Immaculate Talk

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are back for another Max Percentage Monday, as they try to get the highest score possible for Immaculate Grid #148! Along the way... Does recency bias help when picking in the Gold Glove category? Joe gets ticked at Craig, find out why! A discussion of the incredible career of Dennis Eckersley Tomorrow we'll be back to try and get the lowest score possible. Enjoying th...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten open the program by answering listener emails, including one on the possible direction the hosts should take when making their picks. Then, they go square-by-square through Grid #145, including... The Hammer, Mad Dog and Three Fingers Two of the great catchers of the '70s and '80s A Hall of Famer traded for a future batting champion ...and more! Send your emails to imm...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten start the show by talking about the Shohei Ohtani news, what a bummer it is for baseball fans everywhere, and how his upcoming free agency could be impacted. Then, the guys go square-by-square through Grid #144, including: The story of the player whose career was derailed by falling out of a tree blind A leadoff hitter who never should have led off A little-known trade...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten freshen things up today by attempting to only use players who have played in the 21st century to fill out Immaculate Grid #143.

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are going for the lowest score possible on today's Immaculate Talk grid, but the categories get in the way! However, some great stories emerge from today's grid, including... A player who helped transform baseball in the '80s One of the worst trades in Baltimore Orioles history One of the Astros' all-time one year heroes A trivia question you may not know the answer to...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are back for another week of Immaculate Talk! The guys start the Monday podcast with a listener email, an update on how San Diego weathered a rare tropical storm, and a funny highlight from the weekend's grids. Then, it's a square-by-square tour through Monday's grid, on a MAX PERCENTAGE MONDAY! The guys are trying to guess the #1 answer in each square. See who is ahea...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten open up the Friday edition of Immaculate Talk with another opening of the mailbag, answering five listener emails. Then, the guys go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #138, including... Joe's masterpiece, putting together two columns with under 2% TOTAL sicko score Revisitng the Gary Carter MON/NYM trade from both directions Craig wins the weekly contest but not...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten start today's podcast with a litttle current baseball talk, and some important rules clarifications directly from one of the Immaculate Grid creators! Then, they go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #137, including... Joe with two all-time pulls of classic baseball names A story of why ex-pitcher and current Padres announcer Mark Grant is such a great human Some...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #136 for Wednesday, August 16, 2023, including... A square devoted to one of the biggest trades in modern baseball history Joe comes this close to taking the lead in our week-long contest before stumbling black-and-white 20-game winners... ...and a 20-game winner who was arrested and deported! If you are enjoying the show, pl...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #135, trying to come up with the lowest "sicko score" possible in their weeklong contest. Along the way, they find... How many squares Rafael Palmeiro could have fit into today The story of how the A's ruined the start of Mike Morgan's career Two Padres in the lower-right box ...and more!

It's a head-to-head contest week and a MAX PERCENTAGE MONDAY on Immaculate Talk! Join Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten as they go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #134, looking for the #1 most popular answer in each square! Along the way, you'll hear... Why this was one of the most difficult grids in IG history Craig and Joe have a handful of Super Matches...and a Super Miss! Is Brian Snitker...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten wrap up another week of Immaculate Talk with some listener emails to begin, revealing players' routines for filling out the Immaculate Grid. Then, the boys go square-by-square through Grid #131, featuring... The lowest grid sicko score in show history! Joe and Craig fill one box with two players who were traded for one another! Why there's no room for a great pinch hit...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten were foiled for the second straight day in their goal of doing an all-managers grid, because the categories didn't abide...so they go square-by-square through Grid #130, including... Craig's first regulation miss on the grid! Joe putting the Schu on the other foot A Padres broadcaster sneaks into the grid, and the boys match on an entire column! If you're enjoying the...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten couldn't do an all-managers grid today because the grid did not match the theme, so they went for a traditional square-by-square run through Grid #129, including... Joe getting ticked at Craig for using some Swiss Army Knife players who BARELY qualified for certain boxes Some 1987 Twins in the center square a fun convo about the career of Fred Lynn ...and more! If you...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are back to go square-through-square through Immaculate Grid #128 for August 8, 2023, including... Joe's black-and-white old-timey ballplayer of the day (and he names a couple doozies!) Craig pisses off Joe by remembering a very brief appearance in Detroit by Matt Stairs A great 1980's pitcher comes back to bite Joe by coming up two strikeouts short of 200 Plus some Ho...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten are back for another week of going square-by-square through the daily baseball Immaculate Grid. The guys went for a MAX PERCENTAGE MONDAY today, meaning they looked to match the game's #1 answer in each square. Find out how they did, and who came out ahead!

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten open the Friday edition of the show by reading a couple of emails to the program (immaculatetalk@gmail.com for your submission) and set a theme episode for next week. Then (at the 10:30 mark) they go square-by-square through Grid #124, including... our lowest sicko score ever?? Joe gets an X on a REALLY tough square The Duke of Flatbush and Old Mother Hubbard both make...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #123, including... Joe including a key CIN-CLE trade in his top row An Immaculate Talk Match in the center square! A player whose career was sneakily much better than you might have remembered ...and much more! If you are enjoying the podcast, please leave a 5-star review and written review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you s...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten tried something today...and flamed out spectacularly. The idea was to put only active MLB players in the grid. Then, the grid was not particularly friendly to the task. Enjoy the worst scores and fewest correct matches in Immaculate Talk history! We'll try to do better tomorrow.

Happy Trade Deadline Day! On August 1, 2023, Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #121, including... Some trade-themed boxes, with "the other guy" in a major trade Worst Astros trade ever? We revisit... ...and some silly '80s stories from extra-innings Angels games for today's Sicko Score of the Day If you are enjoying the podcast, please recommend it to your Gr...

It's our first-ever Immaculate Talk THEME DAY! Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten try to fit as many Hall-of-Famers as possible into today's 3X3 grid of baseball fun, including: A Phillies HOF player who is "also" in the Cubs' Hall of Fame A great Joe Sheehan rant about Rafael Palmeiro Two HOF players who you might not remember as playing for Cleveland ...and much more! Immaculate Talk is now available...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through Grid #117 for Friday, July 28, 2023, including... We select our theme grid challenge for next week's show in the mailbag! Craig's favorite childhood player makes an appearance on the grid A box with only THREE possible correct answers! ...and more! We'll be back on Monday with another week of fun! If you're enjoying the show, please help it...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten go square-by-square through Immaculate Grid #116 for July 27, 2023, and this episode is chock full of great stories! Including... A response to listener feedback about Charles Nelson Reilly and Hollywood Squares (this is literally today's deep dive, please still download the show) The WORST trade Kevin Towers made as Padres GM... ...and then his BEST trade, and one of...

Joe Sheehan and Craig Elsten adjust to the new morning drop of Immaculate Grid, and share some words from the listeners before diving into Grid #115, which includes... Our Sicko Score of the Day, a semi-forgotten KC slugger There are a LOT of A's All-Stars Has there ever been a player who appeared in the All-Star Game for BOTH KC and Houston? Enjoying the show? Please share it with your baseball-l...

Craig Elsten and Joe Sheehan cover Tuesday, July 25th's Immaculate Grid, including... What specialty shows or theme shows would you like to hear going forward? Craig has his first missed square on the show Joe goes sicko in the bottom row with some old timey picks Our stat Rabbit Hole: the FIVE (and only five) Blue Jays with a 200+ hit season Give us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platfo...