Bat Flips And Nerds

Darius and Tom break down the Ken Rosenthal article on the major changes proposed in MLB, some as soon as this season! They then answer listener questions on Harper, Machado, Keuchel and Kimbrel - plus many more!

Tom and Darius are here to guide you through the very basics of Fantasy Baseball. What is Fantasy Baseball? What are the different types of leagues? What are the different methods of scoring points? How does the draft work? What are the different types of drafts? All yor questions will hopefully be answered, if not, then please get in touch @batlfips_nerds on twitter or through the website www.bat...

Tom is joined by MLB's head groundskeeper, Murray Cook to discuss his role and the upcoming London Series. They start by discovering how Murray got into being a groundskeeper, then his previous projects and finally the London Series. They discuss the challenges, the potential issues and some of the logistical problems he has already faced in trying to make this happen. It's a fascinating pod and h...

Craig Calcaterra joins John to discuss Britpop, sticking to sports, baseball's faux history, and the fact that the media is obsessed with ill-informed vox pops the world over.

John talks to NBC Sports Lead Baseball Writer Craig Calcaterra about 'sticking to sports', covering baseball from the middle of nowhere and his recent tour of the UK's crappest towns.

Christmas is here! John is joined by Tom 'Jingle', Darius and Ben for a live Christmas special, complete with mince pies, mulled wine, silly jumpers and secret santa. They go over listeners Christmas wish lists, deciding whether santa will be naughty or nice, and conduct some live present unwrapping that reveals some truly extraordinary eBay finds - although one poor member of the team is left gif...

MLB.com's Mike Petriello is the special guest this week, joining Russell and Darius to talk about Statcast, from what to look for when using the data to what might be coming in the future. They also discuss Mike's experience with bringing Statcast to a TV broadcast, the impact of advanced stats on Hall of Fame voting, and his discovery of the UK's baseball fan community.

John and Darius are joined by MLB Community's Dave Shaw to discuss MLB London's ticket prices and taking a positive from a negative through fan owned events, plus some hot stove chat and listener Qs. Episode title c/o Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs.

The season is over and the Red Sox are champions. Tom, Ben, and Darius discuss the World Series, including how we were still wrong about Boston even though they won, and whether Alex Cora and his gut reactions really beat the analytical moves of Dave Roberts. They then kickstart the offseason by breaking down the free agency cases of Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, before Tom makes Darius and Ben...

John talks to Joey Mellows aka 'Baseball Brit' about his 75 game baseball adventure. Joey shares his favourite spots, meetings and experiences of the trip, a few scrapes and wild stories and tips for planning your own baseball pilgrimage. Strap in, this is quite a ride!

John begins the show going crazy about the Jose Altuve "home run" reactions, whilst trying to stay calm. Tom then tries to bring John down by making reference to his now famous "passed ball" line. Darius laughs at both of them whilst they go back and forth all about the Red Sox and how they have surprised most this series. The team then move onto the Brewers and their secret plan to use Wade Miley...

Four teams are still in with a chance to win the World Series. Darius talks to representatives of all four, starting with Leon Boyne (Dodgers) and Charlie Batho (Brewers) ahead of the NLDS, before bringing on George Martin (Astros) and some guy called Tom Pringle (Red Sox). They discuss the Divisional Series results, the most nervous and confident moments, the prospects for the Championship Series...

It's playoff season, and that means it's time for some more ill-advised predictions from the gang. Russell, Ben, and Darius go through the entire playoff bracket and put together the official Bat Flips and Nerds predictions, with some pre-recorded input from Tom and John. Will Rocktober last more than three hours? Can the Brewers overcome their thin rotation? Is anyone good enough to beat the Red...

The Rays have had such an unusual season that we enlist specialist help to discuss them, in the form of regular Rays expert Rob Noverraz. Rob, Ben, and Darius discuss the experience and effectiveness of the opener, if the fanbase is on board with the strategy, and whether trading star players has actually helped them. There is a check in on Ben's health after a remarkable week which has put his Ro...

Tom and Darius talk their way through the race for the NL West and the NL Wildcard. Tom waxes lyrical about the Padres future, Darius has little gloom for the Giants future, then the guys work together through the rest of the NL West. Tom once again makes a stupid bet, offends the Astros fanbase and laughs at his own idiocy. Darius refuses to offend fanbases and continues to convince Tom into his...

With the announcement of David Wright's impending retirement, John quizzes Ben and Darius about Wright's career and whether the Mets third baseman will end up in the Hall of Fame. They debate the likely Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP winners, allowing John to make his Shohei Ohtani case for RoY. Questions follow on the worst deadline trade, where the Nationals will go from here, the most de...

Russell Eassom and Darius give the listeners (well, at least two of them, anyway) what they want with an exclusively stat-focused listener question show. Questions answered range from 'what is a good batting average?' to 'FanGraphs or Baseball Reference WAR?', with a whole lot more on their favourite stats, the limitations of defensive metrics, combining the human and analytical side of the game,...

John and Darius discuss the storming Oakland As, the end of the affair in Washington and the latest on MLB London. John also finds time for another rant, this one focussed on Red Sox all-timer and awful human, Carl Yastrzemski.

The guys revisit their pre-season predictions to find only one of them knows anything about baseball. Unfortunately, it's the one who did a live bat flip during the podcast... They also ponder precisely who David Bote was apologising to, with a side order of 19th Century French literature. Just another normal podcast.

Our very first active Major Leaguer, Phil Hughes, joins Tom just before he "ships out" to Miller Park to face the Brewers and attempt to take the series. They talk about Phil's favourite team growing up, his World Series championship in 2009, what he learned from Rivera, how the K/BB record affected his game, his very active twitter profile and if his name is the least baseball name in baseball. T...

Brittany Ross Jr, wife of former Red Sox and Rangers pitcher Robbie Ross Jr, and her Partnerships Director Courtney Evans join us to talk about their charity Mission 108; it's ambition to raise awareness of human trafficking and women's rights issues in the USA and India. Brittany also talks about life as a 'baseball wife', how this offers opportunities to use a platform to make a difference, and...

John, Ben and Darius discuss a busy run up to the deadline, the awful orioles, Trout hypotheticals and mull over your trade suggestions.

John is joined by reps of the Phillies, Braves, Mets and Marlins to discuss the 2018 NL East. Topics inclde the form of the unrepresented Nats, whether Machado will be a Phillie and the future fates of the big three - deGrom, Harper and Adam Conley. Thanks to Bob Bamber (Braves), Les McCaughan (Mets), Peter Pratt (Marlins) and Dave Shaw (Phillies) for the insights.  

The always brilliant Carlos Peña, a 14 year MLB veteran, joins John (and Darius, a bit later on!) to talk about the state of baseball in 2018 including epic rants on hazing, shifting and the All Star Game. He also answers listener questions on the science of hitting and plans for a new ballpark for his beloved Tampa Bay Rays. This is one not to miss!

John has a feature length interview with former Blue Jays pitcher Scott Richmond on his long road to the Majors, his current role with Nettuno in Italy and his globetorotting baseball career. Scott also offers some pitching advice to fans, and answers your questions on his teammates including Roy Halladay and Jose Bautista.