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Kevin Youkilis was standing on a golf course in northern California, but once he picked up a black bat, he might as well have drifted into any batter's box in any stadium. Although there was no pitcher and no screaming fans, Youkilis morphed into baseball mode on this January afternoon.

We have all seen Youkilis' unusual batting stance. He stood almost upright and rocked his body slightly. His feet were close together. He held his hands and his bat near his shoulders. He had a leg kick as he swung. And, of course, Youkilis' top hand moved along the handle of the bat and only caressed it. He didn't fully grip it until the pitcher released the baseball.

"That was the old me," Youkilis said.

In YES' Yankees Access show with Youkilis, the third baseman explained why he changed his stance and how he ever gravitated toward having such a distinctive stance. The Batting Stance Guy and other devotees of Youkilis' stance can relax. He made alterations to his stance, but it's not an overhaul. There are subtle differences that Youkilis details in our show, which aired after the Nets-Lakers game Tuesday night.

After Youkilis had a two-day session with Kevin Long, the Yankees' batting coach, he emerged with a stance that mirrors his stance from 2008 and that he thinks should help him stay more balanced. His feet are wider apart and he is in more of a crouch. He has lowered his hands, which should enable him to get his bat into the hitting zone quicker. He has eliminated the leg kick and will now lift his left foot and lower it quickly. Youkilis' top hand is still not fully gripping the bat as he prepares to swing, a quirk that that he said gives him a rhythm at the plate.

While spending a day with Youkilis, it was interesting to hear him discuss his hitting approach, how he has thrived as an underdog (in high school, college and even now), how challenging it was for him to sign with the Yankees, how he asked the Patriots' Tom Brady, his brother-in-law, for insight on the Boston-to-New York transition and how important it is to him to be a Jewish baseball player in New York.

When Joe Bick, Youkilis' agent, told Youkilis that the Yankees were interested in signing him, Youkilis was shocked. Youkilis never saw that curveball coming. But, after the news of Alex Rodriguez's need for hip surgery became public, Youkilis understood why the Yankees were pursuing him. The player who was endlessly booed by Yankee fans when he played with the Red Sox signed a one-year, $12 million contract with the Yankees.

Youkilis, who said his first preference was to play close to home on the West Coast, plans to live in Manhattan and relish the New York experience. If Youkilis' stint with the Yankees lasts one year, which is what he expects, he's going to soak up as much of New York as he can.

Having interviewed Youkilis when he was with the Red Sox, I thought he was edgy and honest. The Youkilis I encountered in the Bay Area was just as edgy, just as honest. Since Rodriguez's timetable is uncertain, Youkilis is bound to be a vital player in 2013. It's a new stance and a new team for Youkilis. 

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

No players were elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame today, a development that didn’t shock or disappoint me. It is difficult for candidates to get 75 percent of any vote, especially once that process becomes complicated and muddied by the simmering steroid debate.

As a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America since 1990, I have a vote. I checked the box near the names of eight players on the ballot, the most players I’ve ever selected. I voted for Craig Biggio, who received the highest total with 68.2 percent, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines, Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell, Jack Morris, Edgar Martinez and Larry Walker.

But it’s the two players that I failed to vote for that were discussed and dissected more than any other this year. I didn’t vote for Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens, who might be the best hitter and best pitcher I’ve ever covered. While Bonds won seven Most Valuable Player Awards and Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, I couldn’t take my pen and put an X beside their names because of their connection to performance-enhancing drugs. I wasn’t alone with those thoughts. Clemens notched 37.6 percent of the vote while Bonds got 36.2.

I’ve had dozens of conversations with players, managers, coaches and fellow voters about the 2013 ballot. Some of the smartest writers in the country made convincing arguments about why they voted for Bonds and Clemens. I respect their opinions, but I disagree with them. I’m not sure how and when it became so acceptable to honor players that cheated others and the game.

To me, the easiest decision would have been to vote for Bonds, who belted 762 homers, and Clemens, who won 354 games. Based on their career statistics, do they belong in the Hall? Of course they do. But I have a vital follow up question: What statistics are we judging them on? Are we judging them on career stats or the stats they accumulated before they became linked to steroids? I couldn’t vote for a player whose numbers were artificially enhanced. I also hate the argument about how they were Hall of Famer players before their connection to PEDs so that makes them Hall of Famers.

