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Those famously churlish Philly fans can't hide behind the urban legends. The truth is out there: They simply booed Santa Claus. Frank Olivo — the erstwhile Santa in question — wasn't drunk, nor was his red suit in tatters that December day in 1968 when he walked onto the field for the halftime show, only to be met by a chorus of jeers and a snowball fusillade from Eagles fans.

Hey it could be worse, at least they didn't throw batteries at opposing players.

Oh wait, yes they did.

The Orioles have a scary lineup:

Melvin Mora, 3B
Rafael Palmeiro, 1B
Miguel Tejada, SS
Sammy Sosa, RF
Javy Lopez, C
Jay Gibbons, DH
Brian Roberts, 2B
Larry Bigbie, RF
Luis Matos, CF

It would be even better if they can somehow replace Luis Matos with David Newhan, which would require Mora or Bigbie playing CF.

Thankfully, their starting rotation is so terrible that it isn't worth posting. I think last year they lost a lot of 9-7 games. This year they might lose a lot of 9-8 games.

I knew Lance Berkman was a great hitter, but I don't think I realized how great. Over at Hardball Times, where they reported on his 1-year $10.5 million deal, they provided a list of the top 10 4-year spans of "runs created above average*" for players aged 24-28, in the last 50 years. Look at this list!

1 Mickey Mantle 322
2 Frank Thomas 320
3 Barry Bonds 319
4 Hank Aaron 256
5 Manny Ramirez 250
6 Willie Mays 246
7 Jeff Bagwell 239
8 Lance Berkman 236
T9 Todd Helton 228
T9 Frank Robinson 228

That's pretty amazing company for someone who doesn't get much attention. And they all went on, or are continuing on, to do great things. To say he is on the offensive career path of Mays, Bagwell, and Robinson is pretty high praise.

*runs created above average compares the amount of runs created to what the average player in your league, during the same years, could be expected to create in the same amount of playing time. So it adjusts for era.

Gillette is being bought by Proctor & Gamble. Wonder if they'll change the stadium name?

I'll have a Brooklyn Lager and a supplement instead of this.

The Mienkiweiticitichz trade makes sense for the Sox. They bring aboard a prospect that they are just as likely to turn around and trade midseason as they are to ever have him crack the lineup, for a player who was somewhat expendable.

For the Mets, I think the success of this trade depends on two things:

1. Do they sign Magglio Ordonez and/or move Mike Cameron for someone who can hit?
2. Can Kaz Matsui really hit?

Doug Minky can really pick it, everyone knows that. And with a young infield, that will be good for confidence. But he really can't hit much at all.

If he bats 6th or higher, he probably hurts the team overall. If he can bat 7th or 8th, then you can stomach it. So it's up to the Mets to make sure they have 7 guys who can hit better than Doug Minky, to justify putting a weak bat at the position where hitting makes up the most of a player's value.

Get Mags.

Get ready to get pumped, Eagles fans!

(requires sound)

The three times I've tried to post over the last few days, blogger has lost my post. As I haven't really had time to post anything, losing what I do post is pretty frustrating. I need to remember to copy my posts before I try to publish.

Anyway, shorter version of what I wrote:

It sounds like Delgado is going to the Marlins, but that isn't confirmed on any of the big sites yet. Now it's time for the Mets to refocus on relief pitching.

To see who's left, click here.

To quote Chris Farley:

"That....was....AWESOME!!!"

I really like how they've taken their opponent's greatest strength, and exposed that part of the team. For the Colts, they shut down their offense completely and allowed 3 points. And then the vaunted Steelers' D was torched for 41. But I'm not sure what that means for the Eagles game.

Maybe they'll beat up Santa Claus during the pre-game introductions or something.

In 2101, when "The Red Sox Century: Volume 2" is released, it will start off with good times, similar to the first volume. But then, a vital cog in those good times will be let go, and baseball historians will look back at that moment as the point at which good times started to go bad. They will state that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and when you casually cast aside a player who did so much to help you win, you may not be able to recover for decades.

The Red Sox have released Ricky Gutierrez.

