Catching is hard and debilitating to the body. The famed 'tools of ignorance' may be better than they were in the past but squatting for 150-200 MLB pitches a night is still incredibly difficult. There are only 19 catchers in Cooperstown. In the past 30 years 'pitch framing' has been…
Many baseball fans still feel that Sandy Koufax is the GOAT. At least as pitchers go. Despite his relatively short career, Sandy had a sustained period of excellence (6 years) that is unrivaled. 382K's in one season is incredible to think about. But this in no way should sell Clayton…
Already in this 2022 season 2 managers have been fired. Joe Maddon and Joe Girardi. There are no other Joe's managing in MLB so maybe everyone else's job is safe. Why change managers in-season - early-mid-late season? We talk about manager changes over the years - even the fairly recent…
Our second deep dive we turn to the Senior Circuit and one its more recent entrants the San Diego Padres. There was a AAA team called the Padres in the 1940s. The current Padres came as a result of the 1969 expansion and at the advent of two divisions for…
We forgot to mention Zack Greinke who is a surefire HOFer - maybe even should be first ballot. There are a number of what we term 'sure things' and then there are others that have a really good chance provided they perform at or near their career levels for 4…
The Women's NCAA Softball World Series starts June 2. Throwing from 43 feet, the pitchers often dominate but not always. The spirit of the games, the camaradarie the players demonstrate all make for fast moving games that are worth watching. Oklahoma is the favorite but there are several strong contenders.…
All three are 'Almost' guys. All played in different time frames - Bonds from 1968-81, Davis from 1984-2001, and Mauer played from 2004-1018. All were All-Stars and won Gold Gloves. We discussed their eras, how their careers look in retrospect, and if we'd push to have any or all voted…
Well we kind of did the Mets already but chances are at some point we will be compelled to do them again. This is the first of 30 episodes dedicated to an individual team. It's history, great players, successes and failures. Who's the greatest Mariner of all-time? You can probably…
We're thrilled to be back with our first episode of Season 3. In this long one - 57 minutes is the longest we've ever done, we review the new rules in MLB for the 2022 season and then go through each team in each division. We pick our division winners…
Some teams are better at rebuilding their rosters in ways that allow them to get back to winning faster and more consistently than others. Going all in to win a World Series is worth it and teams like the Royals and Nationals have shown that in recent years. Wealthier ownership…
We asked Adam Korengold who joined us for Episode 302 on the Negro Leagues, to help us compare the very excellent careers of Negro Leagues star 'Cool' Papa Bell and the greatest base stealer in MLB history Rickey Henderson. Using data visualization maps Adam was able to compare their performances…
As one of the oldest professional sports, baseball has been 'covered' for more than 175 years. While newspaper accounts of games were the means of communication until radio arrived in the 1920s, today's baseball coverage is multi-platformed, multi-faceted, AND mucho dinero! We talk about some of the all-time great baseball…
We're NL fans since we root for the Mets. There used to be such a thing as 'National League' baseball. It had sacrifice bunts, pinch hitters, pitchers wearing jackets in July on the bases. All that is over now that the DH is in place for both the AL and…
Seiya Suzuki is burning it up in his rookie MLB season. Japanese players are making more and more noise with Shohei Ohtani and even NPB league sensation Roki Sasaki. And then there's the KBO - Korean Baseball Organization. Only around for 40 years the KBO was fun to watch during…
We're long past the time of flannel and wool home whites & road grays when it comes to MLB uniforms. There have been changes over the years such as adding numbers and then adding names once baseball began to be televised. Today all teams have several different uniforms that they…
We became aware of a very cool data visualization comparing Negro League play to MLB play of the same era 1920-1948. Adam Korengold has been doing data visualization professionally for almost 25 years–he’s now an Analytics Lead at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland–and teaches in the graduate…
Since there's no baseball to talk about due to the MLB lockout we decided to do an episode about sports movies not including baseball. You can listen to our season 1 episode 108 'Silver sluggers of the silver screen'. We talk about how there are not many good soccer movies…
Small market teams often have difficulty being a consistent winner. Sure teams like the Royals and Rays have shown it can be done. But in the 1970's the NL East Pirates and NL West Reds were in the hunt nearly every year of the decade. Featuring HOF players in both…
Think about how odd it is right now as we drop this episode late December 2021. New team managers like Buck Showalter are not allowed to talk to or even mention players on the team. The #MLB owners have 'Locked Out' the MLB players and if nothing gets negotiated there…
This December Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa all have another chance to gain election to the Hall of Fame when they are reviewed by the Today's Game committee. In January 2023 the voting from baseball writers will be announced. Most of the players making their debut…
There are a lot of MVP winners. The tools for measurement used by voters have not always been as sophisticated as are the tools today. Consequently there are some head-scratching seasons turned in by MVP winners - especially when compared to some of the other contenders that year. We also…
The final voting totals will be announced on January 25. We had already called out 6 players to be added in our prior episodes 234 & 235 in which we added 36 players to the Hall of Fame right now. So with 6 in the book, there's only room for…
This is the first of our 'off-season' episodes and we will drop an episode every two weeks now until the start of the 2022 season - or at least what should be the start if the CBA negotiations are unsuccessful. When we began our podcast 18 months ago our main…
Baseball is a sport that goes by the numbers more than any other. And for good reason - there are lots and lots of numbers. The ability to measure and compare player and team performances over time generates some great baseball conversations AND arguments! We discovered a newly written book…