Almost Cooperstown

Send us Fan Mail One of our stories of the week is that #redsox Willson Contreras did something last week that only 35 players have done in MLB history. He got tossed from back to back games vs. #Nationals.  Another is about the baseball flying further in June than it has since good 'ol 2019.  All-Star game rosters are in. Big yawn? Dodgers and Rays are hot, Yankees and Mets are not.  Thanks...

Send us Fan Mail College baseball may become even more important if MLB owners get their way.  Changing draft rules is a big part of the first offer from the owners. The players (MLBPA) laughed it off as they should have. We talk about what it means and what it will lead to.  Bunting is back in 2026. Well at least since the universal DH era began.  Will Tarik Skubal be a Detroit #Tigers pitcher af...

Send us Fan Mail Tim Brown is the author of three baseball books and his latest book "Nolan" The Singular Life of an American Original" goes deeper with the HOF legend than any other. Tim spent time in Alvin, TX, which is Nolan Ryan's home town. There are so many great stories!  Thanks for listening and watching!  Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Ch...

Send us Fan Mail Shohei Ohtani is on his way to his 5th MVP (in six seasons). He has the lowest ERA and highest OPS+ in the NL - not even HOFer Babe Ruth did that in the same season!  We talk about the rash of injuries to stars including Jose Ramirez, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Spencer Strider. Jacob Misiorowski pitched a game for the ages and Mark tells you why when it comes to pitcher game score.  Gr...

Send us Fan Mail It's hard to believe that both Mike Trout and Aaron Judge are 34. How can that be? It seems like Trout has been around much longer - and that's actually the case. We talk about this in our stories of the week along with the latest injury reports, player news, and everything that happened in MLB last week. All in less than 30 minutes!  Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the...

Send us Fan Mail We look at run differentials that reveal the good teams (Braves, Dodgers, Yankees, Brewers), and all the other teams.  The AL is weaker this season and that's no surprise. Should #brewers trade for Tarik Skubal? Mark and Gordon don't see eye-to-eye on this one.   Will #dodgers Shohei win the NL Cy Young award?  Cristopher Sanchez of the #phillies as a 44.2 inning scorele...

Send us Fan Mail Our top stories of the week are revealed as are the prospects for players and  @MLB teams after 1/3 of 2026 season has been played. Shohei of course leads the pack given that he pitches (amazingly) AND hits amazingly.  #tigers are sinking as are #mets #redsox & #astros.  What's up with #cubs?   Can the #athletics remain in first place?  We talk about where things are righ...

Send us Fan Mail #Brewers Jacob Misiorowski is tied for the MLB lead w 80 strikeouts. #dodgers Blake Snell is injured. Again. #Rays continue to excel. #guardians still the only AL Central team over .500 as well as the #athletics. Baseball is soaring high and we are appealing to baseball club owners and players to reach a deal in the new CBA before the 2027 season We discuss the league leading hitt...

Send us Fan Mail Rob Fitts loves Japanese baseball and has been writing about it for years. His 10 books on baseball in Japan cover many aspects of the sport in the Land of the Rising Sun. Dr. Fitts joined Gordon and Mark to talk about his 2025 book "In the Japanese Ballpark" which is a series of vignettes covering aspects of what goes on during a NPB game. From players, to managers, to...

Send us Fan Mail We had intended to drop this episode on Monday the 11th after taking a week off due to some travel. But we recorded Wednesday night the 6th and so here's the latest episode as we want things to be timely!  The teams as of the weekend will have played about a quarter of the season. Does that mean Aaron Judge will hit 60 homers as he has 15 already? Not necessarily but you woul...

Send us Fan Mail #Redsox fired Alex Cora in what has to be the story of the week. #Mets Carlos Mendoza may be next.  #Padres Mason Miller continues his unreal season and they also signed Lucas Giolito. #Braves rookie gives up homer on first #MLB pitch then pitches 7 innings for the win. We talk about those stories along with our feature topic - the 7 catchers who finished their careers batting .30...

Send us Fan Mail A day later than usual because we were traveling and distraught from watching the #Mets lose their 11th straight.  News of the week includes the sudden passing of #Angels great Garret Anderson - so sad. #Dodgers Edwin Diaz to undergo surgery and will miss at least half the season.   Yordan Alvarez leads #MLB with 10 HRs and #Yankees Aaron Judge is right behind with 9.  Who are the...

