Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » John Franco

Grapefruit Roundup Tonight at 8pm

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Erik Boland, Yankees beat reporter for Newsday, will kick off the show. We discuss Bobby Valentine‘s comments and some of Erik’s early observations from Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Here Vinny Cartiglia of Metsblog, who spent the last few days watching the team work out in Port St. Lucie. Finally, the newest Mets Hall of Famer, […]

Mets Hall of Fame Stirs Debate

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

CLICK HERE TO VOTE IN THE NYBD METS HALL OF FAME Late last week, John Franco became the 26th member elected into the Mets Hall of Fame. I support the organization’s decision to honor Franco, who spent 14 years with the team. In discussing the selection with fans it does not appear they all agree. There is also […]

Sunday Hot Stove @ 8pm

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Great show tonight. I am kicking it off with former big league reliever Jim Mecir. Jim is a local product from Long Island. Hear him discuss his time with the Yankees in ’96 and the Moneyball A’s. Steve Keane of the Kranepool Society will discuss John Franco‘s induction into the Mets Hall of Fame. Finally, […]

The Biggest Save of John Franco’s Career

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Earlier in the week I talked about why John Franco deserves to be in the Mets Hall of Fame. It wouldn’t be complete unless we remember what Franco called the “biggest save of his career.” Franco was a huge part of the 2000 team that won the National League pennant. If not for Franco’s 10th inning work […]

John Franco, A Hall of Famer at Heart

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Today, the Mets announced John Franco as the latest inductee into their Hall of Fame. I discussed how Tom Seaver might have been “Born to be a Dodger” earlier this week, but if someone was ever born to be a member of the Mets, it’s Franco. Born and raised in the Marlboro Projects in Brooklyn, Franco starred at Lafayette High School […]

What Is Your Favorite Old Ballpark? Honoring Torre, Wright’s Crossroad and Friendly Neighborhood

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Last night the SNY booth was discussing old ballparks and it gave me the idea to reach out to my Twitter and Facebook followers to ask what old ballpark would they have liked to watch a game. Here are the responses I received: Ebbetts Field Polo Grounds Crosley Field Jarry Park Original Yankee Stadium Astrodome […]

Mets Everyday Persona What City Needed Post 9-11

Sunday, September 11th, 2011

Throughout their history the Mets have always taken a backseat to the Yankees on the field. Perhaps you could argue that wasn’t the case during their 80s run of dominance, but even then it was fast and fleeting and filled with George Steinbrenner’s antics on the back page. We have seen numerous tributes about the ten […]

Things Getting Tight in Boston, Perspective on Jason Bay, Sausage Shenanigans, Griffey Jr. Folklore

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

Are we about to see the next great Boston collapse? It’s been a long time since the Red Sox and choke have been synonymous, but the Sox lead over Tampa Bay is just five games in the loss column after their loss to Tampa last night. They have six more games with Tampa the next […]

Shades of 1997 With This Mets Team

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Going into the spring of 1997 the Mets were not highly regarded. The up and coming trio of Generation K was injured, the front office had made no significant offseason moves (or so they thought, John Olerud turned out ok), and the Yankees were coming off a World Series. Some prognosticators had them pegged for […]

Rivera’s Success Due to Low Innings Total?

Monday, June 27th, 2011

The good folks at Baseball Think Factory linked up the comments I posted by Goose Gossage during his interview with WFAN’s Evan Roberts. In case you aren’t aware, Goose basically said that Rivera’s job was far easier than closers in his day. As a matter of fact, Goose called himself a “relief pitcher,” not a “closer,” since […]

Girardi Wise to Ditch Daily WFAN Segment

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Last week WFAN’s Mike Francesa announced during his show that Girardi had agreed to appear between 1:30-2 p.m. before every Yankees weekday night game in addition to his regular, lengthier spot on Thursday afternoons. Girardi changed his mind yesterday telling reporters this setup was “not going to happen.” WFAN Operations Manager, V/P Programming CBS Radio […]

Time to Weigh Saves - But How?

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

The recent retirement of Trevor Hoffman brought up the old debate about the value of the save. Hoffman had 601 in total for his career, more than any reliever in the history of the game. That probably will change sometime before Mariano Rivera‘s latest two year deal expires. Regardless, Hoffman should be a first ballot […]

Finall NYBD HOF Ballot Tallies

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Over the past week I created a survey so we could conduct a BBWAA style ballot for the readers of NYBD. Last year, you elected both Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven to the Hall of Fame. The BBWAA disagreed and elected only Andre Dawson. This year we had greater participation in the vote, and the […]

Wright Growth Off the Field Most Impressive

Friday, July 9th, 2010

During a day when Cliff Lee and trade talk dominates the baseball landscape, Dave Lennon of Newsday wrote a under the radar piece about the growth of David Wright. We know what David has done on the field: .316, 14 homers, 64 RBI, OPS of .935. Even more impressive is how he made mechanical adjustments […]

What If Ken Griffey Jr. Became a Met?

Monday, June 7th, 2010

I wrote about the plight of Ken Griffey Jr. a couple of weeks ago. It was sad to see him bumbling to the sunset of his career in the town where he became a baseball legend. A few days ago Tyler Kepner of the NY Times did a nice profile of Junior, a man he […]