Been too busy and am too busy to post, but make sure you check out the Sports Guy's gloating article today. It definitely made me smile in parts, but I'm sure it will rub some people the wrong way. The Pats (and their fans) are quickly becoming the Yankees of football.

This was about respect. This was about four letters ("team") meaning more than five letters ("stats"). This was about a great team taking care of business at home, because that's what great teams do.

It's a little bit tougher (about 20% tougher) to crack than the Red Sox list, but courtesy of Bill James' 2001 Win Shares book, and sources like baseballgraphs.com and hardballtimes.com, here is the updated Yankees top 16:

1. Babe Ruth - 574 - it's amazing that he makes the Red Sox list as well.
2. Mickey Mantle - 565
3. Lou Gehrig - 489 - 1 more than Yaz.
4. Joe Dimaggio - 387
5. Yogi Berra - 375 - it doesn't get much more impressive than the Yankee top 5.
6. Bill Dickey - 314 - the first surprise on the list?
7. Bernie Williams - 292 - Let me be the first to say, "Holy crap!" Bernie's lifetime contribution to the Yankees is this high up? I don't think he'll ever break the top 5 though.

You think of the Yankees, and you think of legend after legend. But in reality, it's really only the top 5 that are legends, the rest of the list includes some great players and some players who were good for a long time. Just like any other team. But for most teams, those 5 legends are reduced to 1 or 2, if any.

8. Red Ruffing - 265
9. Don Mattingly - 263 - He meant a lot to the team, but his total is right there with Edgar Martinez...three years ago.
9. Roy White (tie with Mattingly)
11. Whitey Ford - 261
12. Willie Randolph - 251 - Yes, but how many wins was he worth as a 3rd base coach???
13. Tony Lazzeri - 243
14. Phil Rizzuto - 231
15. Earle Combs - 227
16. Derek Jeter - 219 - He's probably about two years and a couple months from catching Donnie Baseball.

I realize these posts don't say much, but I think it's pretty cool to see how the new guys stack up to the old, and also to think about who were the most valuable "team x" players of all time.

Going to Harvard just got even more attractive. Now they can plan fun for you!

Following complaints that it does little to promote campus social life, the Ivy League school has hired its first "fun czar" -- Zac Corker, a recent Harvard graduate whose job is to build community spirit and help stressed-out students unwind.

Actually, I think this story is just a good way to poke fun at the "nerds," which the media (and everyone) likes to do. In actuality, it sounds like this guy is really just an event programmer. And I was shocked - SHOCKED! - to find out that students at Harvard sometimes drink too much.

Dr. Z's annual football commentator report card is out, and he has spoken for football fans across the country by giving the Sunday Night clowns Zero stars.

He gives 5 announcing teams what I would consider to be a good review, and none of them are the A-teams for their respective networks.

Mike at Mike's Baseball Rants has done a more extensive version of what I did the other day, using Win Shares to predict the Mets win total this year. He says if they sign Delgado, they are an 87 win team on paper.

I think 87 wins after spending all that money would be somewhat disappointing, but it would put them right in the Wild Card race. Here's his article.

Then again, when I think about it, the Mets are definitely not a 90 win team with their current bullpen. If they sign Delgado and that puts them at about 87, then 1 or 2 good bullpen signings could definitely get them there.

-Drink some tea with lemon before you head out to the stadium. It can do wonders for your vocal chords. Whiskey is helpful as well, but I doubt that any Pats fans drink before the game.

-Avoid dairy if possible. Hamburgers, sausages, chicken, etc. should all be enjoyed before the game, but avoid topping anything with cheese. And although milk does a body good, you may want to wait until after the game. Enjoy it as you sit in traffic trying to get back onto Rt. 1.

- When the Colts have the ball, as you yell and clap, it would be helpful to remove your huge gloves. They really make clapping useless. I know you are all tough, you can wear your gloves during the 40 minutes that the Pats have the ball, and keep them off during the 20 minutes that the Colts have the ball.

Peyton Manning loves to change plays at the line of scrimmage. I have a feeling that his players are going to have a hard time hearing him on Sunday.

Forget hockey, here's a player/management dispute that Americans should actually care about:

Players rejected the U.S. Soccer Federation's offer to send their labor dispute
to arbitration and instead proposed on Monday that mediation be used in an
effort to get the regulars on the field for next month's World Cup qualifier at
Trinidad and Tobago.

