The stunning decision by lefty superstar Cliff Lee to spurn the New York Yankees' $150 million offer and sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for $30 million less has spawned the usual cruel wisecracks about the City of Brotherly Love. Is this the first time that the Jewel of the Schuylkill got the best of the Big Apple at anything? Ho-ho-ho. Tee-hee-hee. So snide, so condescending. And so typical of New Yorkers, who never accept defeat with grace.

But it just so happens that this assertion about New York's alleged supremacy over Philadelphia is not even true. When George Washington fled New York for Philadelphia in 1776, it wasn't just because of the British. It was to get away from Gotham losers.