After Kevin Youkilis accepted a much-publicized one-year $12 million dollar deal to play third base for the New York Yankees last week, the New York Times followed up with a comprehensive piece about Youkilis’ Jewish lineage.
Youkilis’ father, Mike, was born in Romania, but settled in Cincinnati and his mother, who was born in West Virginia, converted to Judaism before Kevin was born. According to family lore, their great, great, great grandfather escaped to Greece from Romania, in fear of Cossacks. He adopted a Greek name and kept in, even after returning to his native Romania.
Moment Magazine profiled Youkilis, who was bar mitzvahed at a Conservative synagogue, as well as other famous Jewish baseball players, in this fun look at Jews and America’s favorite pastime. Click here to read our September/October 2011 article, “Is This the Golden Age of Jewish Baseball?”