If they can't come to an agreement, and the team ended up losing a couple of qualifiers and missing the World Cup, it would be a travesty. The US are in the North/Central America final six, with three going on to the World Cup in 2006.

I usually do anyway, but after reading this I feel inclined to side with the players, admittedly without knowing all of the details:

For World Cup qualifiers, players receive a minimum of $2,000 per game and
up to $6,000. Players make $2,000 to $5,150 for exhibitions, depending on the
opponent and the result.

OK, so the Mets have one guy now who is a certified (deserved) Gold Glover. And they have another guy who's never won one, but if memory serves probably deserved one in 2002 and/or 2003. That's two great centerfielders in one outfield.

And before I go on, it is clear that the Mets will take significant value from Mike Cameron if they move him to a corner outfield position. By Win Shares, he derived about 1/3 of his value in 2004 from his fielding, and this was enough to (sadly) make him the team's MVP in the eyes of Win Shares. But they will probably keep Beltran in center, still leaving them with two great fielders in the outfield.

The set-up made me think of the 1970s Phillies, which my father has described to me, confirmed by a similar description by Bill James. Garry Maddox covered so much ground in center, that big slow Greg Luzinski basically played with his back turned to him, so that he only had to cover from where he stood to the foul line.

Couldn't the Mets basically search for a good-hitting, but relatively slow and poor fielding rightfielder, have him play about 1/5 of the outfield, with the other 80% covered by their two great fielders? So I set out looking for NL outfielders whose value from fielding is disproportionately low.

The best candidate is Adam Dunn, who got about 5% of his value from his "fielding" last year.
Ryan Klesko is a decent candidate as well.
Jason Bay is a good candidate, but he's obviously not acquirable.
Wily Mo Pena would rank 4th on this list, but what's the point.
So who makes the 5th best candidate? Cliff Floyd.

Hmm, maybe the Mets are already set up for this strategy. Cliffy doesn't seem too popular these days, so I wonder what it would take to get Adam Dunn? Meanwhile, the best hitting outfielder in the AL who has fielding stats down in the range of these guys, is one Bernie Williams, although when I set out to look, I was convinced that Manny Ramirez would make the perfect candidate.

A middle of the order of Beltran, Manny, and Piazza....sorry Mets fans, you had your chance, we'll keep him, thank you very much.

1. Where the heck was Josh Boone?

2. How long do we have to wait for Rudy Gay's amazing athleticism to be paired with some maturity and some decent shot selection?

UConn really was outplayed the whole game, and yet they hung close until the last 2 minutes. Even with Boone doing next to nothing, their front court looks like it will be able to dominate most teams. They need a reliable scorer in the half-court offense, and it would be great if Gay could be that guy. Gay made some nice moves last night, but rarely finished. I'm not sure if he's shying away from contact, or if he's trying so hard to draw contact that he contorts his body and loses sight of the hoop.

Anderson is such a nice complement to the bruisers inside, but he's too streaky to be counted on. They aren't going to be able to count on their point guard to give them a big scoring night every time it counts, so the evolution of a scoring swing-man will likely determine how far this team goes this year.

UConn is on national TV tonight (ESPN, 9pm), facing their out-of-conference rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners.

Last year, the Huskies whooped the then-nationally ranked Sooners, really showing for the first time that they were for real. They haven't done so this year, and this is a big opportunity for them. It's a tough place to play, and Oklahoma is good once again.

Nice of them to give us this game the first Monday night without football since the summer.

Quick question: what's the difference between Huskies football and Sooners football?
Answer: The Huskies are currently in the middle of a win-streak. Ha!

The media likes to talk about the pressure that comes with playing in the big city, and love to ask if new players will be able to adjust to the bright lights of New York.

Today, it's been fashionable to ask if Beltran, who just came off one of the most impressive runs in recent postseason history, will be able to handle playing at Shea. But it looks like the first victim of too much media pressure is the Big Unit - he and his handlers snapped today.

Good start Randy, maybe he should get on the phone with Chad Pennington to learn about the graceful way to handle the NY media.

