Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » San Diego Padres

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 […]

Don’t Expect Reyes’ Return to Be Very Memorable

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Jose Reyes returns to New York tonight as a member of the Miami Marlins. It will be weird to see the former Mets shortstop decked out in the silly art deco Miami uniform. This is not the first time in team history a star is returning to his former place of employment. The Mets have done […]

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 […]

Mark Fidrych, the Greatest Non-Roster Invitee

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

The minor-league deal. The non-roster invite to spring training. It’s like one of those phrases you hear in passing and ignore. There are two types of non-roster invitees, as former Dodgers GM Fred Claire pointed out to me the other day. “There’s the promising young player that you would like to take a long look […]

Trading Burnett For Nothing Hurts Pitching Depth

Monday, February 13th, 2012

You need pitching depth to get through a 162-game schedule. I recently spoke to a big league pitching coach who told me it was important to leave camp with about 18 pitchers  that could realistically contribute at the big league level. Of those 18, you probably need 10 that could start a ballgame. Knowing how important […]

BBWAA Will Not Induct Anyone Until 2014

Monday, December 19th, 2011

It’s been nearly 15 years since the BBWAA elected to not enshrine someone in Cooperstown. During the 1996 election, Phil Niekro received 68.3% of the vote, followed by Tony Perez (65.7%), and Don Sutton (63.8%). Ironically, all three would be enshrined by 2000.  I believe there is a good chance no one will be inducted by the […]

Thoughts on the NPB Posting Process

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

The Yu Darvish bidding ended last night and I noticed a lot of complaints about the posting system used with NPB players. As I wrote in November, Hideki Irabu played a similar role to Curt Flood as his transition to the United States in 1997 was extremely volatile. That year, the San Diego Padres signed a […]

Sticky: Vote in the NYBD Hall of Fame Ballot

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

I will be keeping this up as a sticky until our January 8th Hall of Fame show where we will announce the fan selections. Remember, the actual Hall of Fame announcement will be on January 9th. Here is my Hall of Fame ballot - you can weigh in on the conversation by voting here.

What If Bowie Kuhn Didn’t Overturn Charlie Finley?

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

The Winter Meetings ended Thursday afternoon, but the NBA picked up on the craziness with an evening of trade rumors and controversy. When Commissioner David Stern overturned the three-team deal that would have landed Chris Paul with the Lakers, it conjured up memories of a similar situation that occurred in baseball 35 years ago. On […]

Hideki Irabu: The Japanese Curt Flood

Friday, November 11th, 2011

When former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu took his life this past summer the most common theme was the failure and disappointment of his baseball career. Dubbed the “Japanese Nolan Ryan,” Irabu made his debut on July 10th, 1997 and struck out 9 in a 10-3 victory. He made a grand entrance on George Steinbrenner’s private […]

Closing the Book on Jorge Posada and the Yankees

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Jorge Posada announced his career with the Yankees is over. “I don’t think there’s even a percentage of a chance that I can come back,” Posada said to the Daily News. “It’s not going to happen.” It was a rough year for Posada both on and off the field. On the […]

Vote on the Golden Era HOF Ballot

Monday, November 7th, 2011

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR VOTE FOR THE GOLDEN ERA CANDIDATES Last week, the Hall of Fame announced the 16-member Golden Era Committee will select from the following candidates: Buzzie Bavasi, Ken Boyer, Charlie Finley, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva,Allie Reynolds, Ron Santo and Luis Tiant, It’s an interesting collection that has some very intriguing borderline candidates. I have created a poll for the […]

Plenty of Stars Shine at the Rising Stars Game

Monday, November 7th, 2011

In what has quickly become a haven for Major League scouts and Executives, the prestigious Arizona Fall League held its sixth annual “Rising Stars” game Saturday night in Surprise, AZ. And there were plenty of stars on hand to see. The announcement earlier in the week of the opposing pitchers began the game’s anticipation when […]

Top 5 Managers in Baseball, Mega-Contracts, Breaking Points

Friday, October 14th, 2011

The playoffs have brought about much debate about managers and their impact. Every night you hear complaints on Twitter about a move someone made. It’s no different in the regular season since Terry Collins‘ and Joe Girardi‘s moves were dissected every night. I have stated numerous times that a managers greatest impact is in the […]

Is Robinson Cano Establishing Himself as the Best 2B Ever?

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Is Robinson Cano positioning himself to be the best second baseman in the history of baseball? It was a topic discussed yesterday on WFAN. He certainly is the best second baseman in the game today. Three straight years of a .300+ batting average, two straight years of 100+ RBI, and a gold glove makes that […]