Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Chicago White Sox

The Underrated Moose Skowron

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

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 […]

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 […]

Mason Williams Leading Stacked Charleston Squad

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

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 […]

Philip Humber Almost Pitched Game 163 For Mets

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Weekly Roundup Tonight @ 8pm

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

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’s Comments Make Long Odds of Miami Baseball Even Longer

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

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 […]

The Manischewitz All-Time 25-Man Roster

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

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 […]

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 […]