Great success! After a few months of the intangibles crowd being threatened with severe online mockery by the rest of us, Minnesota's Joe Mauer was rightly awarded with the first American League MVP of his career on Monday afternoon.

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You can't call CC Sabathia a fair weather NFL fan. The Yankees ace has always shown his love for the silver-and-black and he was rewarded on Sunday when he showed up in Oakland to watch the Raiders steal a game from the Bengals. Today he'll hand out 500 Thanksgiving turkeys in Vallejo, Calif., as his busy offseason as a World Series champion continues.

Sabathia, of course, isn't the only baseballer enjoying his time off after a longer-than-long season. Check out what a few others did over the weekend we just closed.

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Welcome to 'Duk's Dozen, a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your baseball day. It welcomes your email submissions and tips here or via Twitter.  

1. Chicago closer Bobby Jenks(notes) thinks he's being scapegoated after a season of injuries. Ozzie Guillen, meanwhile, thinks his portly pitcher "has to stay in shape if he wants to play for the White Sox." Remember when these two were baseball's odd couple? Sun-Times
2. Andrew Reilly thinks being mad at Bobby Jenks for being fat is like being mad at a dog for leaving hair on the couch. It all goes with the territory. 35th Street Review
3. Jenks may not be with the White Sox in 2010, but Omar Vizquel(notes) may be. FanGraphs
4. An Angels fan makes an emotional plea for the return of John Lackey(notes). Halos Heaven
5. Where does Elvis Andrus'(notes) rookie season rank among young shortstops? Lone Star Ball
6. The Red Sox are trying to pawn Mike Lowell(notes) off on someone else. Surviving Grady
7. Some think Jon Garland(notes) would be a good innings-eater for the Yankees. Pinstripe Alley
8. A closer look at Manny Acta's wish list for the Cleveland Indians The DiaTribe
9. The wait for the Nationals to complete their "ballpark district" will likely continue. Nats320
10. The Mariners are going to give Dustin Ackley a whirl at second base. Circling The Bases
11. The Cubs are back in the business of battling certain rooftop owners. Chicago Tribune
12. Oprah did not show Kate Hudson our A-Rod as a centaur photo. Subway Squawkers

Is San Francisco Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum(notes) on a haircut strike until he's no longer the reigning Cy Young? I hope his mane, which appears to be as long as the line of guys headed back to the dugout after strike three, goes down to his belt by July.

The downside is, there can be consequences for how you wear your hair, or what it's alleged you have in your car. For one, people think it gives them the right to make fun of you. The nerve!

This link, for example — which is not safe for work and contains adult language, my little pretties.

Hat tip: Walkoff Walk.

Welcome to Dave's Dozen (because Kaduk's not here, man), a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your baseball day. It welcomes your e-mail submissions or tips via Twitter.

1. Stephen "The Future of the Franchise" Strasburg injures his knee shagging flies, causing momentary panic and sympanthy pains. Nationals Enquirer
2. The Nats don't think the injury is serious, but they canceled Strasburg's upcoming start and are having him fly to Los Angeles to see Dr. Lewis Yocum. Oy. MLBlogs
3. Y! private eye Jeff Passan tracks 131 free-agent baseball players. Yahoo! Sports
4. Paul LoDuca hopes he's remembered this Christmas free-agent season. NY Daily News
5. Why it took until 1959 for the Red Sox to have a black player. Verb Plow (via ESPN's Rob Neyer) 
6. Former Rays owner Vince Naimoli gets his revenge, in book form. TampaBay.com
7. Professional baseball back in Montreal? Eric Gagne(notes) says he could help make it happen. Walkoff Walk
8. Up next after "Paranormal State" on A&E, "Stadium Secrets" with your host, Curtis Granderson(notes). MLive
9. Baltimore wants to boost its economy by starting a Negro League baseball museum. Baltimore Sun
10. Hey. Isn't there already a Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City?  Kansas City Star
11. At least KC will always have the 2012 All-Star Game. MLB.com
12. Ring the bell for commish Selig, who says some MLB teams lost money this past season. Yahoo! News

The world of advanced baseball statistics can be an intimidating place for those of us who slept our way through advanced algebra or haven't been a follower of the Bill James revolution from the beginning. 

