BOSTON -- Ken Hawk Harrelson has a good idea what awaits Kevin Youkilis on Wednesday night.
The White Sox longtime television analyst expects the Youk chants that have dominated the first two nights of the third basemans return trip to Fenway Park to turn to boos quickly.
Harrelsons prediction isnt based off guesswork. He has a little experience with these matters.
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When Youkilis hit a three-run home run to catapult the White Sox to victory on Tuesday, he became the first former Red Sox player to hit a homer at Fenway in the same season he was traded since Harrelson accomplished the feat in 1969, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Harrelsons eighth-inning home run off Bostons Jim Longborg lifted the Cleveland Indians to a 5-2 win on Sept. 16, 1969. The Red Sox traded Harrelson to the Indians on April 19 of that season in a six-player deal.
Like Youk, I got a standing ovation -- maybe even longer, Harrelson said. After I hit that home run it was nothing but boos.
Harrelson finished third in the American League most valuable player vote in 1968 after he hit .275 with 35 homers and league-high 109 RBIs for the Red Sox.
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The September series in Boston was Harrelsons second return trip to Fenway with the Indians that season. He remembers the moment and the postgame bus ride vividly.
That love affair is going to end, Harrelson said. But after I hit that home run and came around, there were still a lot of cheers because they had people picketing the ballpark after I got traded. When I had to go from the entrance to the bus, its like 15 feet. They tore my shirt off, they took one of my shoes. It was surreal. It really was. They loved (Youk) and they loved me.