Fantasy Baseball Advice

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2010 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2010 Twins Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Minnesota native Sooze over at Babes Love Baseball.

1) Last year, the Yankees’ and Mets’ new stadia (or ‘stadiums’ for the bourgeois) had a huge impact on hitter values.  Any word on whether Target Field will lead to some hitter bargains?

It looks like Target Field will actually be more of a neutral park, which favors neither hitters nor pitchers, but there are a couple interesting aspects: there is a ton less foul territory than there was at the Metrodome, and outfielders will actually be able to spot the baseballs in the sky as opposed to losing them in the whiteness of the dome.  Also, it’s a three-foot longer trip to straight-away center field, which houses a few black spruce trees, so I suppose that makes it more of a pitcher-friendly stadium.  I wonder how often it will snow there?

2) Joe Mauer turned on the power last year hitting one less HR (28) than he had in 2006-2008.  He hit a ridiculous 16 of those HRs to the opposite field.  The average on the projection systems is about 20.  What do you think – over, under, or push on 20 HRs in 2010 for Mauer.

Over. He missed the entire month of April last season, and there is nothing — including his .429 batting average and .600 slugging percentage so far this Spring — which says he will under-perform compared to 2009.  I say he nails 30 bombs and 100 RBI this year.  And then proposes to me.

3) The Twins OF of Cuddyer/Span/Delmon Young with some Kubel thrown in projects to be rather awful defensively.  Any concerns on how this might impact the young Twins pitchers?

4) Give me the over/under/push on the following:
Morneau 29 HRs — over
Kubel 80 RBI – push
Span 25 SB – push
Punto 1 HR — under (seriously. He’ll have negative 1 probably)
Slowey 150 IP — over
Liriano 4.50 ERA — under

5) Ron Gardenhire has an understandable weakness for light-hitting infielders given he was one during his playing career.  Are you concerned he might gillooly Orlando Hudson or JJ Hardy to make sure he can get both Nick Punto and Brendan Harris into the lineup?

I hope Gardy doesn’t mess with the middle infield, I like it just the way it is.  Punto and Harris are just going to have to deal with being mediocre at best, and thank their lucky stars they are even on a big league roster.  And then they can high five each other on their way back to the bench during the platoon switch.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2010 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2010 Brewers Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Brew Crew Ball.

1) Alcides Escobar seems to me like a cheap shortstop that can provide steals (and obviously defense), which works for fantasy baseball (the steals part).  What’s your most realistic prediction for him in 2010?

It’s hard not to get excited about Alcides Escobar, who has developed a reputation as an absolute wizard defensively and looked very good at the plate in a brief audition for the Brewers last fall, hitting .304/.333/.368 and becoming just the second Brewer ever to collect 40 hits in his first 138 major league plate appearances. With that said, Escobar’s bat likely isn’t quite that good in the long term. MinorLeagueSplits.com has his 2009 Major League Equivalent line at .259/.301/.345, and that’s probably a fair expectation for his 2010 line.

As for steals, that will likely depend on his position in the lineup. His low OBP and power would suggest he should hit toward the bottom of the order where he could run wild, but the Brewers’ lack of better options may force him into the second spot in the lineup, where he’d have to be much more careful running in front of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. He’s stolen 80 bases in 100 attempts over the last two seasons, so he’ll certainly have some success on the basepaths if given the opportunity.

2) If you look in the dictionary next to the idiom, “You can’t steal 1st,” you’ll find Carlos Gomez, assuming your dictionary has pictures and baseball idioms.  Cheap steals can provide value in fantasy, so Gomez needs to be looked at (unfortunately).  How many at-bats do you see getting with his .230 average, .232 OBP and a man named, Jody, behind him?

Carlos Gomez has two things going for him at this point: He has a reputation as a very good defender, and the Brewers traded away a well known and moderately well liked contributor (J.J. Hardy) to get him. Those two factors will give him every opportunity to prove he can carry the load in center field, even if his bat never comes to life.