But that still doesn't mean that we should feel left out when it comes to another way of understanding and appreciating the game we all love. With that in mind, BLS stat doctor Alex Remington will explore a new advanced statistic each week during the offseason, providing a simple primer for the uninitiated.

Today's statistic: BABIP

What it stands for: Batting Average on Balls In Play

How you calculate BABIP:

What BABIP is good for: You often hear BABIP being brought up by stats-minded folks, but what does it actually mean? Simply put, BABIP tells us how many hits a player is getting — or a pitcher is giving up — when the ball is put in play. (In this case, "put in play" means the ball stays fair and in the ballpark, rather than the play resulting in a strikeout, walk, home run, hit  by pitch or error.)

If the batter's line drive rate remains constant, BABIP can be a good indictator of "luck" or random chance, which tends to even out over the course of a long season. If a lot of hits are falling when put into play, a hitter is usually due for a dry spell or a pitcher is usuall due for a break. If very few hits are falling, a hitter may be nearing a hot streak, while a hot pitcher may be due for an upcoming reality check.

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Anyone who reads Big League Stew knows that the Fashion Ump is generally a fan of any team that decides to go with the old-school powder blue uniform.

That said, he's never been particularly fond of how the Royals choose to remember the days of Dick Howser, Frank White and Willie Wilson. Instead of going all the way with true throwbacks, the kings of Kauffman have gone with modern and inferior jerseys and haven't shown enough courage to match them with powder blue pants.

Now the Royals are going to wear this powder blue hat with the powder blue jerseys during home day games in 2010 and ol' Fashion Ump can't say he's excited as some. 

After all, the whole point to wearing throwbacks is to summon our warm and fuzzy memories of the past. When the Blue Jays go with their historically-accurate getups, it's easy to squint and think we're watching the glory days of Lloyd Moseby and Rance Mulliniks at Exhibition Stadium instead of the somewhat-depressing bunch that currently inhabits the Rogers Centre. It works.

Contrast that to the Royals, a team that will still only remind us of mail carriers while donning caps that never sat upon George Brett's dome. When they adopted the adapted powder blue jersey in 2008, we told the Royals it wasn't so much the color as it was the memory.

They apparently haven't been listening.   

Fashion Ump ruling: Foul ball

Over the past few postseasons, the wait between rounds has been good for a great number of things: Writing the great American novel, growing a gigantic beard and conceiving children before seeing them off to college.

It has not, however, been good for baseball, a sport that values the rhythm of everyday play and the benefits of a deep pitching staff. Last month, the Yankees and Angels finished their division series on a Monday, but didn't face off until the following Friday. That led Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia to publicly gripe the league and television networks were threatening the integrity of the game by dragging their feet.

At any rate, Scioscia's words must carry some weight at MLB HQ because Bud Selig spoke on the issue and admitted a problem at the owner's meetings in Chicago on Wednesday. 

Here's what the commissioner told reporters:

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Welcome to 'Duk's Dozen, a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your baseball day. It welcomes your email submissions and tips here or via Twitter. 

1. Jim Tracy, manager of the year? That's news to folks in Pittsburgh and L.A. Bugs & Cranks
2. Tyler Kepner speaks for us all when he says manager of the year is an "odd award." NYT
3. It can also be a valuable one, as evidenced by Tracy's contract extension. Denver Post
4. Bud Selig isn't worried about the fighting between Mommy and Daddy Dodger. LA Times
5. "We signed our free agent already. His name is Jake Peavy(notes)." South Side Sox
6. Sandy Alomar Jr.(notes) is back with the Indians as a first base coach. Waiting For Next Year
7. Have J.J. Hardy(notes) and NKOTB shared parallel careers? MPD thinks so. Miller Park Drunk
8. How much does Zack Greinke(notes) really understand about FIP? Fack Youk
9. Tom Hicks is making a last-ditch effort to keep owning the Rangers. Lone Star Ball
10. Loyal Stewie Brandon Cohen predicts the landing spot of each free agent. Pinstriper
11. Pete Rose's girlfriend talks about wanting to appear in Playboy. Sports Radio Interviews
12. Mickey Mouse had better things to do when A-Rod showed up to Disney World. The Onion