Bat Flips And Nerds

Tom is joined by British based baseball fans; Michael Ivory (Cubs), Craig Hurring (Brewers) and James Feldman (Pirates) to talk all that is good (and very bad) in the NL Central. They go from the depths of the Reds, to the current battle between the Cubs and Brewers for the top spot and everything inbetween (Including the Cardinals Voodoo Magic)  

Darius talks to former Oakland A's player Nate Freiman about his Fancred show 'The Launch Angle' and his foray into the world of analytics and coding. They discuss Nate's major league experience, including what it was like to be a Rule 5 pick, Josh Donaldson, the Yoenis Cespedes trade, and the infamous 2014 wild card game. They also touch on Nate's time in the Mexican leagues, the viability of a f...

Jen McCaffrey digs into her conversations with Red Sox and MLB brass on their hopes for next year's MLB London Series. She and John also address a resurgent Chris Sale and first day nerves for Jalen Beeks.

John is back in the UK and talks about an eventful trip to Boston, including a recreation of the Lion King in the stands. He and Tom discuss Terry Collins vs the Umpires and answer listener questions about the Twins, Harper and Machado.

Dom Clarke (A's), Tom Young (Mariners), George Martin (Astros) and Nick Wright (Angels) join Darius on the second of our divisional roundtables to discuss the AL West, most notably whether the Mariners can push the Astros for the division, if the Angels and A's can stick around in the wild card race, and just how bad the Rangers are.

John heads to the wrong cafe to meet the wonderfully accommodating Evan Drellich. They chat about the 2018 Red Sox and Evan's new book 'The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the Boston Red Sox', including Evan's path to writing the book as a childhood Mets fan, and how he sought to bring new angles to some of the game's most famous stories. We have a signed copy of Evan's book to give away - w...

Tom gets a short notice call to get his ass up to the bigs, as John is a late notice scratch from the lineup. Without any prep, Tom welcomes back Darius. Tom attempts (Badly) to update Darius on all the baseball news he missed whilst he was on holiday. They answer listener questions on Josh Hader, Manny Machado, Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish, Anthony Rizzo and his recent antics, and finally Twitter...

Tom is joined by Matt Clough (Orioles), Mike Shipley (Blue Jays) and Rob Noverraz (Rays) to talk all about the AL East and the "exciting" division that it is. Matt starts us off and makes us feel like we're kicking a puppy by making him talk about his beloved Orioles. We also spend time wondering what the Orioles could get for Machado now. Mike then continues the sombre chat when discussing his Bl...

It’s double interview trouble! Ben is joined by Gloucestershire cricketer Benny Howell to discuss his passion for baseball, his unconventional ‘knuckleball’ and what the two sports could learn from each other. Then, Tom chats to author Brian Wright about his new book on the New York Mets and the highs and lows of the storied franchise. The pod even ends with a super easy giveaway to win a free cop...

The guys break down the huge announcement of a Red Sox v Yankees series in London in June 2019. Tom recounts tales of shading Sadiq Khan and explaining baseball to the UK press corps, Ben talks about the return of MLB UK on Twitter and John rants about something for a change.

John is joined by the London Mets' Ryan Turtill to discuss their baseball for beginners programme, and by GB coach Liam Carroll to talk about GB players at elite level.

The whole gang are back, picking their MLB breakout stars and discussing rough starts for Stanton and Votto. They also chat about Tom's first ever pro baseball game, and the international currency of Green King IPA.

John is joined by 'BaseballBrit' Joey Mellows to discuss his plans to attend 73 baseball games in 2018, and to jump head first into the world of 'Indy' baseball. He also interviews the General Manager of one of the biggest franchises in Independent Baseball - Brian Lyter of the Gary Southshore Railcats. John and Joey then preview and 'seed' the 16 teams for our upcoming 'UK Indy Affiliate' bracket...

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic Boston joins John to chat about the possibility of a return for her to London - this time to see the Red Sox - in 2019 and to dip into some of the reasons for the team's red hot start to the season. She also shares her top tips for Brits visiting Fenway!

Dave Shaw from Baseball by Committee joins John and Darius to discuss the spate of MLB fan meetups across the UK, and to discuss which of the stories of Opening Week might be for real. Including Shohei Ohtani, of course! John also chats with British Baseball Federation President Gerry Perez about Opening Weekend here in the UK - including trials for the GB age group teams, special coaching clinics...

It looks like the Yankees and Red Sox are coming to London in 2019. Blake Finney joins John and Darius live from across the pond to discuss the news and ponder the implications and logistics of the situation, including the venue, the timing, and what other events might be in store leading up to the games. They also answer listener questions about the event, including how the teams might prepare (f...

The whole team is back - even Ben is there. So what do they do? They fill in a magic spreadsheet that has magic powers; namely, telling them whether their predictions for the 2018 MLB season make any sense. They don't. Listen in to see how wrong they are.  

John is joined by the head of MLB's UK office, Charlie Hill. They cover everything from MLB Battlegrounds, through fan engagement and the expanding London office. Oh, they talk about some baseball games too...

Another week in which you, the listener, are the star of our show as we answer your weird and wonderful questions - including which second baseman would best a bar brawl, and which MLB stars are secret jazz stars. We also consider tanking, surprise teams and try and place some of the remaining free agents. Darius fawns over Tim Lincecum, and John teases a surprise in the offing. Miguel Sano provie...

John and Tom are back, this time they answer all your burning questions. They start by looking at the Red Sox and their recent moves, tackle the Rays teardown/rebuild/who knows, they speculate free agent training camp, they draft street furniture (feel free to skip this) and finally end by discussing their favourite baseball website and apps.

John and Darius are joined by The Athletic's new Reds correspondent C. Trent Rosecrans to discuss the team's 2018 vintage, and his own podcast 'Great American Dream', which follows Minor League prospect Shed Long through his 2017 season. They also learn about Ken Griffey Jr's secret passion, and ask loads of questions about Joey Votto, obviously...

Tom and Darius talk about the revamped Milwaukee Brewers, including the Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich moves, then discuss the many reasons suggested for the general lack of free agent activity. The new pace of play improvements are then critiqued, from the pitch clock to putting a man on second base in extra innings. Finally, they delve into the mailbag to answer questions about an Ashes baseb...

Former Labour leader and current MP for Doncaster North, Ed Miliband, joins John to discuss his love of the Boston Red Sox and the crossover between baseball and politics. Ed also has his own brilliant podcast, Reasons to be Cheerful, which he presents with the inimitable Geoff Lloyd. It covers the big social issues of the day with an optimistic and wry outlook. You can find them on Twitter @cheer...

Host of the Baseball by the Book podcast Justin McGuire joins the guys to share some of his favourite guests and take part in a 'draft' of our favourite, and less celebrated, baseball books. A full list of choices can be found here:  http://batflipsandnerds.com/2018/01/09/baseball-book-draft-podcast-reading-list/

Joey Mellows has an interview with Melbourne Aces stud pitcher Josh Tols covering his development in Australia, transferring to the States for college and his time in pro ball in Indy Ball's Pecos League and American Association and in Japan with the Niigata Albirex. Thanks to Joey for such an awesome interview, and to Josh for his time.