Podcast Audio Episodes

Send us a text MLB's annual trade show and conference for players has started. It's only for the best players as the non-All-Stars are home with their families. For four days! The break for players is welcomed. Fans may feel differently. There are 36 first-time All-Stars. That's amazing! The Phillies have 8 All-Stars. @Pirates Paul Skenes is starting the All-Star game for the National League and that's right. Elly de la Cruz will play in the All-Star game due to the injury to Mookie Betts. Rafa...

Send us a text The most famous stolen base in MLB history occured in the playoffs but not the World Series. Gordon mentioned that before the modern era there was a period in which taking an extra base - like going first to third, was counted as a stolen base. MLB wants more action to show off player athleticism. They succeeded but stealing bases does not automatically lead to winning MLB games. It sure beats watching guys strikeout and more outs on the bases means fewer strikeouts. Yay! We als...

Send us a text #Twins Jose Miranda has hits in 12 straight at-bats. Amazing! Only three other hitters - Walt Dropo, Pinky Higgins, and Johnny Kling have done it before - but you knew that! #Cubs Justin Steele pitched a complete game on 95 pitches to get his first victory of 2024. It was a pseudo-Maddux. But the Cubs still struggled this week. Worst run-differential in MLB belongs to the #WhiteSox with the #Rockies and #Marlins pretty far behind. NL Wild Cards did not sort themselves out this p...

Send us a text Mets closer Edwin Diaz got himself suspended for 10 games for having too much rosin and legal goop on his hand a week ago Sunday. The roster spot cannot be filled so the Mets will play short for 10 games. PED violations that result in a player suspension do not impact filling the roster spot the next day. Does that make ANY sense? Wild card race in the NL is nuts with 9 teams having 40-45 losses and all vying for the 2nd and 3rd Wild Card. What's wrong with the Cubs? Why are they...

Send us a text Willie Mays did not flaunt it as much as did Joe DiMaggio who reveled in being called Greatest Living Ballplayer (GLB) that he insisted on being introduced that way at public events. But after Joe D. passed away the debate was between Henry Aaron and Willie Mays with Mays' superior defense being a deciding factor. Both Aaron and Mays were amazing and we discuss the whole idea of GLB being silly. Mays and Mickey Mantle were both barred from baseball by then commissioner Bowie Kuhn...

Send us a text Why did McDonald's allow Grimace to throw out the first pitch at a Mets game? It looked bad until the Mets promptly won 7 games in a row! The White Sox had a player get doubled off to end a game when he forgot how many outs there were. Kyle Finnegan pitch-clock violated the game-winning run - the first time that's happened since the new rules were implemented in 2023. Both #Cubs Shota Imanaga and #Yankees Luis Gil were shelled last week impacting their chances to start the #MLB A...

Send us a text Since we are father and son we're very interested in baseball fathers and sons. Bobby and Barry Bonds are at the top of the all-time father and son combinations when it comes to bWAR. We talk about them and all the other top father-son combinations. We also cover the 19 father-son combinations represented in MLB today based on opening day rosters. How may fathers were HOFers who had sons playing in MLB? Have sons ever made the HOF when dad didn't? Intro & Outro music this season...

Send us a text There were many big stories in baseball last week. We did not even talk about the College World Series which had 3 walkoff wins in the first two days! More injuries for the Orioles pitching staff and the Astros have more to deal with too. Aaron Judge continues to fly and #Rangers pitcher David Robertson had a week he'll never forget! Which teams might be sellers you don't expect? Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! ...

Send us a text Last season the Los Angeles #Angels with Shohei Ohtani pounded the Colorado #Rockies 25-1. It was 23-0 in the 4th inning so as we see it a true blowout in which the runs are scored early and often for a team winning by 10 or more runs. Are blowouts fun for fans? It depends. Losing side managers hate them as the goal becomes save the pitcher arms. But a blowout is still only one loss and baseball always has a game tomorrow. We discuss blowouts in other sports (is 1-0 really a blo...

Send us a text Yankees-Dodgers series, Phillies go across the pond vs. the Mets. And betting on baseball is out of control. What was your big moment last week? We cover a bunch of things in a quick hitting episode. All-Star game voting is in full force but there are also changes in All-Star weekend this year at Globe Life Field in Arlington. The futures games on Saturday will be followed by a new and bizarre event showcasing skills of players that may or may not ever play MLB. Intro & Outro mu...

Send us a text The argument that team owners would be unwilling to give up the revenue from the 8 additional games between 154 and 162 is weaker than ever. The additional playoff games would more than make up for the incremental loss of gate and TV revenue. Players could have a bit more rest and maybe we would not need to start the MLB season in late March and carry it through early October. Does the World Series need to end in early November? The addition of Negro League stats to MLB is a welc...

Send us a text Angel Hernandez umpired 33 years of MLB. He stepped down this week and received no demand that he continue. His time was over. Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. went down with an awful ACL injury (again), and will miss the rest of the 2024 season. The last time Acuna Jr. had a season-ending injury the Braves won the World Series. Josh Gibson is now the player with the highest all-time batting average in MLB. His .372 career BA beat Ty Cobb by 5 or 6 points depending on how you loo...

