Abreu's done it a few times. He can run and historically has a high OBP, two things you want in a leadoff hitter. If Damon's out of the lineup, Abreu makes sense. It's not like they're taking power out of the middle of the order.
In response to the Proctor thing, obviously headhunting is wrong. I think it's dirty and stupid. However, part of me was happy to see the Yankees finally stand up and throw some crap Boston's way. I don't have the exact numbers on me, but I remember hearing a statistic that said in this series in the last 5 years or so, Yankee players being HBP was almost twice as high as Boston players. Sox pitchers get away with throwing up and in to Jeter his whole career, it's nice to see that get sent the other way. Although I again, I think they had to do that to Ortiz or Ramirez to really get the message across.