Immaculate Talk

Craig Elsten and Sean Riley wrap up the week with a creative grid...while Sean highlights some key stories (A-Rod out of the HOF, comparison between Dwight Evans and Andre Dawson), Craig got a creative wind in the morning and filled his grid out exclusively with first basemen! Plenty of fun baseball conversation follows, wide-ranging and we hope engaging.

Craig Elsten and Sean Riley navigate their way through Immaculate Grid #186, which as of the time of recording was only conceding 4.6 correct answers on average out of 9! The guys talk about the eternal difficulty of finding players with 200+ hit seasons, as well as some great stories about the Ulitmate Grid Sicko, the Lou Brock-Ernie Broglio trade, and more! Send an email for tomorrow's mailbag e...

Craig Elsten and Sean Riley go through one of the more challenging Immaculate Grids of the week (5.4 average correct), talking about the 1993 Blue Jays, low-average power hitting shortstops, the brilliant strand rate of Rollie Fingers, and much more!

Craig Elsten is joined by the baseball Immaculate Gridmaster himself, Adam Darowski, for a special episode that begins with mailbag questions from the listeners for Adam. Then, the boys go square-by-square through Grid #180, including a secret theme (and sub-theme) for Craig's grid, and a "junk wax grid" from Adam!

Sean Riley returns for his second appearance of the week, joining Craig Elsten to go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #179, including: A great example of the dangers of overuse from a former Reds ace A closer who Sean gave up on far too early thanks to some bad scouting A Hall of Famer who was also a Comeback Player of the Year ...and much more! Send in any questions for tomorrow's mailbag...

Craig Elsten is joined by the Gridmaster himself, Adam Darowski, Director of Product for Sports Reference and the man who helps plan the Immaculate Grid daily. After answering some questions about how the grid is made, the guys go square-by-square through Grid #178, filled with Hall of Famers and some great players from the past. Make sure to send email questions for Craig and Adam to immaculateta...

Craig Elsten is joined by former White Sox and Dodgers GM Dan Evans for a special edition of Immaculate Talk! Dan knows his stuff, and today's Sicko Tuesday edition of the show will feature Dan running circles around Craig in a Rookie of the Year performance! Enjoy the baseball banter...

With Joe Sheehan on hiatus, Craig Elsten is joined by former Strat-o-Matic World Champion Sean Riley to go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #176, including The heartbreak of growing up an Angels fan Something you'll never believe Mike Trout didn't do The second-best leadoff hitter of the 1980s A couple different Shawn Green stories ...and more!

Today's show starts with a pair of non-grid topics. First, Craig Elsten talks about his trip to the ballpark last night, watching the Padres come within three outs of a no-hitter, and the guys talk about Blake Snell's dominant pitching performance. Then, Joe Sheehan discusses why he needs to take a brief hiatus from the show in order to concentrate his schedule on writing the newsletter during the...

It's a Sicko Tuesday on Immaculate Talk, as Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten compete to try and come up with the lowest rarity score on today's Immaculate Grid. This one comes down to less than two points difference!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are back for another week of Immaculate Talk! It's a MAX PERCENTAGE MONDAY, meaning we're playing the Immaculate Grid "Family Feud style", looking for the #1 answer given by the gridsters. Along the way, we talk a LOT about the changing style of pitching in MLB, how a Jack Morris-style workhorse would be valued in modern baseball, and how it's also mostly impossible......

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten wrap up the week with a check of the mailbag (immaculatetalk@gmail.com), with some great stories about Jim Palmer, Julio Franco and more. Then, the guys go square-by-square through Grid #166, including... The very weird 1984 AL MVP voting TWO pitchers who won Silver Slugger awards a WWII era MVP up the middle ...and more!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten start the podcast with a listener email remembering one of the more obscure and well-traveled journeymen of the past few decades. Then, the boys go square-by-square through Grid #165, including... Multiple Hall of Famers discussed Comparing a modern Cy Young winner (Blake Snell) to winners of past decades A player who was drafted six consecutive years in the MLB June d...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #164, including... Matches in all three boxes on the right column! A Reds favorite who both hosts placed in different boxes A forgotten innings-eater who's known for only one pitch ...and much more!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten start with a look back at Saturday's "sicko" grid, and a rarity score of 3! Then, the guys go square-by-square through Grid #163, including... A bad trade for the Giants 48-year-olds playing MLB The record for consecutive complete games pitched ...and more!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are back for another week of baseball stories and Immaculate Grids filled out, including a square-by-square tour of today's Grid #162. We talk about... Kenny Lofton's Hall of Fame case The disappearing knuckleballer What should be the expected career arc for a modern power pitcher ...and much more!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten open today's show with a trip into the Immaculate Talk mailbag (immaculatetalk@gmail.com) where they get some great stories of listeners' favorite squares and more. Then, they go square-by-square through Grid #159, featuring some surprisingly random matches from our co-hosts!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten were delayed in recording today because the Immaculate Grid was down early in the morning, preventing the show from being done until the afternoon. Hope the wait was worth it, because the guys have plenty of great stories, including... One of Billy Beane's worst-ever trades The Cy Young winner who went to Kansas City and did nothing One of the best pitchers of the '70s...

Okay, we went a little longer than intended on today's show, but it's because there was a TON of fun to discuss in Immaculate Grid #157! Craig went for the show's all-time single box sicko score, we debated the Giants' team-building philosphy in a center square that didn't involve the franchise (you'll find out why), and one of our loyal listeners set the stage for some really fun players to talk...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are back after the Labor Day weekend break with a whole new grid full of baseball stories, as they go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #156, including... A role reversal, as Joe plucks some obscure names while Craig fills his grid with Hall of Famers Did you know how good Lefty Grove was? Dominance and tragedy involving a couple of former Reds catchers ...and m...

Another week of Immaculate Talk wraps up with a mailbag episode! Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten hear from listeners on a variety of topics before diving into a closer-heavy Immaculate Grid #152!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through an all-teams Immaculate Grid #151, offering the chance to tell some great trade stories, including... The Johan Santana deal between the Mets and Twins How Kevin Tapani was involved in a three-team Bob Welch trade Oliver Perez's multiple moves early in his career The Carlos Peña deal immortalized in Moneyball ...and more! Enjoying the show?...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten have stories galore as they work their way through Immaculate Grid #150, including... The unexpected place where Eric Davis played the best baseball of his career The moral dilemma of using relievers in the "career .300 average" category Broken bats, some generating World Series hits, others releasing bouncy balls A celebration of Bip Roberts

A sleep-deprived Joe Sheehan joins Craig Elsten for their daily tour of the Immaculate Grid, going square-by-square including... The player Joe believes is a major omission from the Hall of Fame The once-coveted prospect traded for Devon White The least memorable part of Eddie Murray's career ...and more!