Send us a text The infield shift has been banned for about 1 1/2 seasons and the results are that left handed hitters have had some benefit mostly at the expense of right handed hitters. Baseball batting averages are still among the lowest in MLB history. Watching teams struggle to get hits and score runs can be a chore. Pitcher injuries continue to blossom. Can anything be done about it? We discuss some weird but intriguing considerations to help create more offense in baseball. Luis Arraez p...

Send us a text Happy Memorial day to all of our listeners and their families. A memorial service could be held for a few #MLB teams including the #Mets and #Rockies. But the #Guardians and #Phillies keep flying high. The #Royals won 9 out of 10 but gained no ground in the AL Central. #Orioles have starting pitcher health issues. #Astros are playing better but are relying heavily on Justin Verlander. The #White Sox lost to the #Orioles this week on a bizarre game ending double play. Baseball alw...

Send us a text Blasts and swords will become terms baseball nerds will use to describe batter's strengths and weaknesses. Squared-up contact too. We took a look at the new nomenclature put out by Statcast/Baseball Savant and it interesting and amusing. We talk about what is the actual description of the bat's 'sweet spot' and how that figures into some of the news stats. As would be expected the best hitters are near or at the top of many of the stats. But not all of them since hitters succeed...

Send us a text Like Lazerus, the #Astros are finally rising from the ashes, while the #Guardians continue to surprise, #Yankees and #Orioles are the class of the AL East. The #Phillies are better than we thought w/the #Braves looking up at them for a change. #Cubs Shota Imanaga is the early Cy Young candidate along with Ranger Suarez and Chris Sale. Is it too early to talk about Wild Card races? We don't think so! Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check t...

Send us a text HOFer Cy Young's record 511 wins are safe in the record books as ones that truly will never be broken. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak has a better chance of being broken. 20-game winners are also going by the wayside with only Spencer Strider last season, Kyle Wright the year before and Julio Urias in 2021. None of those pitchers are currently pitching, all for very different reasons. Assigning a 'win' to a pitcher is a bit strange in the first place since baseball is a team ...

Send us a text Aaron Judge and Juan Soto for the Yankees are keeping them close to the first place Orioles. The AL playoffs are a long way away but teams can play their way out of the wild card if they're not careful. Pirates Paul Skenes finally made his #MLB debut vs. the Cubs and topped 100 MPH 17 times striking out 7 and got the win in a bizarre finish. Tigers Tarik Skubal is having a Cy Young-type season and looks almost unhittable. Divisions are settled in with just a few surprises. Injur...

Send us a text We love baseball books and Vince Wetzel's 'Lose Yourself' is a fun read. Fictional Oakland A's OF Brett Austen is trying to join the great Ted Williams as the newest member of the .400 batting average for a season club. A's fans don't have much to cheer about despite this year's decent start for the undermanned team. Since the A's are slated to move to Las Vegas in 2028, (something we are not 100% sure will happen), and there is not-yet-sufficient MLB park in Vegas, the A's will ...

Send us a text The Twins won 12 in a row with a little help from a bizarre packaged summer sausage that the Twins kept in their dugout. Whatever the impact the Twins are squarely back in the hunt in the AL Central which is still led by the Guardians. The Dodgers had an interesting week highlighted by a zero strikeout game by the offense on Tuesday vs. the Diamondbacks in an 8-4 win. Mookie Betts leads the NL in batting average with Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani right behind. Freddie Freeman must...

Send us a text 2nd baseman Ryne Sandberg is deservedly in the Hall of Fame. So is Roberto Alomar. On the other hand, Bobby Grich, Lou Whitaker, and Jeff Kent are not, and it's unlikely that Robinson Cano will ever make it for off-the-field reasons. Chase Utley has a chance, and Jose Altuve is on track. We compared all of these players stats and careers and it's amazing how much alike their careers were or have been so far. Only 20 2B have ever been elected to the HOF. Gordon makes a great poin...

Send us a text Braves Max Fried had gotten off to a spotty start to his season but his 92 pitch shutout in an hour and 54 minutes vs. the Marlins announced he's just fine. Shohei Othani has 17 doubles already which is on pace for an all-time record. How about Elly De La Cruz? 1.7 bWAR in a month. If he keeps up what he's done in April he will have a bWAR more than 10 and 100+ stolen bases. The Guardians and Brewers continue to surprise, the Braves and Dodgers not so much. The Astros are facing...

Send us a text 58 of the 273 (21%) players elected to the Hall of Fame played only for one franchise. As Gordon pointed out, before baseball had free agency players did not move around nearly as much not because they didn't want to but because they were not allowed to! We talk about the only set of teammates that were elected to the HOF in the same year. There are 9 teams that lack a one team Hall of Famer. That number will drop to 8 once #Twins Joe Mauer is inducted this July. There are plent...

Send us a text The Angels were 9-9 for a moment this week with Mike Trout leading the way. Could they possibly make the playoffs? Then they proceeded to lose 3 straight. Same old. AL West is a dogfight even with the Astros still mired in last place. The Twins have been having trouble scoring. They could use a good week coming up as the Guardians are sailing even without Shane Bieber and can that last? Royals hanging tough but the Tigers are treading water. Yankees without Gerritt Cole are neck ...