The First Winner of the Every 14 Game "Peter's Red Sox Forever" Award for Surprising Excellence is........

There is no contest. The winner has been chosen unanimously, the criteria being just who is the player in the last 14 games who has been the emodiment of excellence unexpected. KEVIN YOUKLIS. Batting lead off when needed, and in the middle of the order when Coco is OK, he has exceeded all our expectations. And I'm talking defense, too. Some of his splayed body stretches to nail a batter scurrying for a base hit have caught my eye. Hell, many eyes. So Kevin, congrats! And maybe when Coco is back in 12 days or so, you can bat 5th, behind Papi and Manny, at least against lefties. Nice protection for them. And your quick and powerful (yeah, have you been watching?) pop-filled bat has brought us continual happiness on this, April 19th, an early but important part of the season. No more Pawtucket express for you. You are where you belong, at The Fens, with the big club. And that makes us a better team, hands down.