Baseball Episodes

The Super Bowl is over so we can now focus our attention on where it belongs - Baseball! Pitchers and catchers are officially reporting this week even though many have been in camp early and are already throwing, and catching. We recorded a west coast version of our podcast this week in sunny and warm Palm Springs! Right now there's baseball being played in the California Winter League where teams play a one month schedule for post-college and unsigned p...

When we talked with Dan Brown about his HOF choices in episode 645 we noted that just before our prior podcast the Mets signed Bo Bichette. Right after the podcast with Dan, the #Mets traded for #Brewers #1 starter Freddy Peralta. What will happen this week after our podcast? Will Framber Valdez sign with the #Orioles as Gordon says in this podcast? Where else might he go? What about Tarik Skubal's arbitration case? If the #Tigers lose and have to pay him $32M, are they m...

Send us a text Closer Robert Suarez goes to Braves who only need to figure out shortstop to be a juggernaut once again. The Tigers signed future HOFer Kenley Jansen & re-signed Kyle Finnegan. Sure doesn't look like a team about to trade 2 time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. Pete Alonso leaves the Mets and goes to the Orioles! Wow. Kyle Schwarber goes back where he belongs with the Phillies after toying with the Pirates and Reds. Edwin Diaz also left the Mets to be a Do...

Send us a text Which teams will have a September to remember? Will it be #Reds? #Mariners? #Royals? The playoff push is on and we rate the teams' chances. We had a 3rd 4-home run game last week for 1st time in #MLB history! #RedSox ink Aroldis Chapman to another 1 year deal. In our first under-the-radar story of the week we talk about Chapman's HOF credentials. #Pirates Paul Skenes has the NL Cy Young award locked up. The AL Cy Young is still up for grabs between Crochet and Skuba...

Send us a text Dave 'The Cobra' Parker passed away at age 74 less than a month before his induction ceremony in Cooperstown. His arm in right field was legendary and he won the 1978 NL MVP. We're sorry he won't get the opportunity to be there next month. Corbin Carrol of the #dbacks broke his wrist. Without Corbin Burnes the road got that much tougher. #Mets have been awful losing 13 of 16 and falling out of 1st place in the #nleast. #Dodgers #Cubs #Astros are fine. #Yankee...

Send us a text Why aren't more teams on #MLB free agent Juan Soto? They make plenty of money but are afraid. Afraid even though they are increasing franchise value and have more revenue streams than ever before. Teams should be spending more on Free Agents. We tell you which ones. Which teams should be spending more period? After Juan Soto signs who will be next? Pete Alonso? Anthony Santander? Blake Snell and Tommy Edman have already signed w L.A. Dodgers. But are the #Dodgers done? Where are ...

Send us a text 79/113/122 those are the numbers representing the amount of days until pitchers & catchers report, #Dodgers #Cubs opening games in Tokyo March 18, and the REAL opening day on March 27. MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year were all awarded. There were exactly ZERO surprises. Guess that's but it's also kind of boring. News Flash - #Mets Francisco Lindor did not win anything but a silver slugger. Sure he gets paid but what does Lindor have to do to get recogniz...

Send us a text If you are using Baseball-reference.com or Football or Basketball reference you will be using aspects what Sean Lahman created 30 years ago. Sean is a member of SABR and has generously donated the database to SABR so it's in excellent hands! We asked Sean how to use the database, how much and how long it took to put it all together (Bill James was an inspiration) and ways the average fan can make use of the Lahman Database which can be found at baseball1.com. We think you'll agr...

Send us a text No longer can #dodgers be talked about as not having won a WS in this century in a 162-game season. There are a few players like Max Muncy who remember taking Covid-19 test after winning the 2020 World Series. No parades. No cheering from the fans. The 2024 championship behind a great job of managing by future HOF manager Dave Roberts makes all the noise go away. Was #yankees manager Aaron Boone outmanaged by Roberts? It sure felt that way. UCLA beat USC in this one. Except Gerri...

Send us a text Just last season the #dbacks came from 2-0 down to beat the #Phillies in the NLCS. So the #Yankees being down 2-0 is not insurmountable. But their fans are going nuts and negative since presumptive AL MVP Aaron Judge has struck out 6 times in 2 games. How will the Yankee fans greet Judge upon his return to the Bronx? #Dodgers Shohei Ohtani will play in game three and lead off. His subluxation of his left shoulder (partial dislocation) may impact how hard he swings - which in case...

Send us a text Do today's Yankee and Dodger fans care about the 1981 World Series? That was the last one between the teams. The Yanks and Dodgers played 11 times from 1941 through 1981. They did not like each other. Really. That's not the case today as all belong to a very exclusive club of millionaires and billionaires. In the #ALCS #Guardians gave it their best shot vs. #Yankees but it was far from enough. Yet Cleveland had great moments from Lane Thomas, Johnkensey Noel, and David Fry but th...

As #Mets fans of course we're excited that somehow our favorite team is still in it. Yet the prospect of a subway series vs. #Yankees is very enticing and exciting. #Dodgers will have a lot to say about it and Shohei will likely not have another subpar series. #Guardians surprised #Tigers Tarik Skubal with former #National Lane Thomas providing two huge blows. We wrap up the Division series including the #Padres meek ending by not scoring in the final 24 innings! #Phillies bullpen let them down...

