Almost Cooperstown

Send us Fan Mail 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 against that of their peers.  Rickey's overall numbers are historic an...

Send us Fan Mail 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 the pandemic season and fans know more about what's going on in both Korean and Japanese b...

Send us Fan Mail 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 wear to varying degrees.  Younger fans like it and older fans maybe not so much. We talk abou...

Send us Fan Mail 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 writers, and there are great ones out th...

Send us Fan Mail 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 or more seasons give or take.   Is Mike Trout already a HOFer?  As it turns out - yes. So Is Albert Pujols. Liste...

Send us Fan Mail 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 and playoff teams from each league.  All in under one hour! We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working ou...

Send us Fan Mail 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 data analytics and visualization program at the Maryland Institute C...

Send us Fan Mail 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 lineups throughout, we talk about some of the epic playoff battles (the Reds did win 3 of 4) for NL supremacy...

Send us Fan Mail 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 - apologies to those who are fans of the movie 'Victory' and even fewer good tenni...

Send us Fan Mail 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  on the ballot will be one and done. We talk about David Ortiz's first ballot...

Send us Fan Mail 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 discuss what makes a player 'Most Valuable' and if losing teams should be able t...

Send us Fan Mail 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 4 more on our ballot (or the one we would fill out if we actually had a vote). Who will it be? Listen to this fast moving episode...

Send us Fan Mail 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 will be no Spring Training, and possibly an abbreviated season or no season at all.   Baseball labor a...

Send us Fan Mail As we hit our 70th episode we decided it was time as dedicated NY Met fans, to do a podcast on...the Mets.  They are a team now with a wealthy owner who actually is willing to spend money.   This is unfamiliar territory for Met fans. What will they do about a manager, which players should stay or go?  One thing we are pretty sure of as Met fans - heartbreak is in our future!   For...

Send us Fan Mail 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 by first time author David A. Gordon entitled  'Baseball Generations: Career Value I...

Send us Fan Mail In our prior Ep. 233 we covered 18 players we believe should no longer be passed by and should be inducted into Cooperstown.  There are 263 players and 70 non-players in the HOF. Adding 36 players would make it 299 players - which is 1.27% of all players including those in the Negro Leagues.  Even adding controversial players including a PED users and 4 new Negro League inductees,...

Send us Fan Mail 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 premise is that there are too few players inducted into Cooperstown.  1.25% seems as if it would about the right...

Send us Fan Mail It's easy to make predictions and easier when you don't reveal how you actually performed. We come clean in this final regular season episode.   Our prediction performance was pretty good or so we thought. Give a listen and find out if you agree!   We will drop the first episode of the Off-season next week and then drop every two weeks until the start - or so we hope - o...

Send us Fan Mail Reggie Jackson relishes being referred to as 'Mr. October'.  His 1977 WS performance #Yankees vs. #Dodgers was epic.  As a member of the #Athletics he also had the game winning single in the 1973 WS vs. the #Mets. But is he the greatest postseason player of all-time?  We discuss the best of the best in our latest podcast.  Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for l...

Send us Fan Mail October 10th is rife with impressive baseball lore and history.  Thinking of great plays, performances, and great games takes us back to when they happened and all the other cool related things any one date in MLB history might offer. We talk about one particular day - October 10th which has hosted season-ending play-in games, Playoff and World Series games.  Of course many other...

Send us Fan Mail Data analytics are critical to MLB teams being successful.  This can be seen in the seemingly constant use of the infield shift.  But surely every decision cannot be made on the basis of numbers and probabilities.  In game 7 of the 2020 World Series Tampa manager Kevin Cash removed Blake Snell to the delight of the Dodger dugout.  We all know what happened after that.  When can hu...

Send us Fan Mail Beyond baseball fans of the other three major American professional sports also have a way of making their fans suffer and wait - sometimes a VERY long time for a championship. Gordon talks about how in his entire life, his four favorite NYC area teams have never won a championship - that's more than 30 years!  The Yankees and New York Giants are the teams we do not 'roo...

Send us Fan Mail Back in 2000 Sean Forman was a graduate student with a love for baseball.  He never imagined that he'd create a wide-ranging enterprise - Sports-reference.com that encompasses not only baseball but American football, basketball, hockey, soccer and college football and basketball.   The sites are so user-friendly and have become a go-to platform to get statistics for players,...

Send us Fan Mail At some points of some seasons, if they are clearly out of the playoff race, do MLB teams try to lose intentionally?   The answer is yes and no.  Acquiring high draft picks can often backfire as can a fire sale of a team's best and likely most expensive players.  Is the gamble worth it?  The Astros & Rays might say yes.  But the Angels, never quite bad enough to get a top...

Send us Fan Mail First-off we did Ted Simmons wrong since his career average was .285 which is much higher than Andruw Jones' career .254 BA.  Simmons had 248 HR's which is among the best (13th) all time for a primary catcher.  Simmons' speech was the best from any of the three players although Larry Walker and Derek Jeter acquitted themselves well.   10 HOFers passed away over the...