Morning Report: A-Rod book is far from a hit

In case you have to buy a present for someone you really don't like much, take a look at Selena Roberts' unauthorized biography of Alex Rodriguez.

According to the Associated Press, A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez has been a major disappointment.

Since only 16,000 copies out of an original printing of 150,000 have been sold (that's according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 75 percent of industry sales), you shouldn't have trouble locating a discounted copy.

The AP pointed out that the book sold 11,000 copies in its first week of release, then faded.

Hey, Shakespeare's first play didn't sell real well, either.

Trivia time. Who holds the New York Yankees' franchise record for career RBIs?

Got their number. Whatever the Boston Red Sox did to acquire such total dominance of the Yankees is verging on the historic.

Once a whipping boy for the arrogant New Yorkers, the Sox have become the whipper.

Last night's 6-5 win made the Sox a perfect 7-0 against the Yanks this season and extended their overall winning streak over their archrivals to eight.

Now get this - that's the longest Red Sox win streak against the Yankees since 1912, when William Howard Taft was still in the White House and the Yanks were still playing in Hilltop Park in Manhattan. (They moved to the Polo Grounds in 1913.)

Baseball America. Speaking of the Red Sox-Yankees tiff, is this the best week of baseball since late October?

The entertaining Phillies-Mets series will be succeeded by a Red Sox-Phillies series that will turn Citizens Bank Park into a madhouse. And the Yankees will be playing the Mets in a civil war to get on the back page of the New York tabloids.

Team of the decade? The New England Patriots won three Super Bowls in this decade and have a chance to end the decade with a little-noticed record.

A dozen more regular-season victories in 2009 would give New England 114 wins in the decade, breaking the NFL mark of 113 set by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990s.

The Patriots set an NFL regular-season record with 16 wins in 2007 and tied the Dallas Cowboys with three Super Bowl victories in four seasons.

The Pittsburgh Steelers won four Supes in the 1970s and the San Francisco 49ers won four in 1980s. A New England championship after this season would put the Patriots in that elite company.

Trivia answer. Lou Gehrig had 1,995 RBIs for the Yanks. Babe Ruth had "only" 1,971 of his 2,213 RBIs for the Yankees.