Spark Plugs Igniting Yanks and Tigers

By Doug Miller / MLB.com

They could have been playing in the same outfield, but they're playing against each other this week.
One thing Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner and Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson have in common is a huge impact on their teams so far in 2010.
Gardner, who has been playing center field for the Yankees with Curtis Granderson injured, had an 11-game hitting streak snapped in Monday's 5-4 loss, but he still drew a walk and drove in a run and is batting .333 overall and .381 (16-for-42) with 12 runs, one double, one homer, four RBIs and five stolen bases over his past 12 games. His 14 stolen bases rank second in the Majors behind the 15 pilfered by Juan Pierre of the White Sox.
In other words, this diminutive spark plug is proving on a nightly basis that he's a major contributor to a championship-caliber team.
"I felt all along that Gardy was an everyday player," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's hit left-handers all the way throughout, and he's comfortable in there. ... I love what he brings to the table."
Girardi probably would have loved what rookie Jackson has been bringing to the Tigers' table, but the Yankees had to sacrifice their highly touted prospect in their offseason trade for Granderson.
All Jackson has done so far is lead the American League with 16 multihit games this season and become the first Tigers player since 1920 or earlier to notch 16 multihit games in his first 30 contests.
Jackson, who notched his 10th RBI of the season on Monday night at Comerica Park, hit safely in 27 of his first 30 big league games.
"I'm trying to be somewhat of a table setter," Jackson said. "That's my job, to get on base any way I can and get in scoring position. That's my No. 1 focus and all I'm trying to do up here."

What is the "BLOG"?

This is taken directly from wikipedia

A blog (a contraction of the term "web log")[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (Art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (Video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, commercial online services such as GEnie, BiX and the early CompuServe, e-mail lists[63] and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software, created running conversations with "threads." Threads are topical connections between messages on a virtual "corkboard."
The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers. Justin Hall, who began personal blogging in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers,[64] as is Jerry Pournelle.[citation needed] Dave Winer's Scripting News is also credited with being one of the oldest and longest running weblogs.[65][66] Another early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site in 1994. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance, and such journals were also used as evidence in legal matters.
Early blogs were simply manually updated components of common Web sites. However, the evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of Web articles posted in reverse chronological order made the publishing process feasible to a much larger, less technical, population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance, the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, or they can be run using blog software, or on regular web hosting services.

As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112,000,000 blogs

CC Sabathia's Plunking of Dustin Pedroia Was a Must for the New York Yankees

by Justin DelGrippo

During Friday night's New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game, starting pitcher Josh Beckett hit Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter in the big eight run Yankee fifth inning. He also came close to Mark Teixeira and Francisco Cervelli in that same inning.
After Jeter's plunking, I texted the guys from the Shore Sports Report , where I do a baseball analyst radio spot every Friday, saying that "Pedroia needs to get plunked."
And when I saw various Yankees, including CC Sabathia, mouthing their displeasure towards Beckett, I knew that Pedroia was going to be a target.
It is nothing against Dustin. He is a prototypical baseball player, always hustling, frequently getting dirt on his uniform. Pedroia is the type of guy you want playing for your team. It is just that Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis is a boring target who usually gets out of control when he feels like he is being thrown at.
Look what he did last season to Detroit Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello.
Since the Yankees second baseman was hit in Friday night and had to leave the game, it had to be THEIR second baseman who was retaliated against, plus Pedroia would take it like a man.
Josh Beckett is an easy guy to dislike. He never smiles, and does not seem pleasant to be around. I spend some time down in South Florida and heard various stories about him, too, when he used to play for the Florida Marlins.
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. And he is very overrated. He has parlayed three good seasons (and Red Sox GM Theo Epstein's rash judgment) into a new four-year, $68 million contract.
Not only is Beckett not pitching well this season, but come three/four years from now, Beckett's contract will be viewed as one of the worst contracts in baseball. A dead weight contract which will further tie down the Red Sox.
But Beckett was throwing the baseball very well Friday night, at least for five innings. That is why it was incredible he would hit two guys, and come close to two others.
Not that I think the Cano plunking was intentional, because after Alex Rodriguez' sixth inning leadoff double, the last thing Beckett wanted to do was put another runner on base with no outs and the Yankees already leading 3-1.
But I did believe Beckett hit Jeter on purpose, and tried to get Teixeira two batters later. He also dusted Cervelli just before Jeter's HBP. At that point the score was 5-1 Yankees and it looked to me that Beckett had given up.
So why not hit Jeter? Beckett had given up, saying to the Yankees, "You beat me and all I can do is hit your players."
That was wrong because pitchers should never intentionally hit batters for doing well against them, but only for showing up a team/player or in retaliation.
That is why Pedroia needed to get plunked by Sabathia. But after it was over, Pedroia ran hard to first base, taking it like a baseball player, seeming to know it was coming. However, the next batter, Victor Martinez, hit a two-run homer to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
The plunking hurt on the scoreboard, but the message was sent.
I also was not the least bit worried after the home run, as the Yankees were getting guys on base and it was a matter of time before they started knocking those runners home. Also, Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz was off his usual game.
I wrote a piece last year about Yankee manager Joe Girardi changing the Yankees mindset regarding protecting their hitters . For too many years Joe Torre let the Red Sox pitchers have a field day in hitting the Yankee lineup. Red Sox manager Terry Francona had no problem letting it happen, either.
Too many times Pedro Martinez would bean Jeter and others, and nary a Yankee pitcher would come close to dusting David Ortiz or Manny Ramirez.
But Girardi has changed that tune and will not let the plunking of Yankee hitters go unpunished. Neither will Sabathia.
And that is good to see.