The first episode in our 5th season of Almost Cooperstown! We pick all 30 teams in order of finish in their individual divisions. Yes we picked the Dodgers and no we didn't pick the Rockies or A's to win much at all. Who will win AL MVP. NL MVP? 2024…
MLB careers can be short and fleeting. Players that love the game like Pat Ahearne did and does will keep on trying even when the going gets tough. We talk with Pat about his experiences gained through playing baseball all over the world and he has some great stories about…
The Los Angeles Dodgers are already winning in 2024. Can any NL West team beat Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamaomto, and the rest of the boys in blue? The Arizona Diamondbacks are back and still hungry for more. The San Diego Padres still have a great lineup…
Is Justin Steele the best pitcher in the NL Central? Our division primer podcast on this division answers this & other questions as we dive deep into all the teams' 40 man rosters. The NL Central is better than the AL Central. But that's about it. The Cubs with new…
Our 4th division primer on the NL East. The Braves and Phillies are the class of the division with the Mets, Marlins and Nationals all hoping that they are the team that will surprise. We talk about all 5 teams 40-man rosters, and who the best players are in the…
We noted that Rangers are under-appreciated. The Astros are still formidable and the Mariners not to be ignored. The AL West will be fun to watch this season unless you're a fan of the Angels or A's. The 3rd of our 6 division breakdowns. Listen to the audio version: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1066072/14614729…
Jose Ramirez is one of the best players fans under-appreciate. The Guardians are not at the top of the list of AL Central favorites but should not be ignored either. We talk about the rosters of all 5 teams in what will be a dogfight of teams all lacking a…
While we didn't pick the teams which we will do in our season preview episode, we did dig deep into each team's 40 man roster. The AL East is the best division in baseball and yet we had trouble picking more than 3 top starting pitchers! This is the first…
2024 MLB Spring Training has begun and would-be rookies impact teams ultimate performance (think Corbin Carroll and Evan Carter last year) more and more frequently . But some Rookie's of the Year never reach the heights they touched in their first campaign. That doesn't mean they don't have a career…
We hear about the unwritten rules of baseball all the time. Don't walk the leadoff hitter. Don't bunt in a no-hitter. Some of the unwritten rules are more strategic preferences than unwritten rules. We discuss that as well as how stealing signs has evolved over the years and if it…
This is it! The last of our MLB teams deep dives. The Yankees are saved for last since they are first in World Series wins. They have 3x or more as many World Series titles compared to any team but the St. Louis Cardinals who have 11 WS titles. The…
This is our 200th episode and we are so grateful that we have listeners that are interested in hearing us talk about baseball. So THANK YOU to all who take a few minutes here and there to listen and engage with Almost Cooperstown! Since we recorded this podcast Jorge Soler…
The 11-time World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals actually won an American Association championship in 1882. Besides winning in 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, and 1946 - 6 championships in 21 seasons, they also won in 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, and most recently in 2011. There are amazing Hall-of-Fame players spread…
We don't often focus on the negative aspects of baseball in the Major Leagues. But there have been some bad people who've made it to the game's grandest stage. Some of the things these heinous characters did during and after their playing career are almost unbelievable. We should have mentioned…
The nine time champion A's won 5 World Series before 1931. They won three in the 1970s. And one more in 1989. That's it. Nine WS is 2nd all-time tied with The Red Sox and Cardinals who we will deep dive on next week. The Athletics turned A's (thanks to…
Author Mark Stevens joins the podcast to discuss his terrific #baseball novel - The Fireballer. Ever think what would happen if a pitcher could regularly throw 110 MPH? Batters wouldn't have a chance! What if one of those pitches got away from him? We had a great time talking with…
Another original AL team, the 9-time World Champion Red Sox won the 1st World Series as the Boston Americans. They have been a streaky World Series team and we tell you why. Who's the best pitcher in Red Sox history? How about shortstop or manager? We discuss it all in…
For the 2nd straight year we were lucky enough to have Daniel Brown join the podcast. Dan is a Staff Editor and Writer for the Athletic and is also a card-carrying BBWAA member and votes each year for the Hall-of-Fame. We discuss who he voted for and who he did…
8 World Series Titles. 10 World Series losses. The Giants began playing in 1883 in the Polo Grounds and never played in another stadium in New York. They went to the Bay Area in 1958 and appeared in the World Series in 1962 but not again until 1989, finally winning…
We thought we were going to do an episode on the greatest players of each decade starting with Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. It was more difficult to do that but we did compare several sets of Hall-of-Famers like Ted and Joe (we added in Stan the Man just for…
The Dodgers have won 7 WS titles and appeared in the playoffs 37 times. Their list of players include some of the best who've ever played baseball. We go position by position picking the greatest Dodger at each including relief pitchers. A few corrections: Gary Sheffield played 4 seasons for…
Thinking about the great baseball rivalries over the years many come to mind. But most of them are within either the National League or American League. Sure the Brooklyn now Los Angeles Dodgers had nearly annual World Series tilts with the Yankees (losing them all until 1955), but generally the…
The Pirates like the nearby Reds, have won five World Series and lost only two. In their history they've had a bunch of Hall of Famers play all over the field but often those players did not get the satisfaction of winning it all! We talk about the players, the…
The first of our 5-time World Series winners the Cincinnati Reds began in 1882 in the American Association and won their first WS in 1919 vs. the Black Sox. We think of the 'Big Red Machine' but there have been some other great Reds teams and players that we talk…