Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Babe Ruth

Which Reserve Clause Star Would Be Most in Demand?

Friday, January 13th, 2012

Baseball Prospectus found an interesting interview with Ted Williams from August 23rd, 1940. In it he’s asked who he would sign with if he were a free agent; Williams answered “the Dodgers” because he “knew he’d be a hero in Brooklyn.” That was only two years into Williams’ career, but it got me to thinking out of all the […]

Mariano Rivera: A Modern Day Babe Ruth

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Mariano Rivera made his debut on May 23rd, 1995. Since then, so much has happened to the Yankees, the world, and the game of baseball. On that day Rivera was the starting pitcher against, the then, California Angels. He would give up 5 runs in just over 3 innings, while Chuck Finley threw a complete […]

Nothing Sadder Than a Star Struggling to Hang On

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Thirty nine years ago today Willie Mays was acquired by the Mets from the San Francisco Giants for Charlie Williams and $50,000. The Mays trade anniversary, and watching Shaquille O’ Neal hobble around the court for the Celtics the other night, got me to thinking about stars that may have held on too long. If […]

Another Classic Impression By Batting Stance Guy

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Last year, Gar Ryness aka “Batting Stance Guy” joined me on my radio program (download here). Known for his imitations of players batting stances, Gar has expanded his talents to include the top authors, historians, and journalists. Take a look at his latest spoof on MLB Experts discussing Babe Ruth. To check out more from […]

Best Player Born on Your Birthday

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

I found this interesting resource over at Wezen Ball: the best player statistically born on each day. This will allow fans to see what baseball luminaries share the same birthday. The top players are listed in order of WAR (Wins Above Replacement). For me (January 26th), it’s a player named George Blaeholder, who predominantly pitched for […]

Who Would Be On Your Yankees Mt. Rushmore?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

ESPN’s Brandon Tierney had an interesting discussion on Twitter: Who would be your choice to represent the Yankees on a fictitious team Mt. Rushmore? Here was Tierney’s response: My NYY Mount Rushmore: Babe Ruth (1920-’34), Mickey Mantle (1951-’68), George Steinbrenner (1973-2010) & Derek Jeter (’95-present) Of course you are leaving out a ton of great […]

Future Uncertain, Gap Closed For Yanks

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

It’s never easy following a legend, and make no mistake about it George Steinbrenner is a legend, that is why his passing is different than that of any other owner. To this day there hasn’t been another Babe Ruth and I would compare Steinbrenner’s ownership to that of the great Yankees slugger. How many people […]

Best Overall Season: Ruth in 1923?

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

An amazing fact is that Babe Ruth won only a single MVP award during his career and it was during the 1923 season. Year Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB IBB Awards 1923 28 152 522 151 205 45 13 41 131 […]

My All Time New York Lineup

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Now that MSG’s “The Lineup” is over we have a complete team. I wanted to have some fun as we kick off the holiday weekend and tell you where I would bat each in the lineup. That is some lineup. What do you think? Would you make any changes? Jackie Robinson 2B Derek Jeter SS […]

Maris Left Out of MSG’s “The Lineup”

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

On Tuesday that panel over at MSG discussed the all time best right fielder in New York history. The selection was perhaps the most obvious a Babe Ruth got the nod. I mean he only had a career OPS+ of 207, basically double the average player during that era. The rounding out of the top […]

It’s Hard to Root for A-Rod

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

You may have noticed this site hasn’t jumped on the whole “A-Rod and Dr. Galea” story because, quite frankly, it’s not interesting. Whether A-Rod knew, didn’t know or was indifferent about his relationship with the guy is not something most fans want to talk about (we leave that stuff to lightweights like Craig Carton), but […]

Marcus Thames Has More Power Than the Babe

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

This from our good friend Bill Chuck of Billy-Ball.com Marcus Thames has hit 101 career homers. No batter ever reached the 100 homer plateau in fewer at bats than Thames’ 1,549. That’s one Thames homer every 15.3 at bats. In comparison Barry Bonds didn’t hit his 100th homer until his fifth season where he had […]

10 Best Yankees Ever

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

One thing I noticed in compiling this list: any other franchise wouldn’t have a guy who won 3 MVPs, a triple crown and was probably the defining player of his generation….in 4th place on this list. But then again, these are the Yankees. And compiling this list was nigh impossible. But here it is: the […]

The Curse Of The New House

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

It’s amazing. I’ve been watching the Yankees since I was 7 years old, (I’ll be 50 on June 18th), and I would be hard pressed to find a Yankees team that looked this lost playing the Red Sox, and I’ve seen my share. In my opinion, the Yankees have not only totally lost their swagger, […]

Babe’s Granddaugther Pays Final Visit

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

If you remember, back on Labor Day, we had Linda Ruth Tosetti (Babe Ruth’s granddaughter) on the show. Yankees.com wrote a story today about her visit to Yankee Stadium and monument park before Saturday’s game. If you missed the show, you can listen to Linda Ruth Tosetti on NY BASEBALL DIGEST HERE.