JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Boston Red Sox 1B Kevin Youkilis had five walks Saturday (5/15/2010) in an 11-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Though the feat fell short of a major-league record, it marked a personal best for Youkilis, whose previous single-game high, four walks, came in a 19-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox on July 9, 2006.
Youk’s 5 free passes would have come as no surprise to Paul DePodesta, the number-crunching Oakland Athletics assistant who years ago dubbed him “Euclis: The Greek god of walks.” According to Michael Lewis’ bestseller Moneyball, most baseball scouts saw Youkilis during his college years as a “fat third baseman who couldn’t run, throw or field.” But statistics revealed that Youkilis was a getting-on-base machine.
On Saturday, Youkilis had just one plate appearance where he didn’t get a walk. He reached base on an error, naturally.
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