YOUKILIS & THE NEW YORK MEDIA: PART 1

Wallace Matthews of ESPN really ruffled the feathers of many Yankees fans with his latest piece on ESPNNewYork.com Kevin Youkilis Arrives at Camp. In his article, he starts off with "Kevin Youkilis has two messages for Yankees fans. He'll always be a Boston Red Sox, and he'll never be Alex Rodriguez." Guess what? He's right. Sorry to break it to you...

Youk will always have a place in the hearts of Boston fans, and Boston will always have a place in his heart. It's true. He spent 8 1/2 years with them, and won a championship with them in 2007. No player can just wipe away what they had with a team they spent the majority of their career with. How would you feel if Derek Jeter went to another team next year, and said the same about New York? We'd get a warm feeling from it, I know I would. So you see where I'm going with this? It was the right thing for Kevin to say, maybe not to the New York media, but it actually makes sense.

But also understand this, Kevin is a smart guy and he knows where he is now. I won't ever question his passion and desire to play hard. Those credentials earn you some respect somewhere. In his case, he has to duplicate that grit in a New York Yankees uniform now.

Now onto the Alex Rodriguez part. We all know why Youkilis is here. Simply because Alex is not. Kevin understands he is here because of our needs at 3rd. He also understands that he is in need of finding work. The Yankees made an offer he accepted. Again, he's right to say he's not Alex... he isn't.  He isn't here to be a successor to Alex nor to hope to be the heirloom at 3rd. Kevin Youkilis is here to play as Kevin Youkilis. I understand what he did in the past against us. It infuriates me when our team loses. But, it's all history now. Youkilis starts a new chapter in his baseball career and it takes place in New York now. The fans should do the same, start a new chapter. Call it KEVIN YOUKILIS IN HIS YANKEE DAYS.

-- Rudy Laurens, BYB Writer
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