There’s clearly still plenty of room for growth with Gomez, who only turned 24 in December, and there are some reasons for optimism: He hit .275/.373/.374 during the regular season in the Dominican Winter League. However, his numbers plummeted during the postseason and he was left off his team’s Caribbean World Series roster with flulike symptoms.

If Gomez proves he’s not the answer, Jody Gerut is the likely candidate to absorb some of his playing time. Gerut looked very good in consistent ABs down the stretch last season, and is a capable defensive center fielder. Jim Edmonds also seems to think he’s coming to camp to prove he can still handle center field: if he can do so in an acceptable fashion, it’s possible he could see some starts out there.

3) Corey Hart’s 2009 was obviously the part of the Behind of the Music where he’s washed up and sniffing glue in the back of the Arby’s parking lot.  Can 2010 be the uplifting turnaround or will he hit rock bottom, turning tricks for glue money?

I’m not very optimistic about Corey Hart, who has done very little over the past season and a half to prove he’s the same player that hit .289/.327/.504 and earned a spot on the All Star Team in the first half of 2008. His .263 second half OBP was one of the factors that nearly cost the Brewers their 2008 playoff appearance. Before the 2009 season, he said all the right things about taking pitches and showing more patience and improved his OBP to .335, but lost over 40 points on his slugging percentage and still looked absolutely lost at the plate in key situations.

For a very gifted athlete, Hart’s defensive abilities are also below average, and he frequently relies on his good speed to cover the fact that his instincts aren’t good at all. As age slows him down, his defensive abilities will likely shift from “below average” to “intolerable.”

Finally, Hart has done himself no favors by saying negative things publicly about Brewer fans and taking the team to arbitration this season. His declining performance, negative attitude toward fans and escalating salary have combined to make him one of the team’s less popular players.

4) Casey McGehee screams to me “platoon player,” which is pretty annoying if you’re hungover.  Can Gamel work his way into the lineup or is his glove just too ugly?

Casey McGehee was one of 2009′s great surprise stories and earned the opportunity to play every day in 2010. He’s certainly a candidate to regress, but he’ll be given every chance to prove his performance in 2009 was not a fluke. With third base occupied, Mat Gamel will likely open 2010 in AAA, and when he returns (and where he plays) will likely be determined by McGehee’s health and performance.

In limited major league opportunities in 2010, Gamel did not look as bad as advertised defensively. He may never win a Gold Glove out there, but I would argue against the common perception that he *needs* to be moved off third base. With that said, McGehee is under team control for five more seasons, so if he produces Gamel will have to be moved to another position or another team to spend significant time in the majors.

5) What would be the most fitting pun-nicknames:  A) Prince “Not A Good” Fielder B) Rickie “On the DL 6 to 8″ Weeks C) Manny “My Control is Sub-” Parra

Fielder’s defense is actually much better than advertised. Like Gamel, he’ll likely never win a Gold Glove, but Fielder was close to league average defensively last season, and for a player of his build and offensive talent, league average defense is pretty impressive. He also seems to display good instincts and make the occasional great play.

As for Rickie Weeks, I’ve heard all the jokes (and made some of my own) about his durability, but the injuries he’s best known for (his wrists) have been season enders, not 6-8 week bumps in the road.

That leaves Manny Parra, and if I have to choose one of the three, I’ll go with him. 2010 could be a pivotal year in his career: At 27 years old, he could still bounce back, have a nice season under Rick Peterson, and become a pitcher a team depends on for another 5-10 years. If he posts another season like 2009, though, he could end up getting non-tendered and scouring the market for a minor league deal.

Parra is almost a lock to win a spot in the rotation in spring training, and his long term success or failure will go a long way towards determining the kind of season the Brewers have.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2010 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2010 Phillies Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of The Fightins.

1) Word out of P.A. is that Ryan Madson will open the season as the closer. What’s the over/under for saves for Madson in 2010? What torturous device would you like to put Lidge over or under?

I will set the over/under for Madson saves at 8 in 2010, and then I will turnaround and bet $10,000 on the OVER (-110) because I think he’ll get somewhere in the mid-20′s. (Lidge blows)

And since he’s such a religious buff, I’d like to put Brad Lidge OVER the Judas Chair.

