Youk: We're all human

No one inside the Red Sox clubhouse is more intense or conscientious about his work than Kevin Youkilis.

Which is why Red Sox manager Terry Francona has always been a big fan of his, even when he would occasionally express his displeasure by tossing a helmet or slamming a bat when things wouldn’t go his way on the field.

“I’m not going to go home and run to the TV and see how you perceive him,” Francona said. “That doesn’t help me do my job so I don’t know the answer to that. I know how we feel about him. I think he’s very much appreciated. He plays very hard, wears his emotions on his sleeve. So, if he’s criticized, it’s not by me.”

Youkilis held court at his locker before Wednesday’s game to clarify the comments he made following Tuesday’s game - comments to the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy that he’s just ‘annoyed’ with the Boston media as a whole.

“There are some days where you just don’t feel like talking to anyone, let alone to media members about maybe how poor you’ve been doing but it comes with the job and you’ve got to deal with it,” Youkilis said. “There’s always negatives to everything you do in life.”

Youkilis believes he has been portrayed unfairly as not enjoying his Boston experience.

“This whole thing about not liking playing in Boston, they’re putting words in my mouth,” Youkilis said. “When I say the greatest time is 7-to-10, I don’t think anyone can argue with the fact of who doesn’t love going to Fenway Park and watching a game from the first pitch on to the last pitch. It’s probably the best sporting event you can go to.

“There are things portrayed to the fans that aren’t always accurate. It gets frustrating for players when there’s not accountability and that’s when we have a deadlock sometimes is when people put words in our mouth, people say stuff, people blog about it, they write stuff on the internet and there’s stuff portrayed that’s not accurate.”

Youkilis was criticized recently by fans and media types alike, for charging the mound against the Tigers on Aug. 11 and earning a five-game suspension.

“The only thing I ever heard was that some people said I was being selfish toward the team and you ask some of my teammates, I don’t know how they feel, but at the time it was one of those things where emotion got the best of me and hopefully, it’ll never get the best of me again,” he said.

“We all make mistakes and we’re all human. I think everyone in this room mistakes at times. It definitely was a mistake. Everyone keeps saying, ‘Do you regret it?’ Well, yeah, I regret it because of the kids.”