No Crying In Baseball

Patti and the Pottymouth talk all things Cardinals with guest Tara Wellman , co-host of the Chirps and Gateway to Baseball Heaven podcasts. Tara takes us through the aftermath of the COVID-19 shutdown, the responsibility of national media to get the facts straight, baseball towns, and “The Cardinal Way.” We look at the lightning rod that is Yadier Molina, and the resurgence of Cy Young-ish Adam Wa...

Patti and the Pottymouth talk all things Cardinals with guest Tara Wellman , co-host of the Chirps and Gateway to Baseball Heaven podcasts. Tara takes us through the aftermath of the COVID-19 shutdown, the responsibility of national media to get the facts straight, baseball towns, and “The Cardinal Way.” We celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ironman Cal Ripken Jr.’s historic 2131st game and share s...

What can two die-hard Cubs fans, a third generation Red Sox fan, and a Cleveland girl agree on?  Jason Heyward. In our full conversation with Cuppa Cubbie Blue co-hosts Andi Cruz Vanecek and Sara Sanchez , we all stand with J-Hey, even when his team let him, and us, down. Sara and Andi walk us through what the Cub’s bad decision-making in the face of an historic moment for racial justice in profes...

Cuppa Cubbie Blue co-hosts Sara Sanchez and Andi Cruz Vanacek join Patti and the Pottymouth to talk all things Cubs, with a focus on this week’s racial justice actions and inactions , and strategies for moving forward when the team you love the most disappoints you in non-baseball ways. In unity with those protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Dominic Smith and Jack Flaherty make emotiona...

In this complete and (mostly) uncut conversation, Patti and the Pottymouth hang with their San Diego sisters, Angela and Liddy of the Hell’s Belles podcast , and agree that your first time should be special, whether it’s your first grand slam or your first World Series. Pour yourself a Crown and Coke and settle in for #TeamTatis’ take on unwritten rules, replacements for Rob Manfred, the economics...

Our pals, Angela and Liddy , better known as “ Hell's Belles ,” join us to celebrate the joy that is the San Diego Padres -- grand slam records, Air Tatis , dugout dancers and more, a conversation quite possibly fueled by adult beverages. But not before we show some love to Patti’s Giant’s BF Joey Bart , who at last got the call up, and almost completed a Rookie Cycle in his first game (h/t to fri...

Plesac, Clevenger, Cintrón, we’ve got ‘em all going on. Turns out breaking your team’s code of conduct , disparaging someone’s mother, defending said mother , and pouting all have consequences.  The Cardinals are back after 19 days off, just in time for the Reds to have an active player test positive putting a few games on ice. We will enjoy any opportunity to set Trevor Bauer off on a righteous r...

Patti and the Pottymouth have a new best friend in Clive Hsu , English language broadcaster for the CPBL.  We talk with Clive about how a high school guidance counselor gets the baseball gig, the importance of singing at the stretch, Pottymouth’s Lion’s BF, the Baltimore Orioles, and why everyone should be watching the CPBL. Did we mention the Os are at .500 and have a better record than the Red S...

The return of the Joe Kelly Fight Club puts Pottymouth in the excellent company of Dusty Baker. Dave Roberts thinks we’ve got that whole Astros cheating thing out of our system now so Alex Bregman’s head should be safe from here on out.  Patti believes Joe laid the groundwork for his defense with his video of a wild pitch breaking a window in his home. There’s actual good news to report this week...

We snuck in the baseball math right up top -- 60 games shortened season x 2.7 = 162 game regular season. But with the Marlins COVID-19 outbreak, will we get past the first week? MLB’s health protocols start to fall apart as active players, initially Juan Soto of the Nationals and Matt Davidson of the Reds, and now a huge swath of the Miami Marlins, test positive smack in the middle of playing game...

We celebrate the 4th annual Women in Baseball Week by talking to Dr. Kat Williams about her new book, Isabel “Lefty” Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban-American Baseball Star . Kat is a professor of American history at Marshall University, board president of the International Women’s Baseball Center , and author of The All-American Girls after the AAGPBL: How Playing Pro Ball Shaped Their Liv...

We celebrate the 4th annual Women in Baseball Week by talking to Dr. Kat Williams about her new book, Isabel “Lefty” Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban-American Baseball Star . We examine what it means to view a life through the lens of sports identity, and celebrate the work of the International Women’s Baseball Center , where Kat is Board president. (The full interview with Kat will be rele...