2) With Crapolanco taking over the 2 hole in the lineup, what kind of numbers do you see him putting up in 2010?

haha, crap in the 2-hole. Good one.

If there’s one thing you can say about Placidome is that his head is gigantic. If there are two things it’s that his head is gigantic and he’s consistent. He doesn’t strike out often, he walks even less, he doesn’t hit homers, or knock runners in. But if your fantasy league hands out points for advancing runners with a productive out or committing errors in the field, Polanco’s your guy.

3) Last year we asked you, “Cole Hamels avoided injuries and got above 30 starts in 2008. But does the 262 innings in 2008 worry you? Can he stay healthy in 2009?” You were, um, a bit optimistic. Now’s your chance to go double or nothing. 2010 — bounce back or thank God we got Halladay?

I’m still optimistic, yeah. The thing that worries me is once guys like Jayson Stark and Buster Olney started calling him a sleeper, he immediately became overvalued. He still hasn’t perfected a third pitch (his curveball is suspect and his cutter gets mocked by Roy Halladay’s cutter), his fastball isn’t what it was in 2008, and when a batter can fight off the fastball and sit on the change, he’s in trouble.

His velocity was in the mid-80′s when he finally started throwing last spring training. At least it’s up to the low 90′s this year. If he can get that up a few more mph’s, it makes his change that much more effective and he can get away with that shitty curveball of his.

I say bounce back year, just not too bouncy.

4) J.A. Happ was one of the luckiest pitchers last year, according to sabermetrics. Are you concerned about his 2010 or do you think sabermetrics is just nerdy way of saying, “I can’t get laid?”

It says a lot about Jay Happ that he was a 12 game winner with the best ERA among Phillies starters and he only started ONE postseason game last year. And that was a -10° game in Colorado where he lasted a measly three innings.

Happ was lucky last year. It always seemed like he was working himself out of a 2-on, 1-out jam every couple innings, but he has a the kind of delivery where he hides the ball well and induces a lot of bad swings from guys. He’s a good fourth starter who will win double-digit games just because the Phillies offense is so damn good.

Although I don’t see him duplicating his under-3.00 ERA from last year.

I got nothing against sabermetrics, either. Granted, you’ll never find me plugging stats into a formula to figure it out myself, but if something interesting is presented to me in a easy-to-read manner, I’m all ears.

That’s not to say that I can’t make fun of their pasty skin and nerdy glasses behind their back, because I do that as well.

5) With Myers gone, which Philly is being relied on to keep their pimp hand strong?

Charlie Manuel, yo. That guy don’t take no fuss.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2010 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2010 Mariners Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Lookout Landing.

1)  I’m actually pretty high on David Aardsma.  Others, not so much.  Lots of people are predicting a regression of sorts.  Which side do you fall on?

I like Aardsma, and I like that the M’s were able to recognize his potential and land him for nothing. With that said, while I expect him to remain a pretty good reliever, you have to expect some regression. I mean, you have to, right? He had one of the most extreme flyball rates in baseball and somehow only managed to allow four home runs. That’s not gonna last, especially when you keep in mind all the balls to the track he surrendered. Safeco and the defense will help him, but I could easily see his HR rate doubling. Best case, he survives the season looking only a little worse. More likely, he starts making people a little nervous, and there end up being whispers about Brandon League. With the fly balls and the walks, Aardsma kind of lives on the edge.

2)  I forget where I read it, but someone (I think it was a person, might’ve been a robot) said a great thing about Milton Bradley.  I’m paraphrasing — shoot, I can’t even remember where I read it — notice the Mariner fans’ excitement the day after the Mariners got Milton Bradley.  A year ago, the Cubs fans were excited about Bradley too. At one point, the Rangers were excited about Bradley.  The Padres were excited.  And so on.  Yet, it never ends well.  How will the Milton Bradley era in Seattle end?  What do you see from him this year?

