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Kevin Edmund Youkilis (; born March 15, 1979), also known as "Youk" , is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2001, after playing college baseball at the University of Cincinnati. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees. He is currently a special assistant to the Chicago Cubs and former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. Known for his ability to get on base, while he was still a minor leaguer, Youkilis was nicknamed ''Euclis: The Greek God of Walks'' in the best-selling book, ''Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game''. A Gold Glove Award-winning first baseman, he once held baseball's record for most consecutive errorless games at first base (later broken by Casey Kotchman). He is also a three-time MLB All-Star, two-time World Series Champion, and winner of the 2008 Hank Aaron Award. An intense performer on the playing field, Youkilis was known for his scrappiness, grittiness, dirt-stained jerseys, home-plate collisions, and his strange batting stance. He excelled despite a physique that led many observers to underestimate his athletic ability. He was called "roly-poly" by his high school coach, "pudgy" by his college coach, a "fat kid" by general manager Billy Beane, and a "thicker-bodied guy" by the Red Sox scout who recruited him. As Jackie MacMullan wrote for the ''Boston Globe'': "He does not look like an MVP candidate; more a refrigerator repairman, a butcher, the man selling hammers behind the counter at the True Value hardware store." Youkilis was named to the ''Sporting News'' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, ranking No. 36 on the list in 2009, No. 38 in 2010, and No. 35 in 2011. ==Background and early life== Youkilis' Jewish great-great-great-grandfather, a native of 19th-century Romania, moved to Greece at the age of 16 to avoid conscription at the hands of the notoriously anti-Semitic Cossacks.〔 He became homesick, however, and returned to Romania after a couple of years, although he changed his surname from "Weiner" to "Youkilis" to avoid army and jail.〔 Youkilis was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Carolyn (née Weekley) and Mike Youkilis, a wholesale jeweler. His father was born to a Jewish family, while his mother, a native of West Virginia, converted to Judaism after her marriage.〔 Youkilis has described his father as a "well-known third baseman in the Jewish Community Center fast-pitch softball league."〔 Youkilis is Jewish and had a Bar Mitzvah at a Conservative synagogue.〔 At the age of 14, he had an uncredited one-line speaking role in the romantic comedy film, ''Milk Money''. He attended Sycamore High School in the northeastern suburbs of Cincinnati, where he played third base, shortstop, first base, and the outfield for the school team which won the Amateur Athletic Union National Championship in 1994, and he was the only player to homer off his future Red Sox teammate Aaron Cook in high school.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kevin Youkilis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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