A weekly podcast, catching up on the news and notes around Baseball, along with commentary on current events, guest interviews (when available) and more! 

May 29th, 2020: Episode 34

For our first season finale, Jim and Adam sit down with Keith Law, senior Baseball writer for the Athletic, and long time baseball author to talk about his new book “The Inside Game”, a look at the psychology and bias that affects baseball decisions and how to overcome them. Those who know Keith though, will know that’s not ALL we talked about, including the upcoming MLB Draft, Baseball in the time of COVID, and much more!

NEW THEME MUSIC FROM “THE COLLINGWOOD”, FROM THEIR ALBUM “THE PITTER PATTER OF LITTLE EVERYTHING”
thecollingwood.bandcamp.com/

May 16th, 2020: Episode 33

So it’s finally happened. The Passa/o/n off!

This week Jim and Adam are joined by ESPN national baseball writer Jeff Passan in what was supposed to be a long form interview, but quickly turned into a fun, free flowing conversation about hair, Adam totally fumbling his notes, and journalistic integrity in the days of COVID-19. It was a lot of fun.

May 11th, 2020: Episode 32

In this week’s show, Adam got to sit down with Jeremy Frank and some guy named Jim Passon to talk about their new book, “The Hidden Ball Trick, Volume II”. We got to rambling about baseball cards, social media in baseball, and of course, to talk about their book and how it portrays some of the most interesting statistical stories in baseball history.

May 3rd, 2020: Episode 31

This week, Adam and Jim are joined by Spink award winning writer Paul Hagen. Paul covered the Dodgers, Rangers, and Phillies since the mid 1970’s, has covered over 30 World Series, and holds a place in the writers wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. We talked about his time getting started in journalism, covering the World Series, and advice for young writers coming into the game.

April 27th, 2020: Episode 30

In this weeks show, Minor League reporter for The Athletic, Emily Waldon talks to Jim and Adam about her background, and what it’s like to be the only woman on the field covering the minor leagues. After the break, we dive into her current work advocating for Minor League players, what we can expect from the pending MLB/MiLB deal, and what is needed to help improve the lives of players, fans, and those who enjoy the game.

April 20th, 2020: Episode 29

This week, Jim and Adam sit down with Levi Weaver, former musician and current beat writer, covering the Texas Rangers for The Athletic. We talk about the parallels (and differences) between the Music World and Baseball, weird proposals for the 2020 season, and more!

**Please forgive audio being a little less than standard for this episode, had some technical issues that should only be a one-off!**

April 13th, 2020: Episode 28

This week, Adam sits down with friend of the show, Bailey, creator of Foolish Baseball. He recently eclipsed 100,000 subscribers, so we talk about his ever growing platform, his process and methods in making his “Baseball Bits” video series, and what might be next for him.

April 5th, 2020: Episode 27

This week, Adam sits down with Chris Dimino, a radio personality in the Atlanta area for 680 THE FAN, but also the curator of the HARDBALL Podcast. A collection of conversations from some of the greatest to play the game. We talked about his approach to these conversations, some of his most memorable ones, and his journey into baseball.

March 27th, 2020: Episode 26

This week, Jim and Adam welcome Mark Simon from Sports Info Solutions to talk about his baseball origin story, and his journey into baseball writing. After the break, we talk about the latest edition of the Fielding Bible, what it means and what it tells us about the modern game, players we know, and defensive stats as a whole!

March 19th, 2020: Episode 25

In this weeks episode, Eric Nusbaum sits down with Adam and Jim to discuss his newest book, “Stealing Home: Los Angeles, The Dodgers, and the Lives Caught In Between” releasing next week! We start off talking about covering sports in Latin America and the state of sports journalism today. After the break, we talk about his new book, which shines a light on the story of the Dodgers migration to Los Angeles, from the perspective of those who’s stories aren’t always told.

March 12th, 2020: Episode 24 (Baseball Is Cancelled)

Just hours after baseball cancelled Spring Training, and indefinitely delayed the start of the 2020 season, Adam and Jim sit down with absolutely no preparation and goof off for an hour, because we are clearly out of sorts. That’s it. That’s the show.

March 5th, 2020: Episode 23

In this weeks episode, Adam and Stephen Nesbitt from the Athletic sit down to talk about his journey into writing, and talk about the often untold story of a beat writer. After the break, we talk about the team he covers, the Pirates, and how things are looking for the upcoming season and beyond for the rebuilding team!