I’d say it ended fairly well in Texas and Oakland, and San Diego has nothing but nice things to say about him. But anyway, it’s important to recognize the difference in environment in Chicago vs. Seattle. Here we don’t have that media, that manager, and those fans. Here we have Junior. If any situation is right for Bradley, it’s this one. I don’t expect him to remain perfectly healthy, and he’s not going to be a source of major power, but there’s no reason why he can’t end up at or around his career averages barring a mental meltdown. Better real-life player than fantasy player, probably.

3)  F-Her, Cliff Lee — Sweet!  Then what?  Give me what you think the Mariners rotation will be.

Obviously, everyone focuses on the 1-2, for good reason. Behind the two aces, we’ll go with Ryan Rowland-Smith, Ian Snell, and one of Jason Vargas/Doug Fister/Luke French/Garrett Olson. That’s the four-man competition taking place right now in Arizona. You’re a fantasy site, right? In that case, the only one of these guys worth considering is RRS, as he’s poised to take wonderful advantage of the ballpark and the defense yet again. If Jarrod Washburn can do what he did in 2009, RRS could, too. You can keep your eye on Snell, I suppose, but I’d keep an eye from afar.

4) We have our own thoughts on Verducci, but he did flag Felix Hernandez.  You have any concerns or would you like to tell Verducci where to shove his flag?

I actually discussed this very topic here on my own site.  (Note from Grey:  That’s actually a great article about Verducci that I think everyone should read.)  Bottom line: Verducci’s heart is in the right place, but his analysis is flawed, and the people who’ve investigated his theory haven’t uncovered an effect. So there’s no evidence that there’s anything to this. I will always be a little worried about Felix, but that’s because pitching is dangerous, and he’s my baby. I don’t think we have any reason to believe that his 2009 workload will have a negative impact on his 2010 performance.

5) If the Mariners GM, Jack Zduriencik, started an office fantasy baseball league, what would be the most non-traditional fantasy stat? A) UZR B) Speed to first C) Pitcher First Pitch Strikes D) FRAGU — Fielding Runs Against Glove Upside E) BABIP@SLVSAERLP – Batting Average for Balls In Play @ Sea Level vs. Arbitration-Eligible Replacement-Level Players

Probably OBP. Z isn’t a stats guy. Z is just smart enough to hire stats guys. If Tony Blengino started the pool, though, then we’re talking acronyms with things that aren’t even letters anymore.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2010 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2010 Red Sox Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Troy and Lee over at Fire Brand of the American League.

1) There’s been a lot said/typed/blogged about the Red Sox offense having a little less punch than years past.  Last year, the Red Sox had 3 players above 99 Runs (Pedroia – 115, Bay – 103, Youk – 99) and 3 above 94 RBIs (Bay – 119, Ortiz – 99, Youk – 94).   Do you think any Red Sox will scale those Runs/RBI levels this year?

I don’t think you have to worry about the runs totals.  This Red Sox team is built every season to do one thing better than any other team in baseball: GET ON BASE.  There’s a lot of questions that RBI totals will suffer, but if hitters are reaching base, guys will drive them in.  Remember all those guys Vernon Wells drove in a few seasons ago?  You only get to do that with opportunities.  The Red Sox will have many opportunities.

The Red Sox were 2nd in the league in OBP and 2nd in wOBA.  That 2009 team was a very talented offensive ballclub, even with dysfunction at third base and shortstop for the entire year.   While Jason Varitek had a hot April, he quickly flamed out as well.

After you factor in the regression of the current 2009 holdovers and the additions to the club (Cameron, Beltre, Scutaro), the Red Sox don’t look that much worse offensively.  Is someone going to hit 40 homeruns? Probably not.  But if the top of the order continues to get on base, there’s no reason why Martinez, Youkilis, and Ortiz don’t have enough opportunities to drive in 100 runs a piece.  CHONE projects this Red Sox team to score 5.3 runs per game, good for 858 over the season.  Only 9 runs less than the World Series winning 2007 team that had two prime time 40 HR players.  But the Boston media says our offense is terrible.  I guess I should believe them instead with all the data they have to back up their claims.  Right.

