The above is a photo from last night's Red Sox/Rangers game of Kevin Youkilis and Terry Francona arguing with an umpire over a disputed hit by pitch call.
Maybe it is just me or maybe it is just the Red Sox games that I happen to watch (and in fairness I did not see yesterday's game) but it seems to me that Kevin Youkilis complains and argues with umpires more than any player I know. From what I have seen, he seems to argue about anything but in particular, he likes to argue balls and strikes while at the plate.
I think most major league batters understand that each umpire's strike zone is somewhat subjective and it just does not make sense in the long run (or even the short run for that matter) to argue balls and strike calls in the middle of an at-bat. Of course, from time to time you will see a batter give the umpire the "stink eye" after a call or even mutter a word or two to them but that is usually as far as it goes. Youkilis not only does this but on more than one occasion, I have seen him flat out argue balls and strike calls in a whiny fashion with the umpire while in the middle of an at bat. I know on quite a few occasions, during these and other type arguments by Youkilis, I just want to say "Come on Kevin, just play. This is counter productive and also just makes you look bad. A big guy like you complaining?"
This reminds me of an interview with Youkilis I read about a year ago (and frankly I forget the source) where the interviewer advised Youkilis that among other major league players, Youkilis seemed to be one of the most unpopular players and he asked Kevin's opinion on that. As I recall, Youklis responded something like "Yea, I know and I don't know why."
I think I know why.
On the disputed hit by pitch ball yesterday, apparently Youkilis was in fact hit by a pitch in the left elbow but the umpire did not award him a walk as he was of the opinion that Youkilis made no attempt to avoid being hit as the rules require. Frankly, it is quite rare for an umpire to make this call even though quite a few players do not attempt to avoid a pitch thrown right at them. You see this call maybe once every 2 or 3 years as again the umpires usually just simply award the base regardless of whether the batter tried to avoid the pitch or not. There are probably only a select very few players for which an umpire would make this rather technical call against and obviously Kevin Youkilis is one of them.
I think I know why.
2 comments:
Yeah, Youk is hyper. But there was a guy name Lou Piniella who was hyper as a player and who I absolutely hated, and now he's a respected, veteran manager. He's still a bit fiery, but he's calmed down quite a bit.
Could that be Youkilis one day? I don't know. But the guys who really, really care, seem to end up managers/coaches.
Night Owl,
Those are some pretty perceptive comments. Larry Bowa and Phil Garner also fit that fiery player/manager mold.
I know Youk is a gamer and all and you can't argue (bad pun but I may as well keep the word) with his production the last few years, but the complaining is just a bit much.
In the end, he can play on my team.
Kevin
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