Kevin Youkilis, left off the original A.L. roster for the 2010 MLB All-Star Game for some reason, has passed Yankees' Nick Swisher and is now leading the fan's Final Vote balloting for the Midsummer Classic. If he's looking for someone to thank, he may want to start with Senator John Kerry.
Sen. Kerry sent out a tweet to his 7700+ followers, asking for their support while playing up that ever-popular Red Sox-Yankees rivalry:
Vote Youk on to All Star Team - don't let it go to that Yankee http://bit.ly/bbTkOh
But Kerry wasn't done there.
He also sent out an e-mail to his supporters:
Hope you had a terrific Fourth of July -- and I hope you'll afford me what the Senate calls a "point of personal privilege." All 3 million of you in the johnkerry.com community have done incredible work these last seven years on some of the biggest fights of our lives. This isn't one of them. But it's not small potatoes either if you're a Red Sox fan. (If you're a Yankees fan, read no further.)
Kevin Youkilis of the Red Sox is an All Star in anyone's book. He plays the game the way it's supposed to be played, he hustles, he has a great bat and a glove to match, and he brings with it the kind of intensity we respected for years in guys like Trot Nixon. Youk deserves to be in the All-Star game -- while the team has grinded it out in spite of injury after injury, he's been a rock. But now he needs to win a fan vote to make it to Anaheim next week.
You can vote for him by clicking here.
The stakes are also just a little personal: in the fan voting, currently Nick Swisher of the Yankees is in first place. Swisher's having a fine year, but Youk is better in just about every category, batting average, slugging, homeruns, everything and he plays Gold Glove defense to boot. Please don't let anyone say that Swisher beat Youkilis because Sox fans have gone a little soft after '04 and '07. Let's show we're still the most ravenous fans in baseball.
Please vote Youkilis in.
Thanks,
JK
No word on whether or not he is supporting "Manny Ortez" in the home run derby.