Ellsbury and Pedroia shouldn’t have a problem topping 100 runs a piece, unless Jacoby makes all the Pink Hats cry and proves his OBP bump was a giant fluke.  If Martinez is spelled enough behind the plate and gets a big chunk of time at 1B/DH, he could do it with enough at bats.  Youk will most likely need a 30+ HR season to eclipse 100 runs, but shouldn’t have a problem leading the RBI charge and driving in 100 on his own.  Losing Bay won’t affect specific player totals as much as Jon Heyman tells us so.

2) Ditto the first question’s opener regarding the Red Sox improved defense.  How much of an impact ERA/WHIP-wise do you think this has for the Sox staff?

Any time a team’s defense improves, you’re only doing the pitching staff a favor.  This is why Scott Kazmir continued being called an “ace” when he had that ridiculous tampa bay defense behind him the past 1.5 years.  It’s the same reason why Jarrod Washburn suddenly became a star with Franklin Gutierrez’s black hole of a glove bailing him out in center…and then he goes to Detriot and goes down in a fiery blaze of nerd rage.

Once the ball touches the bat, the pitcher has been removed from the resultant outcome.  With the exception of the ever confusing antics of Tim Wakefield who seems to be immune to statistical studies and logic like Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology, the Boston pitching staff should have a slight blanket-drop in their opposing BABIP.  However, the park dimensions still won’t favor flyball pitchers they way Petco or Safeco does.  Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, both strong ground ball pitchers, should benefit the most from this defensive improvement, and would be the most likely candidates of favorable returns showing up in their ERA and WHIP.

3) Can you gives us the over/under/push on the following:  Ortiz – .260/25 HRs, Beltre .275/15 HRs, Pedroia .307/15 HRs, Youk .280/25 HRs, Jason Veritek .220/7 HRs, Ellsbury 50 SBs.

Ortiz – Push/Over
If Papi gets 600 ABs, I think he still has a shot at 30 HRs.  Even when considering his atrocious first two months, his power numbers came back strong to finish out 2009.  Our colleague Aaron did a piece on this, and I tend to agree with him.  His increasing strikeouts give me pause about the batting average though.

Beltre – Over/Push
I think this is an easy call.  Beltre was walloping 25 HRs in Safeco before he almost neutered himself last year.  While Fenway does reduce homeruns very slightly compared to average, it’s still more favorable for power production than Safeco.  Beltre should get right to 25 HR, doubtful he’ll hit much more than that, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him add 30-40 Fenway doubles off the wall.  I’d expect a line similar to his 2007 production, maybe a tad higher with the Monster helping his batting average.

Youk – Push/Over
Youk’s increasing strikeout rate tells me two things.  First, he’s more a slave to a fluctuating BABIP, that cruised up to .359 last year.  While it’s not the first time he’s done it, the less I see a player putting balls into play, the more I expect their BABIPs to be closer to the average, regardless of high line drive rates.  I will, however, look at his increasing K rate as him striving to drive more balls out of the park, and expect his HR/FB%, which has increased 3 straight years, to continue to give him 25-30 HR power.  I’ll say this is the year Youk finally hits 30, but not much more.

Pedroia – Over/Push
After a 30 point drop in BABIP from his 2007 and 2008 line, Pedrioa only hit .297 last year.  A 10 point improvement doesn’t seem out of the picture, especially when his drop in BABIP also coincided with a drop in strikeouts.  Less strikeouts means more balls in play, which means more possible “seeing-eye singles”, at least more than you get from a strikeout, which is zero.  15 homeruns seems to be Pedroia best aiming point for homeruns, and I’ll agree with that.  I don’t think he’ll ever have the power potential Robbie Cano has, even without the rocket shoes Yankee Stadium gives left handed batters.

