Kevin Youkilis: “I’ll always be a Red Sock”
I like this interview with Kevin Youkilis in the Daily News, as he appears
totally unwilling to take the bait we usually see laid for new members of the
Yankees, especially ones who had a long tenure with another team.
You know the bait I mean: interviews which seem geared toward getting the
player to talk about how special it is to be a Yankee and how much different
and better and important it is. There’s almost a propaganda aspect to it,
actually. The first spring training interview with a new Yankee player is the
first chance the tabloids or talk radio get to place the new guy in the True
Yankee Continuum.
Here Youkilis, while sounding totally professional about his new team and new
challenges, and while handling questions about hot button topics like A-Rod,
Joba Chamberlain and The Rivalry, doesn’t lose perspective about his career:
“To negate all the years I played for the Boston Red Sox and all the
tradition, you look at all the stuff I have piled up at my house, to say I’d
just throw it out the window, that’s not true,” Youkilis said. “I’ll
always be a Red Sock.”
It’ll be interesting to watch how the Yankees media reacts to and treats
Youkilis this season. I imagine there’s a pretty big temptation to play up
the Boston-New York stuff. Maybe even to use this quote against him somehow.
But to me it sounds like he’s going to navigate it OK. Neither falling into
the Yankees genuflection many expect of new arrivals nor allowing himself to
be portrayed as some sort of heel.
http://ppt.cc/YWO8