Let’s say two high school students were competing for the valedictorian. In senior year, one of the students decided to cheat. He was already great, but he wanted to be greater. If you found out that he cheated, would you be willing to honor him because he was worthy of being the valedictorian before he started cheating? I wouldn’t.

Bonds admitted to using steroids, although he said he did it “unknowingly.” Clemens’s former trainer, who seemingly spent almost every hour with him, said that Clemens also used steroids. When you take that information and combine it with the incredible boost in stats that both players produced later in their careers, it’s improbable to think that they did everything on their own. As journalists, we’re taught to report about what we see. Any reporter who saw Bonds and Clemens now knows that he or she wasn’t seeing entirely legitimate performances.

“I’m going to vote for both of them,” one voter told me. “But I’m going to hold my nose while I do it.”

Since I didn’t vote for Bonds or Clemens, I’ve been asked why I voted for Piazza and Bagwell. I don’t think that tandem should be grouped with Bonds and Clemens. I haven’t seen anyone uncover how either of those players had a direct connection to steroids. In fact, I think Piazza got blasted with steroid shrapnel in this election. It’s unfathomable to me that the best-hitting catcher ever isn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  He was named on 57.8 percent of the ballots and is likely to be elected soon.

My refusal to vote for Bonds and Clemens isn’t some personal issue. I covered Bonds during his pursuit of Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record and recall having an enjoyable conversation with him about Notorious B.I.G. I liked covering Clemens, who I called John Wayne in pinstripes. I’m not trying to influence anyone’s vote. It’s my ballot and I needed to feel I was doing the right thing with it. For me and for this year, that meant not voting for Bonds and Clemens.  

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

The comparison is there, even if some Yankee fans are reticent to concede it. When you watch Kevin Youkilis moan about a close call, fling his bat or go into a dugout rage after an out, you should be reminded of another fiery player from the recent past. You should see shades of Paul O’Neill.

Before some of the O’Neill acolytes explode, relax. This doesn’t mean Youkilis and O’Neill are exactly the same player with the exact accomplishments. Of course, they’re not. What it means is that Youkilis and O’Neill share the same style for playing baseball with an intensity that’s visible to everyone and with an approach that chases perfection.

“He expects to get a hit every time up,” Joe Torre often said while trying to explain some of O’Neill’s tantrums.

When I asked Boston’s Dustin Pedroia about Youkilis for The New York Times in 2007, he used the same speechwriter as Torre.

“He thinks,” Pedroia said of Youkilis, “he should get a hit every time up.”

Since Youkilis has agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal with the Yankees and will be their third baseman to start the season, O’Neill will have ample opportunities to discuss Youkilis from his perch in the YES Network broadcast booth. He can mention how they were both born in Ohio, how they have seen each other at high school games, how they have the same agent and he might also mention how they play the game similarly. There was always a ton of emotion whenever O’Neill played, something that is true of Youkilis, too.

Five years ago, I asked Joe Bick, the agent for both players, if he saw similarities in the way that the ex-Yankee outfielder and the then Red Sox first baseman performed. Bick reacted as if I’d found the car keys that he’d been missing for a week.

“I’ve been waiting for someone to finally make that connection,” Bick said. “There are definitely similarities in the way they play. They both want to do so well.”

For Youkilis to do well as a Yankee, he needs to have a rebound season. In a season in which Youkilis was traded from the Red Sox to the White Sox in June, Youkilis hit .235 with a .336 on-base percentage, a .409 slugging percentage, 19 homers and 60 runs batted in. It was his worst offensive output since he became a full-time player in 2006.

Still, the Yankees are encouraged because Youkilis finished better with the White Sox than he started with the Red Sox. Youkilis also continued to show his ability to grind through at-bats and force pitchers to work as he was third in the Major Leagues while seeing 4.36 pitches per plate appearances. Youkilis’s statistics against left-handed pitchers were also stellar (.275 average, .386 on base and .492 slugging). Finally, the Yankees feel Youkilis, a former Gold Glover who has battled back injuries, will be a solid defensive replacement for Alex Rodriguez.

Back in 2007, O’Neill admitted that he rooted for Youkilis because of their Ohio connections. Even though Youkilis played for the team O’Neill hated as a Yankee, O’Neill, who retired after the 2001 season, still found himself cheering for a Red Sox player that debuted in 2004 and reminded people of him.

