It was Christmas in 2006. I was sitting in the living room with my family and we were about to start opening gifts. As any nine-year-old would be, I was impatient. The first present I grabbed was a small tightly-wrapped box. As I pulled off the wrapping paper I caught a glimpse of a snow white baseball in a display case. It was a ball signed by none other than Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis. I barely knew who he was at the time, but it didn’t matter. Youk instantly became my favorite player.
Back in 2006, Youkilis was still far from a household name.