Even Gods Retire: Kevin Youkilis's Playing Days Are Over

Former major leaguer Kevin Youkilis is retiring according to multiple sources, including a Tweet from Pro Star Management, who lists Youkilis as a client. Youkilis was excellent when it came to reaching first base, with a .382 career on-base percentage that's currently 156th-best in MLB history among qualifiers.  

Also known as "Youk" and "The Greek God of Walks," there was more than one occasion on which the former member of the Red Sox, White Sox, and Yankees could have gone to the Oakland A's (1), but he ended up donning a BoSox jersey for much of his time in the majors instead. 

Youkilis ended his career with 21 games as a Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagle, collecting nearly as many walks (12) as hits (14). Had he drawn just three more bases on balls in Japan, he'd have ended his career the same way he started it: More walks than hits over the course of a season (2).  True, his time in Japan was short, but it's still a fitting swan song for The Greek God of Walks.

Notes:

1.  The fact that Youkilis could have gone to the A's is discussed more fully in Michael Lewis's Moneyball, particularly in chapters nine and 12.

2.  In his first year in professional baseball, Youkilis played for two of the Boston Red Sox' minor league teams, getting on base 73 times via the walk compared to just 60 times by hits.

3.  All statistics and information used in this post, other than that which came from Moneyball or are otherwise noted to have come from other sources, appeared on baseball-reference.com.