February 27th, 2020: Episode 22

In this weeks episode, Adam and Jim welcome Christopher Kamka from NBC Sports Chicago to talk about his background in baseball, love of baseball cards growing up, and of course, a lot of time talking about White Sox baseball! He and Jim also slip in some breaking personal news right at the end of the show too…

February 20th, 2020: Episode 21

In the second installment of a rare two episode week, Adam and Jim are joined by author and commissioner of the West Coast League Rob Neyer to discuss working with Bill James, writing about baseball, and writing about anything at all! After the break, we talk about his involvement with SABR and his commissionership of the West Coast League.

February 16th, 2020: Episode 20

In this weeks episode, Jim and Adam discuss domestic violence in baseball. After the break, they welcome an experienced Victim Advocate to discuss how domestic violence looks from the perspective of the victim, and how we, as fans, can be better equipped to better understand things from not a baseball point of view, but from a more personal side.

IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW MAY BE A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES:

– Partnership Against Domestic Violence (800) 621-4673
– National DV Hotline (800) 799-7233

February 11th, 2020: Episode 19

In this weeks episode, Joey Mellows, AKA “The Baseball Brit” joins Jim and Adam to talk about the incredible story of how he came to baseball, and his travels around the country trying to see as much of it as he can. He talked about his travels so far, and his travels to come as he tries to tell stories of the 42 minor league teams who’s affiliation with MLB is in Jeopardy

February 6th, 2020: Episode 18

In a special TWO guest episode, Jim and Adam first welcome Jeff Wiser from Baseball Prospectus, and of the Rattle, a site covering the Diamondbacks. After the break, Fantasy expert KC Bubba from the podcast “Benched with Bubba” gives some advice to newer or first time fantasy managers for the upcoming season.

January 30th, 2020: Episode 17

This week, Jim and Adam host Fangraphs senior writer Dan Szymborski to the show, and we just goof off and talk baseball for a little over an hour. During this goof off session, we discuss how modern analytics are changing the landscape of baseball, ZiPS, and Baseball Hall of Fame voting, and more!

January 23rd, 2020: Episode 16

This week, Adam and Jim welcome Hannah Keyser, national baseball writer for Yahoo! We discuss her early going in baseball writing, her eye-opening take on “bandwagoning”, and her hatred for hot dogs. After the break, we dive into the Astros sign stealing scandal and ask how we might feel about this year down the line.

January 16th, 2020: Episode 15

In this weeks episode, Jim and Adam welcome professional outfielder Lane Adams to the show, where we talk about his journey into baseball, and all the twists and turns along the way. We conclude with a round of everyone’s favorite game, “Mike Trout or Lane Adams?”

January 9th, 2020: Episode 14

This week, Gabrielle, founder of Girl at the Game joins Adam and Jim to talk about her blog, being a woman in sportswriting, and the Red Sox. After the break, we discuss the next team to break their postseason drought, and maybe even their World Series drought!

January 2nd, 2020: Episode 13

In our first episode of 2020, DB Firstman stops by to talk about their new book “Hall of Name”, and how they got their start in baseball. After the break, Jim and Adam run down who is, and who ISN’T on their IBWAA Hall of Fame ballot.

December 27th, 2019: Episode 12

In the final episode of the calendar year, Jim and Adam dive straight into the final episode of the MLB Offseason round up, talking about the Yankees being clear World Series favorites, the Rays shouldn’t surprise anyone anymore, and how the Blue Jays aren’t contenders…. yet. In Jim’s stat spotlight, trends from the past decade are discussed.

December 20th, 2019: Episode 11

In this weeks (record long) episode, Jeremy Frank from MLB Random Stats and co-author of “The Hidden Ball Trick” joins Adam and Jim as we talk about the situation between MLB and the Minor Leagues, and how it affects fans in general. We dive into the AL West talking about the Astros mission next season to win back the fans, and the A’s continuing to be good even if no one notices. We also talked about how the Angels don’t need to win NOW, the Rangers possibly headed for the tank, and the Mariners being well… a team. Jim’s stat spotlight is a tough showing for Adam, but Jeremy jumps in with some trivia of his own!

December 12th, 2019: Episode 10

Friend of the show Bailey from Foolish Baseball called me this week and asked for some time on the show, so naturally, we obliged (1:24)! He treats with the Ballad of Bobby Wallace, the hall of famer you’ve never thought about. After that, we get into the AL Central with MLB writer Casey Boguslaw (20:17), and then discuss our thoughts on some of the winter meetings action (53:03)!

