Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Boston Red Sox

Can Derek Jeter Hit .400?

Friday, April 27th, 2012

Steroids created a lot of “video game” type of results over two decades. Two records that still were elusive to jacked up hitters was Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak and Ted Williams .406 batting average. When ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst  John Kruk said Derek Jeter can hit .400 earlier this month, everyone blew it off as crazy.  Thirty-four games [...]

Is the Knuckleball an Endangered Species?

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

On Saturday, I attended a screening of Knuckleball! at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. The documentary, by award-winning filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, follows knuckleballers R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield during the 2011 season. Stern and Sundberg also tell the story about how both pitchers came to embrace and master this unique pitch.  Charlie Hough, Phil Niekro, Jim Bouton  and long-time White Sox [...]

Sox Bullpen Not the Only Boston Meltdown on Saturday

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

The Red Sox bullpen had an ugly Saturday afternoon by giving up 13 earned runs in 3 innings. That is a meltdown of epic proportions, but it appears the 8th inning sing-along at Fenway perturbed Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. If they play Sweet Caroline between innings, somebody should get fired. I’m sorta serious. [...]

Listen to the Weekly Digest @ 8pm

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

Join me on this rainy Sunday night to recap the week of New York baseball. Leading off is Hart Seely, author of the book “The JuJu Rules.” Hart, a Yankees fan, will tell us how he helps the Bombers win games from his couch! Award-winning sports columnist for Connecticut’s Valley Times, Bob Lazzari, will talk [...]

Baseball Sees Itself in Canseco

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

Great day I walked on to the field and then flexed for the crowd got a loud possitive cheer loved it — Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) April 21, 2012 The beauty and downfall of social media is that it allows complete transparency into the world of people. The invisible wall that once separated fans from who [...]

Prince Hal’s Highlanders & Their Boring Barrage of Home Runs

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

The sky was high and the sun shining bright over the Fens on Friday afternoon. A brisk breeze kept the sellout crowd of ballpark patrons in modest comfort as they sat and partook in red hots and ate enough roasted peanuts to keep half of rural Georgia in coal and horse feed for most of [...]

Should the Yanks Wear Throwbacks More Often?

Friday, April 20th, 2012

It appears the fans really like the New York Highlander 1912 throwbacks the Yankees are wearing today against the Red Sox. The Yankees are one of the few teams that don’t ever wear an alternate or throwback jersey due to the rich tradition of the pinstripes. The Bombers haven’t worn a different road uniform since [...]

Bobby V Not the Only Manager that Needs a Good Weekend

Friday, April 20th, 2012

It’s Bobby Valentine vs. Joe Girardi this weekend. We all know that Valentine needs a big weekend, but the manager opposite of him might need to come away with a series victory, as well. Valentine’s controversial comments about Kevin Youkilis‘ commitment rankled Red Sox Nation- specifically Dustin Pedroia- but the struggles on the field shouldn’t be a [...]

Win VIP Admission to See Knuckleball!

Monday, April 16th, 2012

As I mentioned during last night’s radio program, I am giving away a free VIP admission to the baseball documentary Knuckleball! The winner and a guest will sit in a special reserved section at the premiere and receive a signed movie poster by R.A. Dickey, Tim Wakefield, Charlie Hough, and Jim Bouton. The first person [...]

Bobby V on ESPN 1050 Each Week, What Do You Think?

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

In an interesting turn of media events, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has signed up for a weekly segment with Michael Kay on ESPN 1050. The news was broken by Daily News media columnist Bob Raissman. I have never heard of an out of town manager having a weekly segment on an opposing city’s station. In a way, [...]

Lifetime Contract for R.A. Dickey?

Saturday, March 31st, 2012

The Mets should give Dickey a Wakefield style deal where it can just be extended every year forever.Do it @MetsGM! — Craig Glaser (@sabometrics) March 30, 2012 This  is an interesting idea by Craig Glaser aka @sabometrics on Twitter. There are reports the Mets are thinking about exercising R.A. Dickey‘s 2013 option worth $5 million [...]

Canseco: Owning the Mets Is Bad For My Portfolio

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Looks like Jose Canseco is playing the lottery these days. He’s asked the Mets, Red Sox, A’s and Blue Jays for jobs over the last couple of years, but no one seems to want to take a chance on the 47-year old.  He even said he would play baseball for free, if he won the [...]

Worst MLB Promotional Items for 2012

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

How many of you really care about the giveaways at a ballgame? Most of the time I find a kid that I can hand mine off and relieve me of having to carry the stupid thing around all game. The hats are cheesy, bags too feminine and the toys, well… I am 35-years old I [...]

Yanks- Red Sox Won’t Be the Same Again

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

When it was announced that Bobby Valentine would be the new manager of the Red Sox, I wrote how this would “spice up” the rivalry with the Yankees. Although we saw some of that in action this week with the comments Valentine made about Derek Jeter (’01 flip) and Alex Rodriguez (Varitek brawl), don’t be [...]

Expanded Playoffs Necessary in Lieu of Salary Cap

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

All reports indicate that MLB will expand its playoff system this year to include a second Wild Card team. MLB continues to be the only sport that doesn’t get it. What I mean by that is they don’t have the understanding or ability to create an economic system where the disparity in local revenues between [...]