn't want to expose themselves to ridicule by writing publicly. Kevin Youkilis and Daniel Bard, however, are going to attempt to prove Pedroia wrong. Both have agreed to blog for ESPN Boston this season. I suppose they can't really prove him wrong as they both dictated their entries, though.

Optimism.

A disturbingly hairless Kevin Youkilis was at the Lowell Spinners' Alumni Awards Dinner last night to receive the Dick Berardino Distinguished Alumni Award. Asked how the Red Sox will survive without the bat of Jason Bay in the lineup, Youk replied:

"We have a great team. Signing John Lackey is huge. If we don't allow as many runs, then we don't have to score as many runs. Mike Cameron is a good addition to the team, and this team has some guys who can improve on their numbers from last year. You never know: Someone who hit fifteen homers last year might hit twenty-five."

So there you go. Youkie says relax.

MVP.

Choosing an MVP for the 2009 Boston Red Sox was probably a fairly easy decision for the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. This wasn't a club that had an easy go of it from April to October; there were plenty of injuries to and disappointing starts for players who were being counted on for big things. I suppose a case could have been made for Jason Bay but he seemed to lead the team-wide slump in early August. And so they selected Kevin Youkilis for the Thomas A. Yawkey Memorial Award. Congratulations to him.

Scenes from LA.

AP photos from yesterday's and today's workouts in LA:



No, Papi! No! Baseball gloves aren't for eating.



David Ortiz: Hey! I play first base too. Can I come practice with you guys?
Victor and Youkilis try not to laugh.



Pedroia: Nu-unh, Mr. Beckett. It wasn't me who stole your glove. I swear. It was...Jed. Jed way over there that did it. Honest.




Pedroia thinks: You know, if this whole baseball thing doesn't end up working out. I could have a kick ass career as a smoldering underwear model.




At least Daisuke Matsuzaka thinks I'm funny.

Had A Bad Day.

As a player I think Kevin Youkilis is great. As a person? Not so much. I don't actively dislike him. He just manages to annoy me sometimes. So I made a pact to do my best to ignore everything about him that isn't directly related to baseball so that we could get along. And since it's been working, I won't dwell on this too much.

But...if you've just come from an emotional funeral and you're not really in a fabulous mood, then it might not be the best idea to complain about the negativity of the media to it's queen bee, Dan Shaughnessy. Just a thought.

Vote.

Just a friendly reminder that you have until midnight tonight to stuff the ballot box in Youkilis' favor for the All Star Game. I don't really care about the All Star Game (don't usually even bother to watch it) but Mark Teixeira just looks dopey and slightly dim and not worthy of representing anything. Also, if you've maxed out an e-mail address, you could try it again. It worked for me--I've voted twenty-five times in a row (although I counted over thirty votes before it locked me out once) on the same junk mail address three times already.

A Heads Up.

I decided a couple of months ago that if I just ignored half of what Kevin Youkilis does and says then I would like him just fine. And so far it's worked out well; I haven't been annoyed with him in quite awhile. But I'm breaking the rules today to pass along the information that Youkilis will be having brunch in Needham on July 25 to help raise money for teen suicide prevention programs. So, you know, be prepared for him to do or say something stupid soon--I have that kind of power.

Fine Young Cannibals.

In an interminable week it's important to keep reminding myself that baseball is nearly here. It's almost time to get back into the habit of being sure to get home before 6, finding a comfortable spot on the couch, and flipping on NESN (I was going to write turning on Tom Caron but that's not quite right.) With a notable exception, I find myself generally enjoying the product that they put together.

My favorite companion for Tom has to be Dennis Eckersley. He's very emotive and into the game. He doesn't hold back in his commentary. At times it seems like he was ready to run out there during a particularly hairy game and demand to be give the baseball. Eck does have his gig moonlighting for TBS but when you have the option of Don and Jerry why would you go anywhere else?

