S4E16 - Team Israel made Kevin Youkilis understand why representation matters—and the Hamas attack cemented it

Menschwarmers

Kevin Youkilis doesn't crave attention. But in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, the Jewish MLB All Star and World Series champion has become especially vocal, taking to social media to talk about resiliance and Jewish pride in the face of antisemitism.

It's a mission that began when he started playing for Team Israel Baseball, which made him realize how important representation is on a global stage.

He explains these thoughts in a new article in the Boston Herald written by Gabrielle Starr, the paper's Red Sox reporter. Starr joins the Menschwarmers to break down her hour-long conversation with Youkilis, key takeaways and the new appointment of Craig Breslow as the new Jewish chief baseball officer of the Red Sox.

Plus, we recap what's new in Jewish sports, including Alysha Clark's WNBA championship, the three Jews playing in the NBA's season openers, and how this year breaks a possibly record-setting streak of consecutive baseball World Series featuring Jewish players.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is "Organ Grinder Swing" by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow us on Twitter @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.