December 5th, 2019: Episode 9

This week, Adam and Jim welcome Max Goldstein from Max’s Sporting Studio to discuss the latest Free Agent signings (2:23), including Zack Wheeler, Cole Hamels, and Michael Pineda. We talk about the trades of Dylan Bundy and Omar Narvaez (13:05) and speculate on the latest rumors around the league (15:50). After the break, we talk NL West baseball, and what the Dodgers are going to do with Kenta Maeda (18:15), the Diamondbacks potential breakouts (28:01), The Giants aging roster woes (35:31), the Rockies breakdown from 2018 to 2019 (39:51), and the Padres (43:51) intriguing youth going in to the next season.

November 22nd, 2019:  Episode 8

In this episode, we welcome Jon Becker from Roster Resource (part of Fangraphs) to the show. We start by trying to take a quick dive into the Astros sign stealing scandal (3:30). After that, we take a look at the NL Central starting with the Cardinals (15:09) and what they can do next. The Brewers and the most obvious, albeit unsexy free agent fit for them (20:49), then we talk about the Cubs (26:55) and what could be OUTgoing as opposed to INcoming. The Reds and their weird season (36:27), and we talk about the Pirates (44:50) because we have to. To round it out, Jim’s Stat Spotlight (49:39) takes us out with some NL Central trivia!

November 15th, 2019:  Episode 7

November 3rd, 2019:  Episode 6

In today’s episode, Adam and Jim reflect on the World Series that just finished (1:44), and debate the merit of choosing a pitcher for World Series MVP (11:44). After that, we talk about the best World Series of the past decade (21:47), and get really bogged down on one in particular (26:41). Jim’s Stat Spotlight talks about players that Were worthy of the World Series MVP, but didn’t get it because their teams lost (46:12).

Intro/Outro music as always from South City Riot (now Atwell and the Great Divide), and breaks provided by Brian Rob Young.  

October 21st, 2019:  Episode 5

In today’s episode, Jim and Adam welcome Bailey, founder of “Foolish Baseball” to talk about the most intriguing managerial openings (5:50), Jim’s Stat Spotlight makes a bold prediction out there for Zack Greinke (23:04), we somehow end up talking about Doug Fister? (30:00) and talk about our favorite random players to stumble across while stat hunting. During our World Series preview (34:13), Adam makes a ridiculous World Series prediction.

Foolish Baseball (@FoolishBB): Foolish Baseball on Youtube

Intro/Outro music as always from South City Riot (now Atwell and the Great Divide), and breaks provided by Brian Rob Young.  

October 10th, 2019:  Episode 4

In today’s episode, Adam and Jim review the League Divisional Series, including the Braves collapse (1:20), the Dodgers collapse (9:11), the Twins losing to the Yankees again (16:32), the conclusion of the Rays/Astros series (21:30). Jim’s Stat spotlight talks about baseball birthdays in the postseason (31:23), and we preview the Championship series (38:16)…. Don’t worry, Chipper’s fine!

Music credit to South City Riot for intro/Outro music as always, breaks done by Brian Rob Young.

 

October 3rd, 2019:  Episode 3

In this episode, Adam and Jim discuss the Wild Card games (1:55), the pending coaching vacancies across baseball (5:42), Jim hits us with his first Stat Spotlight (14:41), and then for the featured story, Adam and Jim preview each divisional series and who their MVP picks are (21:04)

Music Credit, South City Riot “Sunday Morning” (intro), “Where to Go” (Outro) 

All break music written by Brian Rob Young 

 

September 27th, 2019:  Dan Clemens Interview

n a special edition of the Podcast, Adam talks with Dan Clemens, relief pitcher for the Tuscon Saguaros, and the oldest active professional baseball player in the country, at 51 years old. In the interview, we discuss how he got back into the game after a three decade absence, his experience coaching and his book “A Perfect Season”.

Music credit, South City Riot “Leavin’ Kind” (intro), “Where to Go” (outro)

September 20th, 2019

In this episode, we welcome new co-host Jim Passon Jr. to the mix to discuss the Braves and Yankees clinching their respective divisions, why we should fear the A’s and Rays more than it seems, some intriguing World Series matchups and Adam’s IBWAA end of year awards ballot (and why it’s wrong!)

Music credit:  South City Riot “Sunday Morning” (intro)/ “Where To Go” (outro)