Kevin Youkilis

Hopefully it will be ready as soon as possible. The doctors said hopefully we can get it ready for pretty much the first playoff games.

I tried not to do too much (in the at-bat). We're trying to hit our way out of games. We've done that the last two days. I think it's a sign of things to come later. When we start clicking it's going to be tough for our opponents to keep games close because of the pitching we have.

Getting that big lead for (Schilling) helps. Sometimes it hurts a pitcher, too. They get a big lead, they take a little bit off. They don't have the edge. Curt did a good job with that tonight. He pitched really well, and, hopefully, he keeps going on a roll.

He just said he's having fun just playing ball. He likes New York City and he's just having a good time. He says he misses Boston a little bit. He misses the fans.

It was great in the beginning. I got a lot of notoriety about it in Double-A. Now it's getting to the point where it's past that time. It's a time where whenever anyone writes something about me, it's, 'Oh, he has a great on-base percentage.' Well, in order to have a good on-base percentage you've got to hit, too.

A lot of times, you don't know what a guy has, but it can kind of work both ways. Today, it worked in his favor.

It's like they always say, good hitters walk. You get to be a good hitter before you get a lot of walks, that's the way I see it. You take a lot of pitches. You can be smart and selective at the plate, and that helps attribute to walks.

Mike Lowell all of sudden goes, 'Hey, watch this.' Just watching him take ground balls was amazing. Gonzalez has got great hands.

I don't know how the fans could have been louder. It's great. I was soaking it all up in the ninth inning. It was like the World Series.

I was soaking it all up in the ninth inning, every pitch, every out, just looking around. It felt like the World Series. It was unbelievable. Just a pure adrenaline rush and pure excitement.

I know my pain threshold. I'm fine, ... It's come down to that point where you got to suck up a lot of stuff.

I just feel good at the plate right now. I've been working on some things and realizing what I've been doing wrong. For me, it's just good to know that I can play every day at this level. In order to play at this level, you have to make adjustments each day.

I live for that moment. The team is down with two outs and I help the team win. I want to do that for a couple of more years.

For me, it's not as strange. Johnny's a good friend of mine. You know what's strange When you look down the locker room and you realize all the guys you played with the past couple years are kind of gone. You got new players and personalities you have to get used to and deal with.

The doctor said definitely the ALCS if we get that far. He said 3 12 weeks, but he said we're going to try to push for that first playoff round.

I got to 2-2 and he threw me that slider down in the dirt. I didn't think he wanted bases loaded with Wily Mo Pena up. I was looking fastball and pounded it into left.

It was kind of sad. He acknowledged the crowd with his helmet and they didn't want any part of it.

I have a lot of confidence in my teammates that they'll get us (to the playoffs). Hopefully, I'll have the chance to help out.

It's been a tough year for me. It just stinks for me, especially when we have left-handed guys pitching down here, I would have had a chance to play more probably. It stinks. There's nothing you can do about it. I'm just going to work my butt off to basically do whatever I can to help out and get back for that playoff push. I have a lot of confidence in my teammates. They'll get us there, and hopefully I can help out in the playoffs.

I remember two years ago a bunch of us went out on the boat and it was my birthday. We had a great time out there. That's the little things you miss. Johnny was a great person. He was the first guy to step in front of the media when things weren't right, when things were right.

The only time it hurt was when I hit it off the end of the bat. It doesn't matter if you have 10 broken fingers ... it's going to hurt off the end of the bat. It's a little discomforting with the grip of the bat, but I have to just keep taking good cuts. Whole trick in baseball is to barrel it up. If I can do that, I'll feel good.

It gets pretty ugly sometimes. I'm a corner guy so I see it all the time. I've seen an older guy get hit right in the cheek and he started bleeding everywhere. It's always the one fan that's not looking. He gets shielded or something. It's definitely scary. That's the scary thing about baseball. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

Boomer is one of the best pitchers to play in this game, ever. It's going to be good to have him back out there and competing and having him get guys off-balance --going out there and just doing what Boomer does well.

We'll see what happens, ... Baby steps.

He looks good. I just hope he comes back to form and has a good attitude. Last year he got a little crazy with being injured. Sometimes it drives people nuts. That's what hurt him. It's depressing. I'd have to go see a psychiatrist if I was on the DL for that long.