“I loved to compete and I loved to win,” O’Neill said. “He’s the same way. In Boston and New York, they really care about winning and losing. I think they appreciate that about you more than in other cities.”

Youkilis never understood why Joba Chamberlain targeted him with a handful of fastballs that made him uncomfortable and also wondered why the Yankee fans vilified him. While Youkilis was still with the Red Sox, he cited O’Neill’s style of play as a way of defending himself.

“They play ‘Yankeeography’ on Paul O’Neill every day,” Youkilis told The Boston Globe. “So what’s the problem?”

For the Yankee fans who say that they can’t or won’t accept Youkilis, they need to take a quick baseball history lesson. After the Yankees added Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Johnny Damon, three players with deep roots in Boston, all three eventually won at least one World Series title in New York.

Youkilis is a Yankee because the Yankees needed him, needed someone reliable to fill in until Rodriguez returns from hip surgery. If you watch Youkilis play, you will see an ornery guy who doesn’t care if the other team dislikes him. Youkilis once told me that “other teams aren’t supposed to like you.” There’s something for Yankee fans to like about Youkilis now. Look closely. He’ll remind you of O’Neill.

“I really didn’t think I was like Paul O’Neill until someone mentioned it to me,” Youkilis said. “I have a lot of respect for him. I’ve always liked guys that played with a lot of fire.”

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

NASHVILLE – When Alex Rodriguez was removed for pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez in the American League Division Series, it was the first time he told Joe Girardi that his surgically-repaired right hip was bothering him. Rodriguez immediately had an MRI on the hip, but no problems were found. Oddly, it was the left hip that was actually troubling him.

After the season ended, Rodriguez had a physical and a subsequent examination of the left hip revealed that he had a torn labrum, a bone impingement and a cyst. Rodriguez will have surgery on his left hip in January and is expected to be out for four-to-six months. For a team that needs a catcher and a right fielder, losing Rodriguez to start the 2013 season was a depressing development.

“Right now, time is a problem,” said general manager Brian Cashman. “We’re going to be missing him for some time. It’s our job to find a way to withstand this.”

Since the Yankees have been aware of Rodriguez’s status and hadn’t yet made a move to add a player who could play third base, I wonder if that’s an indication that they will look to replace Rodriguez in a modest way. Cashman called Rodriguez’s injury significant and serious, but also said that he will not overreact to try and fill the void at third.

“If it’s not practical,” Cashman said, “we won’t do it.”

Could Cashman be playing possum with his comments? Sure. But, again, the Yankees have had the opportunity to sign or acquire someone who could have filled in for A-Rod and they haven’t rushed to do that. The team is hopeful that Rodriguez could return by June. In what might have been another hint that the Yankees could pursue a modest fix, Cashman said Rodriguez “will be back. We have to plan accordingly.”

The Yankees need Rodriguez to recover and return and produce. He is signed for five more years and is owed $114 million. Cashman said the doctors that examined Rodriguez believe his hip trouble was a contributing factor in his struggles at the end of the regular season and in the postseason. Rodriguez was 3-for-25 with no extra-base hits and 12 strikeouts in the playoffs.

After Rodriguez’s first hip surgery, he came back in two months and knocked in 100 runs in 124 games. Cashman said Rodriguez’s second surgery is more complicated and that is why there is a longer recovery time. The Yankees remain hopeful that Rodriguez can once again be a productive player.

“To what degree,” Cashman said, “you have to stay tuned and watch.”

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

NASHVILLE – On the first official day of the Winter Meetings, Alex Rodriguez emerged as the most discussed player at the cavernous Opryland Hotel. It wasn’t for a good reason. Rodriguez has a tear in his left hip that will require surgery, meaning he will miss part of the 2013 season. The New York Post first reported the Rodriguez news while adding that it’s not the right hip previously operated on in 2009.

Rodriguez injured the hip before the postseason, a dismal stretch in which he went 3-for-25 with no extra-base hits and 12 strikeouts. The hip problem could help explain why Rodriguez looked lost at the plate and showed no power in the playoffs. The Yankees had hoped that Rodriguez would return as a much more productive hitter, but now they will have to wait and see how he recovers.

