Was a two-time All American (1999 and 2001) in four seasons at the University of Cincinnati...left school the owner of several Bearcats career records, including 53 homers, 206 walks, a .627 slugging percentage and a .499 on-base percentage...his .366 batting average is 2nd-best in UC history...hit .405 with 18 homers, 61 RBI and 81 runs scored as a senior in 2001...hit .407 as a sophomore in 1999...played for Bourne of the Cape Cod League...graduated from Sycamore High School in his native Cincinnati...was a member of the 1994 AAU National Championship squad...In 2006, started a ticket program called "Lil' Youks," in which he invited patients from the Home for Little Wanderers and the MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital Teen) Oncology Support Group...signed autographs at a fundraiser for Locks of Love and for fans as part of the Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) calendar promotion...took part in the 2006 Red Sox Holiday Goodwill Tour and 2005 Red Sox Holiday Caravan...attended a special holiday luncheon for children from ABCD in 2005...played in Gabe Kapler's Poker Tournament to benefit the Kapler Foundation in 2005...attended the 2005 Christmas at Fenway, where he signed autographs and answered questions from fans.

Led all A.L. qualifiers with an RBI every 4.68 at-bats...Finished 3rd in slugging at .569, 4th in extra-base hits at 76 and in RBI at 115, and 6th in batting at .312 (168-for-538)...Also ranked among the league leaders in sacrifice flies (T3rd, 9), on-base percentage (6th, .390), doubles (T7th, 43), multi-hit games (T8th, 52), and total bases (8th, 306). Led the club in homers, RBI, slugging and on-base percentage and was 2nd in average, games (144), hits (168), doubles, and total bases...Established career highs for average, hits, total bases, homers, RBI, and slugging...Started 109 games at first base and 32 at 3rd base. Became just the 3rd modern major leaguer (since 1901) ever to bat over .300 with more than 100 RBI during a season in which he spent at least 30 games at both first and 3rd base...St. Louis' Albert Pujols (2001) and Cleveland's Al Rosen (1954) are the only other players to accomplish the feat.

MVP VOTE: Finished 3rd in 2008 A.L. MVP voting as conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America...Received 201 points (2 firsts, 4 2nds, 4 3rds), trailing Dustin Pedroia (317 points) and Minnesota's Justin Morneau (257 points)...Joined Morneau as the only players named on all ballots...With Pedroia became the first pair of teammates to finish among the top 3 in A.L. MVP voting since Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki (first) and Bret Boone (3rd) in 2001 and the first Red Sox duo to do so since Roger Clemens (first) and Jim Rice (3rd) in 1986.

BATTING: Set a career high with a .312 batting average...Started hitting .378 (28-for-74) in his first 19 games through April 20...Went 3-for-34 over his next 10 contests, falling to .287 through May 2...Then went on a .394 (26-for-66) tear in next 16 games before a .197 (12-for-61) slide in the following 16 contests left him at .294 on June 10...Hit .327 (99-for-303) over his final 82 games, going over the .300 mark for good on June 12...Finished with a .333 (15-for-45) average over final 14 games and was 7-for-17 with 3 homers and 8 RBI in 6 games on final homestand.

Hit safely in 101 of 143 games with a plate appearance, reaching safely in 124 contests...Was on base via a hit, walk, or hit by pitch in 44 consecutive games from July 12-September 10, the longest such streak in the majors in 2008 and the longest by a Red Sox since Wade Boggs, 57 games from May 27-July 31, 1985...Season-high hitting streak was 12 games, July 23-August 5...Posted a season-high 4 hits, June 27 at Houston.

BY THE NUMBERS: Ranked 6th among A.L. qualifiers with a .374 (55-for-147) average with runners in scoring position and was 7th with a .344 (53-for-154) mark in day games...Had league's 6th-best average versus righthanders at .318 (138-434)...Batted .400 (22-for-55) in interleague play.

HOME RUNS/RBI: His 29 homers were the most for a Red Sox righthanded batter other than Manny Ramirez (6 times with 29+) and Nomar Garciaparra (3 times) since Nick Esasky (30) in 1989...Hit 23 homers while playing first base, most for a Red Sox since Mo Vaughn (36) in 1998...Homered every 18.55 atbats, 10th best ratio in the league.

Hit 2 homers in a game 4 times, tying Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and Chicago's Carlos Quentin for the 2nd-most multi-HR games in the A.L. behind Cleveland's Grady Sizemore (5): April 22 vs. Los Angeles; June 22 vs. St. Louis; August 2 vs. Oakland; and August 12 vs. Texas...Had 3 game-winning homers in the 8th inning or later: June 14 at Cincinnati (10th inning); June 22 vs. St. Louis (walk-off in 13th inning); and August 12 vs. Texas (8th inning)...Connected his first career grand slam, July 12 vs. Baltimore... Had 6 homers in 7 games, May 4-10.

Had 32 multi-RBI games, 3rd most in the A.L. behind Texas' Josh Hamilton (40) and Minnesota's Justin Morneau (33)...Had 65 RBI in final 61 games beginning July 9 with 14 in first 6 games of that span...Drove in a career-high 6 runs, July 12 vs. Baltimore.

IN THE FIELD: Ranked 5th among A.L. qualifiers with a .996 (4 E/1014 TC) fielding percentage in 125 games at first base...Error on June 7 was first at that position since July 4, 2006 at Tampa Bay, a major league record span of 238 errorless games and 2,002 total chances without an error... Fielded .969 (3 E/96 TC) in 35 games at 3rd base...Played 1st and 3rd base in the same game 19 times...Also appeared defensively twice in right field. Odds and ends: Missed time during the season with sore right hand and back spasms...Batted in the 2nd through 6th spots in the order.