"Curtis Granderson has this look about him at the plate. It starts with the way he holds the bat, just off the left shoulder, ready to fire straight through the ball.

The look is also in his eye. Have you ever seen a hitter with a more laser-like stare as he gathers himself at the plate? And then there's his lower body, steady and balanced.

It wasn't always this way.

"I think the improvement Granderson has made at the plate this season is on a higher level than anything I've ever seen," said a veteran big league scout. "(Hitting coach) Kevin Long tightened his swing up to a point where it's so finely tuned. He never seems to be fooled by a pitch. And on the rare occasions he is, he shrugs it off and gets back in."

Said Yankees teammate Nick Swisher: "His swing is completely different than what it was. He's so quiet at the plate. You watch video of him in Detroit and when he first got here, he has changed everything. He's got this approach that is so well-suited for this stadium. He's right on the plate. And right now, if you miss with your pitch, Curt is going to get you."

In the Yankees' 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, Granderson hit two more home runs, giving him a career-high 31 with 48 games still to play. His four RBI give him 91 for the season, a total that's already 17 more than his previous career high. To call this season magical for 30-year old Granderson would not do it justice. His rise to this elite level dates back nearly a year when he asked Long to help him shorten his swing. Granderson emerged from two days of work in the cage with less movement in his trigger, a more repeatable swing path and a two-hand follow-through. The results have been staggering."