Essentially the Mets have made 4 swaps this off-season:

Willie Randolph for Art Howe. While Willie Randolph has no managerial experience, it's a better idea to have a manager who has shown potential but hasn't had a chance to prove it, than a guy who has experience but has not gotten the job done. Very good move.

Felix Heredia for Mike Stanton. I just don't get this one. Bad. Very bad.

Pedro Martinez for Al Leiter. OK it should probably say Al Leiter and lots of money, but on the field this is what the swap is for the 2005 Mets. Pedro's worth in 2007 and 2008 may be questionable, but for 2005 this is a huge upgrade. Very good move short term, not sure about long term.

Carlos Beltran for Richard Hidalgo. For an extra $12 million, you get a younger player with more power, speed, and glove skills, with higher upside and who is nearing superstar status. The only thing that, for the moment, brings the upgrade down slightly is that moving Cameron to a corner outfield position diminishes his value somewhat.

Win shares says that these latter 3 moves are worth about 7 wins (because the Heredia move actually is a step backward). Let's say Howe's bungling cost the Mets another 2 wins. That pretty much makes the Mets a .500 team.

So what do they need to do to turn .500 into playoff contention? It's easy:
- A full season of David Wright has to be worth a couple of wins.
- Moving Kaz over to 2nd should also improve the team.
- Clearly, the Mets need two solid bullpen arms (who doesn't?). If nothing else, they need to do this to make sure that Heredia doesn't pitch as much as Stanton did last year.
- It would be great, but not an absolute necessity, to get a corner outfielder or a better first baseman. At this point, the bullpen needs to be priority #1, and the extra offense could be infused midseason when the Mets are willing to take on another salary.

I have a feeling that the Mets aren't done. But going out and getting the #1 available free agent pitcher, and the #1 available free agent position player goes a long way to showing that this team plans on contending in 2005. Mets fans have no reason to stop smiling all week, don't worry about the bullpen until next week.

If the Patriots can win this game with a cornerback squad of Asante Samuel, Randall Gay (undrafted rookie), Earthwind Moreland (formerly of the practice squad), and Troy Brown (formerly of the offense), then during the post-game handshakes the NFL should erect a small stage and induct Bill Belichick into the hall of fame right then.

I'm actually a little surprised the Patriots are favored, the line could be Even by game time.

Surprisingly, Joe Morgan has said something that I don't agree with. I didn't even get past his second comment in his latest ESPN chat.

Random guy: Do you think anybody will ever get 100% of the votes (Clemens, Ripken, etc.)?
Joe Morgan: The way the voting goes now, I would say it could happen. But if Hank Aaron didn't get 100, Ted Williams didn't get 100, etc. then I would say it shouldn't happen. Nobody is better than the guys I just mention. 100 percent would seem to say he is the best player ever.

So what should voters do, Joe? Should people not vote for Roger Clemens when he comes up just to ensure that he does not get 100% of the vote? What would happen if everyone did that, just to be safe, and then he didn't make it? Or, would you suggest that everyone collaborate to make sure that he only gets 95% of the vote? Do we really want voter collusion? The HOF voting process would become an even bigger laughingstock under any of these scenarios.

Babe Ruth did not get 100% of the vote. Neither did Ty Cobb, or Willie Mays, or Ted Williams, or Honus Wagner. And you know what, millions of people consider each of them to be "the greatest" who ever played. If someone comes along and gets 100%, nobody is going to take that as proof that this player was the greatest ever. They will take that as proof that all of the Hall of Fame voters felt that player was worthy of induction in his first year of eligibility, and that is all.

Wade Boggs is "ok" with going in to the hall with a Red Sox hat, which is what Cooperstown has decided is best.

"If you take away any of my time spent with any of the three teams in my career, I'm likely not considered a Hall of Famer," Boggs said. "It's a decision they made, and I'm fine with it. If the Hall of Fame had picked my Little League cap, I would have been happy with that."

Wow, he sounds really excited about it! The tactful answer would have been, "I'm really excited to go in with a Red Sox hat, as that is where I broke in to the majors and where I really flourished. I really would have been happy going in with any of the caps, as all three cities and organizations were great to me, and I probably wouldn't be a hall of famer without any of them."