Send us Fan Mail Pitcher injuries are mounting especially if you wear an Astros uniform.  We didn't mention the passing of Davey Lopes which was our mistake. Lopes stole 552 bases and was a member of the Dodgers infield for 10 years.  No teams have made much noise aside from the #dodgers. #pirates rookie Konnor Griffin got paid inking a 9-year $130M contract. #yankees are succeeding despite g...

Send us Fan Mail When #MLB started measuring players in order to more fairly deploy the ABS Challenge system, MLB players who had not been measured for years came up tinier!  Why are they shrinking?  The season is already 5% gone and by the end of the week will be 10% in the rear view mirror!  Can 162 games go by quickly?  We discuss Jo Adell's amazing virtuoso defensive performance on April...

Send us Fan Mail We forgot to include our playoff picks last week when we picked the order of finish for each #MLB division. So we do that as well as pick the major award winners - Cy Young, MVP, Rookie-of-the-Year and Manager of the Year. We also cover the first three games of the 2026 season - rookies have been front and center!  Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check t...

Send us Fan Mail We kick off our 7th season of baseball podcasts with this season seven premiere!  342 episodes in the can is something we never expected to do. As we do at the beginning of every MLB season we review all 30 teams and their chances in the 2026 season which starts this week. A special thanks to our producer - Gordon's mom and Mark's wife Michele who has had to listen to an...

Send us Fan Mail We recorded this episode just before Team Venezuela was about to play Team Italy. Team Italy is really a bunch of Americans masquerading as Italians with a real Italian or two on the roster. While the Italians beat the USA 8-6 in pool play, the USA will relish the chance to avenge that defeat. Or they will have to play a better team in Venezuela. But either way the USA is primed t...

Send us Fan Mail Late game pitching in the WBC is the issue and most teams don't have enough. The best teams can be held down for awhile but eventually the cream rises to the top.  USA, Dominican Republic, and Japan all have the firepower to exhaust the bullpens of good teams much less WBC also-rans.  Highlights of the first weekend of games were many and the enthusiasm and atmosphere at the...

Send us Fan Mail There will not be any Automatic Balls and Strikes called in the World Baseball Classic that begins this week at four sites around the globe. 16 teams are vying for the title currently held by two-time defending champ Japan.   ABS is alive and well (so far) in #MLB spring training so far. Umpires get things wrong but the calls are so close you can understand why and how.  Will this...

Send us Fan Mail Newspapers have long since stopped publishing MLB box scores and stories about each game in MLB on the prior day.  Tom Stone took on a crazy project in 2025 - he put out a daily newsletter recapping not only the results of all of the prior day's games, but also included standings, transactions, and even ballplayer birthdays. He did it for all 162 games of the regular season a...

Send us Fan Mail First it was #Mets Francisco Lindor who came up with the 'hamate' bone problem on his left (glove) hand. It bothers players when swinging the bat as the bone rests on the knob of the bat.  Lindor had surgery last week as did Jackson Holliday of the #Orioles and Corbin Carroll of the #D'backs.  The latter two will miss the start of the 2026 #MLB season but Lindor may...

Send us Fan Mail The Super Bowl is over so we can now focus our attention on where it belongs - Baseball!  Pitchers and catchers are officially reporting this week even though many have been in camp early and are already throwing, and catching.  We recorded a west coast version of our podcast this week in sunny and warm Palm Springs!  Right now there's baseball being played in the California...

Send us Fan Mail When we talked with Dan Brown about his HOF choices in episode 645 we noted that just before our prior podcast the Mets signed Bo Bichette. Right after the podcast with Dan, the #Mets traded for #Brewers #1 starter Freddy Peralta. What will happen this week after our podcast? Will Framber Valdez sign with the #Orioles as Gordon says in this podcast? Where else might he go? What ab...

Send us Fan Mail For the third straight year The Athletic's writer Daniel Brown who is also a BBWAA voter, discussed his and his fellow writer's votes for the Hall-of-Fame.  Center fielders Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones both were elected with a few players making big strides in the their voting totals.  We talked about trends in voting, who's on the ballot next year and why the pr...

Send us Fan Mail Happy MLK Day. A little late but hopefully worth the wait. When we recorded this episode the news that #Mets signed Bo Bichette for 3 years $120M had just dropped and Gordon wasn't aware until Mark told him!  Kyle Tucker's behemoth contract led to a discussion of a baseball salary caps which have always been a red line for the MLB Player's Association. Will a salary...