For 238 games, he was flawless.  Kevin Youkilis went that many games, with 2,002 fielding attempts, without making an error.  That is a Major League record for first basemen.  Youk’s streak of perfection lasted from July 4, 2006 until June 7, 2008.   In the course of setting his record, he broke the Boston Red Sox team record of 120 error-free games by a first baseman set in 1921 by Stuffy McInnis, then the American League record of 179 flawless games by a first basemen set in 1973 by Mike Hegan, then the MLB record of 194 unerring games by a first baseman set in 1985 by Steve Garvey. 

Continued below . . .  

            Youkilis has spent his entire Major League career in a Boston Red Sox jersey.  He signed with the Red Sox after being drafted in the eighth round of the 2001 draft.  He worked his way through the minor league system, earning the Red Sox’ 2002 Minor League Player of the Year Award, until being called up to make his Major League debut in 2004. 

            Youk played his first game at third base.  He got two hits, including a home run, in four at-bats.  Youkilis was on the roster when the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, the first World Series Championship in 86 years for the guys in the Boston Red Sox jerseys.  He didn’t see any action in the World Series, though, and played in only one post-season game that year, Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Anaheim Angels.

            By 2006, Youk had moved to his current position at first base.  His statistics for that year continued the pattern that had won him the title the “Greek God of Walks.”  He had earned that title in 2003, when he was still in the minor leagues.  It was Michael Lewis who had first given him the nickname in his book Moneyball:  The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.  In 2006, Youkilis walked 91 times, seventh in the American League, but still way behind the 119 walks taken by David Ortiz, another guy in a Boston Red Sox jersey.  Put another way, he walked 13.8% of his at-bats, ninth in the League.  He took 4.42 pitches per plate appearance.  He was on base 259 times that season.  And that was the year he started his 238-game streak of errorless fielding.

            He played the entire 2007 season without making an error.  That effort won him the Gold Glove Award.  He took 4.27 pitches per plate appearance for the season.  This put him sixth in the League and demonstrated his discipline at the plate.  He waits for a good pitch and doesn’t swing when he doesn’t get one.  And that year, for the second time in his short career, he joined the rest of the gang in Boston Red Sox jerseys in the World Series, which the Sox swept against the Colorado Rockies. 

            The guys in the Boston Red Sox jerseys made it to the post-season again in 2008, but didn’t advance to the World Series.  Still, Youkilis had a good year.  He was selected as a starter for the All-Star Team, won the Hank Aaron Award and came in third in balloting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.  His teammate, Dustin Pedroia, won the MVP.  His batting statistics were stellar.  At .312, he was sixth in the American League for batting average, twelfth for home runs with 29 and his 115 runs batted in placed him fourth in the League.  Although he broke his streak of errorless fielding, he still finished the season with a .996 fielding percentage, placing him tied for third among American League first basemen.