I know it doesn't really matter that much, but I'm glad he's going in with a B on his hat, I was actually pretty upset to see him in pinstripes in an old-timers game a couple of years ago. But more importantly, it was the right decision.

As I pointed out in this post, Wade Boggs has the 4th highest number of win shares in a Red Sox uniform, and generated 75% of his career value in a Boston uniform. Red Sox fans were probably more excited about his election than Yankee fans or Devil Ray fans (all 29 of them). And let's face it, when you think of Wade Boggs, you think of him doubling off the green monster with an 0-2 count on him.

Former UConn Huskie and current Detroit Piston, Richard Hamilton:

FG: 0-10
FT: 14-14
Pts: 14
Reb: 6
Ast: 1

He became the first player in NBA history to lead his team in scoring without making a field goal. Not surprisingly, the Pistons lost.

This happened right around the corner from my office yesterday. There were news vans and cop cars everywhere. It's so bizarre, we're on 5th Avenue not far from the Flatiron building and the Empire State Building, yet right around the corner it is a different world.

A clothing store worker was killed and another wounded when a gunman opened fire in a crowded bazaar in Manhattan yesterday afternoon, creating panic among merchants, employees and customers.

OK, back before the break I did some rough calculations that suggested the Sox have gotten better this off-season. You can read it here.

So what about the competition, the Yankees? It probably depends what happens with Beltran or if they do end up getting another big bat, but where do they stand right now?

Here are the assumptions I made:
- The offense stays the same. Womack, Tino, and whatever filler the Yankees add, replace the runs created by Cairo and Enrique Wilson, Tony Clark, Travis Lee, and Olerud, and Kenny Lofton. I've also assumed that the Yanks re-sign Ruben Sierra, as it is reportedly close.
- The new pitchers Johnson, Wright, Pavano, Felix-Rod, and Stanton, replace the innings pitched by Vazquez, Lieber, Loaiza/Contreras, El Duque, and Nitkowski. This isn't completely fair, as you've got 2 relievers basically replacing 1 or 1.5, but it shouldn't matter too much, I'll explain why in a second.
- Using Runs saved against average, and matching them inning for inning, assume the newcomers will perform as they did last year (although combined they would pitch 19% fewer innings, or at least be taking innings from someone else).

Amazingly, this offseason, the Yankees have improved their pitching by 122 runs, or about 3 runs every 4 games. With the assumptions I've made, if anything they could improve even more, as everyone we have added in is helpful, while 5 of the 7 pitchers we removed were actually worse than average. Additionally, pitchers like Felix Rodriguez and Mike Stanton are just as much replacing innings from guys like Sturtze and overuse of guys like Quantrill as they are replacing Felix Heredia.

So if we assume the Yanks still score 897 runs, and allow a major league low 686, where does that put their Pythagorean win total? 102 Wins.

That's right, 1 game better than last year, and 1 game better than the Red Sox expected win total.

How can that be? How can 122 fewer runs only translate to 1 more win? Well, the Yankees outperformed their Pythagorean total by 10 or so wins last year, an unbelievable number. This resulted from a disproportionate number of close wins and/or blowout losses (remember the 22-0 loss to the Indians?)

If the Yankees repeat a similar pattern this year, their win total could be higher at 107 to 111.

Now we'll see if they sign Beltran or another first baseman, to destroy what are already flawed calculations.

Since Bill Belichick has taken over as the Patriots' head coach...Pete Carroll has won two NCAA national titles. How bizarre. Just keep that in mind whenever any college coach is being hyped as a struggling NFL team's saviour.

And I don't necessarily mean to imply that Carroll isn't a good coach, just that it is a very different game. The combination of the way he handled (or mishandled) the differences like recruiting, player mentality, game speed, the level of player depth and skill, and playbook complexity somehow allowed Carroll to go from being booed to raising a trophy.

And before you start to think that I am implying that Carroll is a good coach, I'll just point out that in the game story, his name isn't even mentioned.

I'm going to guess that 33rd in the AP poll is the highest UConn football has ever finished. Call me surprised, and impressed.