The only spitting currently allowed in the MLB is into vials for mandatory testing. Pottymouth’s musings about the total volume of saliva this collects on a daily basis aside, the testing protocols are failing in a number of ways. Intake testing wasn’t actually completed until a week after the league announced the results, and an additional 17 positive tests came from the first round of monitor te...

Instead, we have the sh*#show that is an MLB testing protocol that could not factor in the 4th of July holiday. The As, Cards, Nats, and others cancelled workouts because test results had not arrived.  In the case of the As , the tests themselves were still sitting at the outgoing airport. Angels and Yankees players had to administer their own swab tests as the testing staff were no-shows.   Sean...

Here comes MLB, unless it doesn’t. We catch you up on what the shortened season schedule may look like, how the rosters will work (until they don’t), the new game rules, and the protocols that work until players leave the facility and are left to their own best judgements. Or in the case of Texas, the shaky judgement of the Rangers front office and the Governor. Pottymouth gets international atten...

After all that back and forth, looks like the MLB plan agreed upon in March is moving forward.  The MLBPA held their ground , and now it’s a matter of health protocols.  The COVID-19 outbreak affecting at least 40 players and staff has shut down facilities in Arizona and Florida, and raised many more questions. Some independent leagues plan to start up with much less fuss, so you may get some loca...

The sh*t hits the fan as MLBPA calls MLB’s “we are 100% going to have a season this year” bluff and says they are ready to play just tell us where and when . The League instead counters with a requirement that players waive their rights to legal claims against them. With all the instances of bad faith on the part of the owners, the remaining question is will Rob Manfred resign or be asked to leave...

The world is still on fire and we acknowledge that by discussing how the world of sports is responding. Joey Votto shares a journey, Drew Brees gets a very public education and stands by it, Roger Goodell says some of the right things, albeit a few years too late, and there’s a campaign to remove Marge Schott’s name from the facilities at the University of Cincinnati. Adam Jones demonstrates in Ja...

The world is burning and we intend to “stick to sports” the way we always do, in the context of social justice. Andrew McCutcheon (“I don’t want pity. I want justice.”), Dexter Fowler, Marcus Stroman, Lucas Giolito , NCiB Patron Saint Sean Doolittle and other players make their voices heard. We talk with Bobby Coon of the “ Pulling  Tarp ” podcast about the present and the future of the Minor Leag...

Don’t get us wrong, we here at NCiB love us some Brian Dozier , and the community building he is doing in his neighborhood would be drink-worthy adorable if it wasn’t in the middle of a frickin’ pandemic. But it is, and it’s a great example of why a shortened MLB season outside of a BioBubble is way too risky. Plans are moving forward, with the players’ union responding to the health and safety pr...

You should watch the finals of the First Annual Bump Bailey Wax Pack Hero Tournament of Awesome . No reason, other than Patti, Pottymouth, Jose Canseco, and a Golden Pickle. 67 pages of MLB’s proposed health protocols later, we are sure that spitting and showers are discouraged, but still don’t know what will happen if multiple players test positive for COVID-19.  We think it is good news that the...

Patti and the Pottymouth get a little weepy over Mother’s Day.  Pottymouth over the CPBL mascot-themed card drawn by her artist daughter, and Patti for clean gutters, many mimosas, and Adley Rutschman . We start with laying out the rumored plan for bringing back MLB , and poke it full of holes like a biobubble over a spring training facility. We wave some flags about the presumed demise of the min...

Fueled by Isolation Pale Ale brewed by Mr. Pottymouth, your hosts learn about Korean baseball from Jeeho Yoo , KBO reporter for Yonhap News Agency in Seoul. Jeeho shares his take on the culture of baseball in South Korea, the plan for keeping players, media, and staff safe and healthy, and just a few digs on the Orioles. Much as we like the sound of watching KBO, we are not giving up our new dedic...

Or Lion swag, if you’re Pottymouth. NCiB talks Taiwanese baseball with Daniel Shih, sports director at @tstvsports and host of “Rants With Danny Shih.” The CPBL is the only live baseball happening worldwide, and as such is simultaneously playing to empty ballparks and thousands of international Twitter followers. We talk teams (Patti and Danny back the Rakuten Monkeys , and Pottymouth is a Uni Lio...

10,000 employees of Major League Baseball, from players and front office staff to ushers and your friends that sell you your ballpark beer, have volunteered to participate in a Coronavirus Antibodies stud y that may help shape public policy. The study is not designed to bring baseball back any faster, but it will paint a picture of the spread of the virus across locations, economic status, race, a...