Without Rodriguez and with Derek Jeter recuperating from a fractured left ankle, the Yankees suddenly have an empty left side of the infield. There is no guarantee that Jeter will be ready to play by Opening Day, either. The revelation about Rodriguez’s hip intensifies the need for the Yankees to add a third baseman, something general manager Brian Cashman already had on his to-do list.

As Cashman searches for infield help, he will definitely consider free agents Stephen Drew and Marco Scutaro. The Yankees also like Eric Chavez, but, because of his injury history, they don’t consider him someone who could play every day. Chase Headley of the Padres, a player who has been linked with the Yankees in trade talks, is another possibility. Rodriguez, who is 37 years old, has five years left on his contract.

Because of the way Rodriguez’s season ended, there were going to be endless questions about him in Spring Training. Now those questions will multiply. After Rodriguez’s last hip surgery in 2009, he knocked in 100 runs in 124 games. After another surgery, can the Yankees even dream that an aging player will experience a renaissance? The Yankees would be content if Rodriguez could return and be reasonably productive. But that answer won’t come for a while.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

When teams re-sign their own players in the offseason, those moves don’t always resonate with some observers. There are fans who clamor for something different and new, even if something different and new isn’t the smartest decision. There’s a tendency to think different must be better.

By signing Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year, $15 million contract, and closing in on one-year deals with Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, the Yankees will have three crucial pitchers returning for 2013. While bringing back three aging pitchers might not seem sexy, these were the right moves for the Yankees.

As long as Rivera and Pettitte decided they would pitch in 2013, the belief was that they would return to the Yankees. But, with the winter meetings less than a week away, the Yankees felt an urgency to sign both pitchers so general manager Brian Cashman would know how much he could spend in other areas (catcher, right field, bench). Pettitte is expected to sign for $11 million. Rivera will get about the same.

No matter what the Yankees do for the rest of the offseason, it will be difficult for them to top the signing of Kuroda. Kuroda is a legitimate No. 2 starter who was the Yankees’ best pitcher last season. He is a no-nonsense performer who wanted a one-year deal, which worked well for the Yankees because they don’t want to sign any pitchers to multi-year deals. That’s because the Yankees are intent on keeping their payroll under $189 million in 2014 to reap the massive financial benefits.

In keeping Rivera, Pettitte and Kuroda, the Yankees will have three pitchers who will be 43, 41 and 38 next season. Should that be a concern? Age is always a concern. Rivera must prove that he can rebound from knee surgery, but, even if Rivera is 85 percent of what he has been recently, that would mean he’s still a stellar closer. Pettitte had a 2.87 earned run average last season, but a fractured fibula limited him to 75 1/3 innings. He needs to stay healthy and pitch 200 innings, something he hasn’t done since 2008. Kuroda needs to carry the consistency of 2012 into 2013.

With CC Sabathia, Kuroda and Pettitte as their top three starters, the Yankees have a reliable front end of the rotation. Obviously, they must avoid injuries. But, for anyone who doubts what those three can do, where would the Yankees be if Kuroda signed elsewhere and Pettitte retired? The Yankees would have been in deep trouble. Instead, Phil Hughes is now the favorite for the fourth spot while Ivan Nova and David Phelps will compete for the fifth spot. Michael Pineda won’t be ready to start the season.

For the Yankees to exceed what they did in 2012, they still need significant contributions from Kuroda, Pettitte and Rivera. These pitchers are part of the solution, not part of the problem. When the Yankees forecast how they would be best assembled to win it all in 2013, the plan always included the three veteran pitchers they are welcoming back.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

A relief. That was how general manager Brian Cashman described the signing of Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year, $15 million contract with the Yankees yesterday. It was the perfect description. Kuroda was a smooth, confident and low-maintenance pitcher last season. He was also the Yankees’ best pitcher so it was definitely a relief for them to know that he will return in 2013.

The relationship between Kuroda and the Yankees is an appropriate one. The Yankees strongly prefer to sign any starting pitchers to one-year deals because they are insistent on keeping their payroll under $189 million for 2014. Kuroda prefers to sign one-year deals because, eventually, he wants to return to Japan and finish his career in his native country. So, in pursuit of these goals, the pitcher and the team have a perfect marriage.