The list of players that I've seen live, who are now in the hall of fame: Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, George Brett (I think), Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Eddie Murray (I think)....and now....

Wade Boggs!!!

Ryne Sandberg was elected today as well.

Edited to add - the following players will be dropping off of the HOF ballot, in some cases rarely to be mentioned again:

Jim Abbott
Darryl Strawberry
Jack McDowell
Chili Davis
Tom Candiotti
Jeff Montgomery
Tony Phillips
Terry Steinbach
Mark Langston
Otis Nixon

The inductees should be announced today, that reminds me I should be listening to Dan Patrick to hear idiotic statements on the whole thing, as well as interviews with today's winners (Boggs and ?) and losers (Blyleven and ?).

In the meantime someone needs to explain the rules to Bill Simmons, so he stops asking how people got on the ballot. Specifically, this is who is eligible:

Former Major Leaguers who have been active some time during a period of 20 years before and ending five years prior to election and have played in a minimum of 10 seasons.

We seem to disagree on Bert Blyleven, Tommy John, and Darryl Strawberry (the latter is definitely a joke, and I'm not sure if he's joking about John). But his column is worth a read, and it's worth rereading his Pyramid idea as well, as it is genius, and probably something I'll explore further at some point.

We all knew Okafor was a good player, but I really didn't think he'd be this good this fast, with this supporting cast. Last night was the first time in 20 games that he failed to register a double-double.

There are a number of guys in the NBA right now who average a double-double. If you lined them up with their names hidden, there are only five guys who you would take over Okafor based on their points per game and rebounds per game combination:

Kevin Garnett
Tim Duncan
Shaquille O'Neal
Shawn Marion
Dirk Nowitzki

I think being sixth on any list with those guys ahead of you is a pretty impressive start to a career.

The Sunday Night ESPN football crew drinking game, from Paul Katcher.

I'm sure these blowhards are doing at least one playoff game this weekend, this could make it more enjoyable at least. I'm kind of hoping Theeisman is doing the Broncos game, since he loves Jake Plummer so much, but then I have to listen to them slobbering over Manning as well.

The Maguire section of the game:

DRINK WHEN PAUL MAGUIRE...
1 - Prefaces any analysis with "I'm a tell ya what."
1 - Says "I'm gonna tell ya something" right before actually telling you something
1 - Says the word "watch" more than twice on any instant replay, as if you were doing anything but watching
1 - Says something you didn't already know
1 - Admits to being scared of Ray Lewis
1 - Says he talked to a player/coach earlier in the week
2 - Calls Theismann "Joseph"

My NFL Wild-card weekend preview:

-I luv Peyton, he rulz! Go Indy!

-Ooh, the Jets are good, but I think San Diego is going to win!

-Look at Favre. He's the man! Does anyone have more fun than him? Green Bay's gonna win! Totally!

-Hmm, Seattle and St. Louis is a tough one to call. They're both 8-8 and have good players. I dunno!

There, can I have a spot on television now where I spout all my "knowledge?"

...for Giants fans.

From Peter King:

I think that stunning TD run by Tiki Barber just before midnight cost the San Diego Chargers dearly. Five-win teams will draft between four and seven in the first round next April; six-win teams, like the Giants are now, will occupy spots eight through 12.

Been looking through the "New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract" from 2001, and was surprised to see Jerry Remy ranked as the 100th best second baseman of all time. Unless James's allegiance to the Sox has caused him to bump Remdawg up a few notches, he is surely off the top 100 list now, as Bret Boone, Edgardo Alfonzo, and Ray Durham all likely made the leap on to the top 100 in the past few years (among others like Jose Vidro I'm sure).

But thought James's story about Remy was great, so I've reprinted it here:

"When Remy was playing for El Paso in 1974, he wondered aloud if he would ever make it to the major leagues. His manager, Dave Garcia, overheard him, and said "Listen, do you know who is playing second base for the Angels?"
"Denny Doyle," said Remy.
"Who runs better, you or Denny?" asked Garcia.
"I do," said Remy.
"Who throws better?"
"I do."
"Who hits better?"
"I do," said Remy.
"Well then," said Garcia, "you're going to the major leagues."