Send us a text If you know our podcast you know we are huge Mets fans. This week was one of the better ones in the team's history. Playing the only games in #MLB on Monday and Thursday, the Mets were the Drama Queens from Queens! Now that #Brewers are vanquished #Phillies await and will be a much tougher task. We preview the best of 5 series between #Yankees #Royals #Guardians #Tigers #Dodgers #Padres We make our picks and talk about what happened to the #Orioles #Astros & #Braves. Intro & Ou...

Send us a text The #Mets & #Braves split a doubleheader on Monday. Game 1 of the DH was one of the best baseball games a Met fan has ever seen. So we're naturally happy. But there were a ton of other things this week in baseball. We didn't discuss Luis Arraez 3rd straight batting crown, or Shohei Ohtani at all! Our segment on things you might not have heard included some rarely discussed oddities. The #2024MLBplayoffs start today with 4 Wild Card games. And the Wild Card Series will be over on ...

Send us a text The Rookie League championships took place at the end of July! There's have also been championships settled in Low A and High A Ball. This week the AA and AAA finals are being played with the AAA overall championship a one game 'winner take all' playoff this Saturday Sept. 28th. Do minor league players get trophies for winning a minor league title? Do they care? The cities in which they play are connected even if players come and go during the season as the MLB parent takes prece...

Send us a text What was CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals thinking when he stayed out until 8AM before a day game!! The White Sox tie the Mets record for futility with 120 losses. Tigers believe! Twins like the Royals are sinking. Mariners are hanging on and the Braves go home to play the Mets for the playoff lives. Dodgers will need to hold off the Padres this week and the D'Backs won't go away. This last week of the 2024 regular season is going to be a great one! Intro & Outro music this...

Send us a text #Tigers Tarik Skubal and #Braves Chris Sale are both in line to win the AL and NL pitching triple crowns this season. Most wins, most strikeouts, and lowest E.R.A. is the criteria. It was last done in 2020 in the pandemic season by #Guardians Shane Bieber. It's happened 33 times in #MLB history which is more than double the amount of batting triple crowns (15). We discuss why fans are less enthusiastic about pitching triple crowns than batting ones - if fans are even aware the aw...

Send us a text Tyler Glasnow is out for the year. Yamamoto might be able to throw 6 innings by playoff time. What will the #Dodgers do? #Rangers had the future and the past happen this week with Kumar Rocker, Jacob DeGrom and Max Scherzer start consecutive games. Why did Gerritt Cole intentionally walk Rafael Devers while working on a no-hitter? It totally backfired. Bobby Witt Jr. has 100 RBIs. #Royals will finish above .500. Gunnar Henderson has 37 home runs but Aaron Judge will still win AL ...

Send us a text Albert Belle isn't in the HOF. Nor did he ever win an MVP although he deserved one in 1998. Instead Juan Gonzalez of the #Rangers (also not a HOFer). But Belle's not the biggest snub ever for MVP. There are lots of other more worthy, or unworthy, candidates! #Giants Barry Bonds ruined it for #Cardinals Albert Pujols in 2003. But Bonds did that to #Cubs Sammy Sosa who also is not in the HOF although for different reasons. How about #Tigers Norm Cash in 1961? Or Willie Mays in 195...

Send us a text Parker Meadows had the backyard moment for the #Tigers in San Diego this week hitting a 2 out 2 strike grand slam in the 9th inning with his team down by 3 runs. #Cubs Shota Imanaga was part of a combined no-hitter this week. Meh! We didn't talk about the #Brewers because they are still in cruise mode. #Dodgers & #Phillies have best records over Milwaukee. #Yankees need a closer they can count on. So do #Orioles. Everyone would like to have a Clase to close! Playoff participants ...

Send us a text Automated balls and strikes, will be instituted in MLB, eventually NCAthers wont be able to 'steal' strikes by trying to trick the umpires. Tennis hasn't missed anything moving to an automated line calling system and neither will MLB. Will catchers be able to focus more on baserunners? Maybe. Will they have to hit more than they do now? Yes. The job of pitch framing takes a lot of attention and finesse. Teams won't likely carry a defense first backup catcher as much since being a...

Send us a text Can a team go 22-3 to make a playoff run? It can happen but it's not likely. That's where some of the teams that are on the bubble are right now. #Cubs, #Tigers, #RedSox are those kinds of teams with the #Mets not far behind. September baseball is fantastic and there are still many things left to be decided before we start hearing about 'Magic' numbers to clinch a division or playoff spot. Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or App...

Send us a text We didn't need to wait until the end of the #MLB season to review the #Mets performance. Are we happy? Yes and No? Was it a good season? Yes and No. The team has undergone a lot of changes since Opening Day. Rosters are different, a rookie manager Carlos Mendoza has navigated as best he can without having his #1 starter Kodai Senga in the mix. We hope the team will rally and make the playoffs but that is far from a given. The Mets are also very good at celebrating much the fan's...

Send us a text The pitcher who has hit the most batters in MLB history is one that you have almost certainly never heard about before - Gus Weyhing. Walter 'Big' Train Johnson is 2nd and Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson third all-time hitting batters and they pitched 75 years apart. If you think players are getting hit and injured more often there's reason for that. In baseball history 7 of the top 25 seasons in teams being hit by pitches have occurred since 2016. 20 out of the 25 most-hit batters on a ...