No, Not 'Boo' – 'Youk,' as in Kevin Youkilis!

Since his debut in 2004, fans have cheered for Kevin Youkilis by shouting "Youk" when he is at bat or making a great play in the field. Still, today, in 2011, I hear fans question why we "boo" Youkilis. 

But Youkilis is not the first guy that the fans haven't booed. Sweet Lou Merloni made his debut in 1998 by hitting a three-run homer at his first at bat. Fans would yell "Lou" whenever he came to the plate and it perplexed many that the fans would boo our hometown hero from Framingham. 

I was reminded of the early Lou Merloni days at a recent game. It was only the second time in the 15 years that we have been sitting in the bleachers that I have seen a stretcher brought up into the bleachers. The first time was about 1998 when we were losing to the Yankees and some NY fan was drunk and taunting a bleacher-going Red Sox fan. I have never seen so much blood! The kid came down on the stretcher right by our seats and his face was rearranged but he was still cursing the Red Sox as they wheeled him down the steps. Back then, you were taking your life into your hands to attend a Yankees game in the bleachers. I always expected to get sprayed by a beer that was thrown in the direction of an opposing team's fan. Drunks were often ejected in the second inning, and I saw blood on more than one occasion. 

Today, the bleachers are family-friendly – and it's a good thing because for a lot of families, they're the only seats they can afford. And this time, the stretcher wasn't for the loser of a drunken brawl; it was for an elderly man in acute distress who could not make the long walk from the top of the center field bleachers to the concourse. 

Although we were playing the Orioles, I still heard a couple "Yankees suck" cheers.  Some things never change!