Varitek – Under/Under
Varitek will be lucky if he gets in 50 games.  There’s no reason to put his bat in the lineup, and if you’re giving Victor a break, one of the younger defensive minded catchers in the sox system would be a better bet.  I guess if you have you worry about drafting Varitek in your fantasy league, you’re probably Omar Minaya.  Even if Varitek plays more than he should, I’d steer clear of him anyway.  As much as I love the guy, I don’t want him anywhere near the batter’s box.

Ellsbury – Over
50+ shouldn’t be a problem for Jacoby.  He could go over 70 again if he actually batted 7th-8^th, but I won’t get into my disdain for Ellsbury in the #1 spot instead of Drew.

4) The Red Sox have 3 starters that are arguably in the top 20 fantasy SPs in Beckett, Lester, and Lackey and two interesting later-round picks in Buchholz and Dice-K.  Whom of this bunch do you think will be the best and worst values based on their expected draft picks?

Lester and Dice-BB, respectively.

I’m still amazed at the lack of Cy Young support Lester got last year, all due to a fluky BABIP-induced April.  If you put his statistics up against the 2009 lines of Sabathia, Verlander, Hernandez, and Halladay, it’s difficult to tell them apart.  I even did it for you a long time ago!

Lester seems to be the last pitcher picked in the tier after Lincecum / Grienke.  I find it surprising.  I always wait on starters anyway, and in a redraft league, he’d be my first target.  His ADP is the end fo the 5^th round right now, which is basically the similar production your paying for those aforementioned players 2 rounds up.  Draft your offense heavy and wait for Jon.  The value you pick up by getting that offensive player in Round 3 instead of Sabathia (Votto!) justifies this enough for me.

I really won’t say much about Dice-BB.  Until a pitcher walks less than 5 batters per nine, he belongs nowhere near anyone’s fantasy team.  You can’t predict him having an ERA anomaly again like 2008, so why waste the draft pick on it? The Casey Kelly-era can’t come soon enough in this town.

5) Jim Rice was one of the more controversial HOF nominees if you define ‘controversy’ by causing the baseball bloggerati and sabermatricians to convulse (me included).  What’s your opinion on his HOF credentials?  What do you think Theo Epstein’s would be?  And if you could swap him out for another more deserving ex-Red Sox player, whom would it be?

A disclaimer: I love Jim Rice.  He was one of my favorite players when I was a kid.  Back when you didn’t need season tickets to sniff Fenway’s gates for less than a 300% markup, my father used to sit us down on the 3rd base line so I could get a good view of him.  He’s outspoken, ballsy, and was a spectacular person, even though he was rough around the edges with the Boston media.  Then again, if I played for the Red Sox, I’d probably react to the CHB the way Rice and Carl Everett did.

As much as I love Jim Rice, I know he’s in that bottom rung of Hall of Famers.  The guys that eventually get in because they’ve been around so long, or because someone says he was a “feared” hitter enough times to make people believe it.

Personally, my Hall of Fame standards are high.  I abhor the thought of a “Hall of Very Good”, but I also understand that in practice enshrinement into the Hall is a subjective matter, and the amount of equations I throw at people won’t change a thing.  At this point, I figure it’s more important to focus on making cases for players who have been unfairly snubbed rather than unfairly enshrined.  Lame cop out? Probably, but it’s not like you can kick someone out of the Hall.  I’d rather not waste my energy complaining about them.

I think my opinion would be the same as Epstein’s.  “For everything Jim Rice did for the Red Sox, we’re happy to see him be honored as a great player in our sport.”  Then I’d cry myself to sleep in my math books, disgusted at my politically correct PR stunt.

If I could/had to swap him out, it’d be for my other favorite player in my younger years, Dwight Evans.  Overall, just as productive at the plate(127 OPS+ to Rice’s 128 OPS+), but an absolutely amazing fielder.  From what I remember, he was Rice at the plate, but played right field with as much skill and grace as JD Drew does, albeit with a much superior mustache than the one Drew sports from time to time.

(Note from Rudy:  Sorry Razzball readers that I went ‘serious’ instead of our usual facetious with the last question.  I just had to ask a Sox fan about Jim Rice’s HOF credentials.)