Podcast Audio Episodes

Send us a text Pitchers don't often get hit by line drives and get it to the skull even less frequently. But it does happen, as much as 2 - 3 times per season. We note a number of well known current MLB pitchers that have b...

Send us a text Remember there used to be a MLB statistic for GWRBI - Game Winning RBI's? The one that gives your team a lead it never relinquishes. Because players could get the GWRBI conceivably (and in reality) in the fir...

Send us a text Here at Almost Cooperstown we believe there's room for more at the Inn. We're not talking about boxing BTW! When it comes to Gold Gloves (only awarded since 1957), a player who is a borderline Hall of Famer (...

Send us a text The 2020 World Series ended up being a very exciting and interesting one. Seven game series have a way of being just that much more memorable. An anti-climatic game 7 can take away from the overall greatness o...

Send us a text Every second people use expressions borne out of baseball lingo and lore. We know there are Yogi Berra-isms and Dizzy Dean's oddball expressions, but what about normal everyday conversational responses? There ...

Send us a text No we don't actually HAVE a vote but if we did... On January 26 the votes for the 2021 Hall of Fame will be announced. Hopefully the ceremony in Cooperstown, NY will take place this summer. Actual voters can v...

Send us a text As fans know, there was no Minor League (or college) baseball this past season. To make things more challenging MLB has made the biggest changes in MiLB in nearly 60 years. The farm systems developed by Branc...

Send us a text The last teams to come into MLB are now 23 seasons old (1998 the Rays and D'Backs). For 60 years there were only 16 teams in MLB. After the Dodgers and Giants moved in 1958, expansion really began to take off...

Send us a text In the pre-1900's days of professional baseball teams did not travel all that far to play games which often were played on Sunday afternoon. By 1901 with the birth of the American League, teams traveled by tra...

Send us a text A baseball game can be started with a few players, ball and a bat. Organized baseball started in the 1850s and there were no baseball gloves. We don't talk much about gloves and catcher's equipment but we do...

Send us a text Just like the MLB season, we made it through this our last episode of Season 1. We talk a bit about the excellent Dodgers-Rays World Series and reminisce over the short 60 game season. If you have an idea for ...

Send us a text There was even a movie about it - Mr. 3000 with Bernie Mac. Yes he actually swung a bat. 3,000 career base hits has been am almost guaranteed ticket to Cooperstown. The only players that have 3,000 hits and...

Send us a text Future Hall of Famers as you'd expect are not normally traded at the height of their careers. But it does happen for a variety of reasons. Being a future HOF'er, being traded and then winning a World Series w...

Send us a text We talked about the National League teams best player ever in the franchise in Ep. 20. Since franchises can move around there are questions about teams like the A's (Philly, KC, and Oakland) and the 'new' Wash...

Send us a text Having the designation of being a MLB 'best player in the history of the franchise' is both a fun and dicey topic. Some of them are true no-brainers but others are not as crystal clear. Franchise length has som...

Send us a text Great stretch runs like the ones we talked about in Episode 118 often have a corresponding team collapse that impacts the playoff race. There have been collapses over the years including our favorite team the #...

Send us a text For baseball fans their favorite team's stretch run is something that lives on and on even through generations. Starting with the Miracle Braves of 1914 (they were in Boston at the time), we talk about some of...

Send us a text Sitting in the dugout for two hours, waiting for that tap on the shoulder, pinch hitters have always lacked job security. Now with the Universal DH it's a fair bet that there will be fewer pinch hitting appeara...

Send us a text Since 1900 there have been hundreds of no-hitters thrown in MLB. The most recent 2020 no-hitter from Lucas Giolito of the White Sox puts the ChiSox in 2nd place all time for no hitters by a team. Who do you t...

Send us a text There are 333 individuals in the Baseball Hall of Fame 235 players, 35 Negro Leaguers, 31 executives but only 22 managers. Too few? Too many? Are there any current managers that are likely to be enshrined? This...

Send us a text In the modern era (1900) there have been 14 triple crowns won by 12 players. None in the National League since 1937. It's surprising there have not been more but that's how difficult it is to achieve. There hav...

Send us a text Over the years baseball has seen several significant rule changes that were instituted 'in the best interests of the game'. MLB and the current commissioner Rob Manfred are concerned with all the strikeouts an...

Send us a text Every baseball generation has its all-time greats. Today's players are no exception. We talk about 9 'no doubters' playing today who will have their plaque and be enshrined in Cooperstown. There are also a ho...

Send us a text Baseball has provided some of the most colorful nicknames of any professional sport. We talk about the great nicknames, the not-so-great nicknames and the surprising fact that there are not many active players...