When one is forced to watch a game on TBS it gets the ESPN treatment (television muted and Joe C. summarizing a few seconds later), so I'm not too familiar with the commentary regularly provided by Ron Darling. In a conference call to promote Sunday MLB on TBS, though, he sounds like a keeper:

"I think (the Red Sox) have the intangible in (manager) Tito (Terry Francona). He just seems to have his hand on the pulse of that team since he’s been there. He plays that team (oriented) offensive baseball. It doesn’t hurt when you’ve got the reigning MVP (Dustin Pedroia) on your team who is just about as gritty a player as you’re going to get. He’s a guy that refuses to lose. When you have players like that, guys like Pedroia and (Kevin) Youkilis, who will bite your leg and won’t let go. That’s a great combination for a sixth month season.”

So there you have it, Ron Darling's guide to MLB success: a steady diet of gastrocnemius muscle. Also, Eck is going with the home town team to win the division.

Batter Up.

Batting Stance Guy was down in Fort Myers for spring training back in February. Don't know how I missed it but Bradford had some footage of him doing Manny and talking to Daniel Bard at the time. He also accosted Jed Lowrie with his impression of Jed Lowrie back in January.

The Kevin Youkilis strike out is spot on (and hilarious) as is the Jacoby Ellsbury nodding routine. But David Ortiz cracking up is the absolute best.

This Boot is Made for Walking.

Kevin Youkilis has left the WBC and returned to Fort Myers with a case of Achilles tendinitis. He enjoyed his time on Team USA and was quick to point out that the tournament wasn't responsible for his injury:

“I didn’t get hurt playing in the WBC. I could probably go out right now and probably play if need be. But it’s not in my best interests right now. I need time to recuperate. If I don’t stay in this boot for three days, this will linger the whole season for me. This is something I had to do. I had to come home. It’s not easy for me to walk away from playing baseball — ever. Especially with Team USA. But this is something that was in the best interests of the Red Sox and the best interests of myself. This year is about playing for the Boston Red Sox and winning a championship.”

This is true. Tendinitis is a repetitive stress injury (micro-tears in the tendon) and it wouldn't have a sudden onset from a single event. Have him clomp around in the boot for a couple of days, with the ankle immobilized to reduce pulling on the tendon, and he should be fine.

Long Day.

I managed to roll out of bed shortly after 5:00 this morning (in my effort to reset my alarm clock to go off at 4:45, I somehow managed to set it for 2:45 instead) in order to catch Daisuke Matsuzaka's start. Matsuzaka struggled through the first of his four innings, throwing twenty-nine pitches and giving up a two-run home run. But he kept it together and made it through the next three frames cleanly. He did continue to have an issue with being up 0-2 only to suddenly find himself 3-2. He did throw some really pretty pitches, though. Overall, he gave up four hits and walked only two batters. Opinions on the outing were varied. Francona said:

"He looked okay. He threw a couple good breaking balls. Left a couple over the middle of the plate the first inning. A little shaky first inning, 29-pitch first inning, gave up some hard hits in the second, but they had a baserunning error. Then he settled down and got eight of the last nine guys out."

Matsuzaka, a little more blunt than Francona, labeled his performance as:

"Not good at all. I was so happy to get the three-run lead in the first."

Japan won 14-2 in a mercy-ruled seven inning game. Their next game is Monday at 5:30 AM as they now await the winner of tomorrow morning's Korea v. China game.

That? That was a lot of fun. The Dutch play some really good baseball. Who knew? I started the game rooting for both teams. I switched sides, cheering for whichever team happened to be hitting; but by the third inning, I was firmly behind Team Netherlands. Then Pedro Martinez came out and I was rooting for stasis--Pedro doesn't give up any runs and the Dominicans don't score any either. Pedro looked good. In the eighth inning baby pitcher Dennis Neuman did an impressive job for Team Netherlands. He threw eighteen pitches, ten of them strikes. He walked one batter but got two fly-outs and a strike out. As for David Ortiz, he went 0 for 2 (both ground outs) with two walks (one intentional). The guys at ESPN, who often don't know what they're talking about, said that he had been penciled in at first but was DHing instead because he had a sore shoulder. But since no one else who might actually know has said anything about it, I'll ignore it. Tomorrow Team Dominican Republic will attempt to atone for today's loss with a win against Panama at 4:30 PM.

