Sluggers Hit Home

At the start of the week, the list of top hitters in baseball included two members of the tribe: Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox (fourth in the American League) and Shawn Green of the New York Mets (13th in the National League).

For the first few weeks of the season, Green was the hottest Jewish slugger in baseball, but then his bat cooled off and he landed on the disabled list. Now, Youkilis, whose sharp fielding in a game last year inspired an anti-Mel Gibson tirade by comedian Denis Leary, is the one making news with his bat: He recently registered a 23-game hitting streak during which the Red Sox secured their hold on first place in the American League East and he batted .426, with 13 doubles, 6 homers and 21 runs batted in.