Home run hitters tend to have nicknames. Babe Ruth was “The Bambino,” Dave Kingman was “Kong,” David Ortiz ”Big Papi” and Frank Thomas the “Big Hurt.” Bill “Moose” Skowron was a power hitting first baseman for the Yankees in the 1950s, but his nickname had nothing to do with anything he did on the field. “My grandfather shaved off all [...]

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 [...]

You almost have to be my age – nearly 48 years since my Bar Mitzvah – to remember a Yankees outfielder at the end of career named Walt “No Neck” Williams. Williams, who played 10 years in the majors – mostly with the Chicago White Sox – and later coached in the majors and managed [...]

Congrats to Philip Humber who pitched the 21st perfect game in MLB history. The former Met is more known here for his meltdown against Washington when he blew a 5-0 lead  in Game 158 during the collapse in September of 2007. After years of injuries and poor performance, Humber put up a very solid 2011 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Join me during the Yankees-Angels game for this week’s radio program at 8pm. We will kick off talking Yankees baseball. Is Mark Teixeira on the way out? What do the Yankees do with Phil Hughes? How do the Bombers look now that they have righted the ship after a 0-3 starter? Hear NYBD contributor Joe Delgrippo and Stevem [...]

Ozzie Guillen makes stupid and inappropriate statements. I don’t think there is any way to sugarcoat his behavior over the course of his managerial career. He’s publically supported Cuban dictator Fidel Castro before his recent comments. In addition, he’s used homophobic slurs against a Chicago reporter, spoken out against Arizona’s immigration laws, and spurned a visit [...]

On the second night of Passover, a simple dinner discussion that evolved into an argument between the Matzo Ball Soup and the Brisket was the impetus for this list. Going through the Internet to find any definitive list, this wonderful piece by the ubiquitous Jonah Keri from 2007 was discovered  listing the Top 18 Jewish [...]

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 [...]

If you follow Jose Canseco on Twitter you’re bound to find out a new piece of information about him. Canseco is currently trying out for a team in Mexico- he informed everyone that he will find out if he made it on Sunday - but last night he spent some time expressing regret over writing the book “Juiced.” I am truly [...]

New York and Manny Ramirez has been talked about for years. Omar Minaya nearly acquired Ramirez a few times when he ran the Mets. The Yankees flirted with the idea as late as last season, but elected to pass. It appeared that Ramirez’s career was over after he elected to retire instead of serve his [...]

Since the deal that sent Jesus Montero to Seattle for Michael Pineda, we have been discussing which free agent DH makes sense for the Yankees. Names like Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Vladimir Guerrero, Raul Ibanez, and before he signed with Tampa, Carlos Pena all were debated. There is an internal option such as Jorge Vazquez [...]

Our friend Howard Megdal throws another name into the DH candidate pool over at Capital New York:  The backup plan for both Rodriguez and Jeter in the field is Eduardo Nunez, and it isn’t clear yet who will be backing up Teixeira at first base. Nunez is a perfectly acceptable fielder, but his 84 OPS+ in [...]

We are a little over a week away from the Baseball Hall of Fame announcing its 2012 selection. Each year, I give the readers of NYBD an opportunity to cast their own BBWAA-style ballot. Last year Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar garnered the most fan support, but not the requisite 75% needed for induction. In December, Gil Hodges received the most [...]