“The bottom line is, yes, it’s a relief to know that Hiroki is back,” Cashman said. “And it fits the criteria that we put forth and it’s a short-term deal. It provides flexibility as we move forward. It gives us an important, valuable arm to our rotation. So, as long as he can stay healthy, with what we have, we feel we know what we’re going to get.”

What the Yankees got from Kuroda was a four-pitch pitcher who went 16-11 with a 3.32 earned run average in a career-best 219 2/3 innings. Before and after the Yankees signed Kuroda to a one-year, $10 million deal last January, there were questions about how he would transition from the National League to the American League. Those questions quickly faded. Kuroda was as solid for the Yankees last season as he had been for the Dodgers in 2011.

“A seamless transition to New York,” Cashman said.

As the Yankees navigate through what should be a busy offseason, the signing of Kuroda is the first step toward a productive offseason. If Andy Pettitte decides to return next season, which appears likely, the Yankees would add him to their rotation as well. CC Sabathia, Kuroda and Pettitte would be a reliable threesome at the top of the rotation, provided the veteran pitchers can dodge injuries. Sabathia and Kuroda were in the top 10 in the league in ERA while Pettitte, who didn’t pitch enough innings to qualify to be among the leaders, had a better ERA than both of them at 2.87.

By signing Kuroda, the Yankees made one of their most crucial moves of the offseason before we have reached Thanksgiving. Kuroda is a dependable pitcher, a pitcher who is worth the investment. Because the free-agent market has been very aggressive, Cashman said he suspected that Kuroda “left money on the table” by returning to the Yankees.

“I feel fortunate that we were able to acquire him last year,” Cashman said. “I feel the same way this year.”

Cashman feels relieved, as he should.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

Dave Righetti pitched in the World Series in his first full season of a stellar 16-year career. He didn’t make it out of the third inning for the Yankees in a start against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981. That was it. Just two innings and then two more batters in the third and Righetti was done. That outing proved to be forgettable and unforgettable.

After that debacle of a start and a six-game loss to the Dodgers, Righetti kept trying to get back to the World Series with the Yankees, the Giants and in cameo appearances with three other teams. He made it there as a 22-year old. Surely, there would be another chance, he thought. But that next chance never came. Righetti retired with a 13.50 earned run average in his lone appearance in the World Series.

“If you ask me if I remember it, I remember everything,” he said two years ago. “You don’t forget those things.”

When Righetti told me that in San Francisco, he was wistful about that one and only start in the World Series. He recited specific pitches and recalled his deep disappointment. The Giants were three victories away from snaring a championship as we spoke, but Righetti, their pitching coach, flashed back to 1981 and what had gone awry for him as a pitcher. There was a void in his career and empty fingers on his hand.

“I remember,” he said, in describing the game, “I wasn’t very good.”

I wonder what Righetti’s World Series memories are like now. I wonder if Righetti can stomach those two innings with the Yankees much easier now that his club has won two of the last three World Series. The Giants edged the Tigers, 4-3, to sweep the series in four games on Sunday night, a series that was dominated by Righetti’s pitchers. San Francisco had two shutouts in the series and compiled a 1.46 ERA across 37 superb innings.

While Righetti hasn’t tossed a pitch for the Giants across the last three seasons, he has played a part in virtually every pitch the team has thrown. When FOX’s Ken Rosenthal interviewed Buster Posey after the game, the catcher quickly mentioned how Righetti deserved praise for devising the game plans that silenced Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and the toothless Tigers. But Righetti deflected the praise.

“I didn’t do it; they did it,” Righetti told The New York Daily News. “For the last four or five years, they’ve been pretty darn good and, when they put their minds to a series or they have a couple of weeks to get through, they’ve been pretty good with that challenge.”

As I watched Righetti hug manager Bruce Bochy in the dugout on Sunday, I thought about his journey. He pitched for the Yankees for 11 seasons, winning 74 games, saving 224 and twirling a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox on July 4, 1983. He has been with the Giants for 13 seasons, making him the longest tenured pitching coach in the Major Leagues. He has reminded his pitchers that being aggressive and letting your adrenaline push you is a positive approach in the postseason, something he forgot in 1981.

Every player longs to win a championship. Righetti came close to doing it as a kid pitcher with the Yankees, but never returned to that same precious position. Now Righetti has won it all twice as a coach. Righetti didn’t throw a pitch for the Giants, but he still had an impact. Those are unforgettable baseball memories, too.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES