I believe Boston has hit the Yanks at over a 2-1 clip for about a decade. Their plan is to always throw inside to Jeter. That makes sense, but then as often happens, Jeter gets plunked. I do believe Pedro hit the Yanks on purpose, but Dice-K was just wild last night.
Peter Abrahms isn't in love with Mike Francesa's call for this...I have to disagree with the most excellent Lohud blog...
As he noted, the Yanks lineup is also based on OBP so if they get hit, their lineup turns over. Yet, it doesn't stop Boston from coming inside. As fans---it bugs us to no end, but nobody is talking about hitting Big Papi. Manny had a fit when The Rocket threw a high pitch his way that wasn't even close to hitting him which proves the fact that it can get a hitter off his game.
We've talked about it here for two years now. The Yanks never throw inside pitches to move batters off the plate. I'm not talking about hitting people, but make their feet move a little. It's part of baseball. It used to be anyway...