Want to have an idea what Tom Brady might be in store upon returning to Foxboro for Week 4? His brother-in-law has a pretty good perspective.
Speaking on the latest edition of City of Boston Credit Union's "Uniquely Boston" series, Kevin Youkilis reflected on his experience in 2012 when he came back to Fenway Park after being traded to the Chicago White Sox just a few weeks before.
"It’s nerve-wracking," Youkilis remembered. "It’s emotional. For me it was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to be weird. How is this going to play out?’ … The standing ovation. It’s hard to hit because you’re still emotional. It’s interesting, because when I came back … As a baseball player you put on your uniform, you look in the mirror. But once you go out there you don’t see your hat. You can’t tell what you’re wearing. You’re just in a different dugout. So everything felt the same other than running in and out of the dugout. But going up to bat felt like any other at-bat at Fenway Park other than the standing ovation. The craziest part was that I was facing one of my buddies that I grew up playing baseball with in Aaron Cook. So this is even more wild. I’m facing Aaron Cook, who I played with in high school on the same summer ball league team together and we competed against each other in high school, too."
It's one thing to return. It's another to do it in the fashion that Youkilis ultimately managed.
There were three hits in that first game back. And then, the following game with his friend Jon Lester on the mound, Youkilis punctuated his return with a three-run homer. Making the moment even sweeter was knowing the home run came after then-manager Bobby Valentine chose not to walk Youkilis with runners on second and third and two outs with Adam Dunn (who was terrible against lefties) on-deck.
Youkilis would finish the series at Fenway Park (his only one as a visitor) going 5-for-12.
"It was a really, really cool time," he said. "The greatest moment was when with the opportunity to walk me with the base open and Adam Dunn vs. Jon Lester and I hit a home run off Jon and we win the ballgame. Part of me is like, oh man, off Lester. I don’t want to hit it off him as much as somebody else. But it was great. It was one of those things I look back and it was kind of ego. I would have walked me to get to Adam Dunn, the left on left thing. But I am also very glad I got that opportunity to win the ballgame.
Are there any lessons to be learned for a player like Brady, who is slated to experience his reunion with the Boston fan base Oct. 3? Perhaps. But certainly Youkilis' return will always be somewhat unique.
"Luckily for football it’s only one day," said the Red Sox Hall of Famer. "They’re in and out, so it’s great. Doing the interviews and stuff like that, football players have it easy. They have two days. Midweek and that’s it. For me it was every single day there. I think there was a four-game series. The funniest one was after I got traded the marketing was “Youk comes back to Boston” right away. It was interesting in a lot of ways because the behind-the-scenes and the tough of coming back was having to face people and see people. People I had to have tough conversations with. It was awkward. It was very awkward. I won’t name names, but some people didn’t even come up and say, ‘Hi.’ That was very interesting, too. A lot of it is business in a lot of ways and you can’t take it personal."