Lastly, in what was not a well-played game at all, Team USA chipped and bloodied their fingernails as they clung to their lead to beat Team Canada 6-5. Batting lead off, Dustin Pedroia went one for five; his one hit was a double. Kevin Youkilis (who seems to be going back to the goatee) went one for two, with two walks; his one hit was a home run. He did strike out with the bases loaded. But he also scored three times in the game. On the other side, Jason Bay played center field and didn't seem to make a half-bad job of it. At the plate he was 0 for 2 with three walks and a strike out.

Around the World.

Team Dominican Republic played an exhibiton game this afternoon against the Florida Marlins, which they won 10-1. David Ortiz went 1 for 3, with 1 RBI as the result of a pinch hit single in the fifth inning. I normally don't feel bad for Alex Rodriguez but this statement:

"It's nice for me to come in and try to jell as much as I can. So far, so good."

made me laugh. Translation: "I could do a little jig, they don't hate me yet. It's awesome."

Unfortunataly for Rodriguez, the Yankees, and Hanley Ramirez (who greatly enjoys the protection afforded him by Rodriguez' presence in the lineup), this evening the Yankees shipped Alex off the Colorado to have a cyst in his hip examined which may preclude him from playing in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Team USA beat the Yankees 6-5. Dustin Pedroia went 1 for 4, with a strike out and a walk. He was also caught stealing. Kevin Youkilis went 1 for 3, with 2 RBI. He was also on the receiving end of a Derek Jeter balletic spin-throw that didn't quite make it all the way to first base and took a funny hop when it bounced back up to him. And as a result, Youkilis couldn't quite come up with it, much to Michael Kay's delight. Youkilis did manage to have a "what the hell?" kind of look on his face, though.

Team Canada was also in action today. They beat Toronto 6-4. Playing centerfield, Jason Bay went 0 for 1, with a strike out and two walks. He also scored a run.

No 'Fu' For Youk.

Oddly, I'd grown to kind of like Kevin Youkilis' new look. But, as is my luck, Youkilis seems to have decided it was bad luck and removed it from his face.

Home.

I suppose it's not really fair to make fun of the musical tastes of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old Kevin Youkilis. We all do stupid things when we're young and naive. But you can go ahead and put another tic in the "Kevin Youkilis is a tool" column. In the video (which was taken during yesterday's picture day) Youkilis reveals that the ring tone on his cellphone is Pearl Jam's Betterman. He also expresses an appreciation for Adam Sandler. I don't know which is worse.

I originally planned on skipping this video. Part of it, though, was asking the players which park they liked playing in besides Fenway; Pedroia likes the rally monkey, Ellsbury likes playing in front of his family in Seattle, and David Ortiz is appreciative of the short porch in Yankee Stadium. But the reason I changed my mind on the video was Jason Varitek's answer: "Besides Fenway, my favorite ballpark is Fenway because it's home." He starts off sounding like he's making a joke but then he gets to that last clause, his voice changes, and he sounds so sincere. It brought a little tear to my eye.

Kevin Youkilis Hates Picture Day.

In an apparent protest against picture day, Kevin Youkilis showed up to practice this morning looking like this. Unfortunately for him, it didn't prevent them from taking his picture.

I suppose, given his new found job security, it isn't unexpected. It's not hard to imagine a nine-year-old Kevin holding up rabbit ears, much to his mother's chagrin, in his fourth grade class photo and thinking that it was the funniest thing. Hell, it's not hard to imagine him doing it now.

The Crack of the Bat.