The Baseball Bucket List Podcast

David Tinnes is a Mets fan from Rochester, New York who found the game in 2017 after he was asked to chaperone a school field trip to Citi Field. Since that trip, David has jumped in head-first with baseball, including taking on his own year of playing catch every single day.   Anna and David discuss what hooked him on the Mets, some of the lessons he’s learned through his catch playing journey, h...

Since we last chatted with Matt Graifer, affectionately known as The Young Professor,  he's embarked on an extraordinary journey from the classroom to the ballpark as the in-game host for none other than The Savannah Bananas. Just two summers ago, Matt juggled multiple roles as a full-time teacher, the on-field host for the Daytona Tortugas, and the Banananouncer. However, the Bananas' m...

David Ostrowsky is a Red Sox fan and author from the Boston area. In this episode, Anna and David explore the nostalgic charm of Fenway Park and the early 2000 Red Sox, as well as David’s latest biography on Roberto Alomar. Alomar, a once celebrated Hall of Famer known for his remarkable career as a second baseman, has recently faced a downfall due to serious allegations, leading to a ban from bas...

Scott Bolohan grew up outside of Detroit and is a long-time Tigers fan, who also has a soft spot for the Yankees, thanks to his job as a Yankee Stadium Tour Guide.  Scott played baseball his whole life, even after suffering a UCL tear in high school, and still travels to Italy each year to play a tournament with his grad school team the Oxford Kings of the British Baseball Federation.  Scott and A...

Josh Rawitch is the President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. A long-time baseball executive, he’s spent nearly three decades in the game, primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks before being tapped to run the HOF in 2021.   Josh and Anna disucss how he got started in the baseball world, how his love for the game has changed over the...

Sandro Prosperino is a New York Yankees fan who rediscovered his love for the game through a unique journey with his son, Kori. Sandro shares how their father-son tradition of attending baseball games across the country, particularly centered around All-Star Games, became a priceless vehicle for bonding. Visit the show notes page to read Kori’s essay about how he came to realize these trips were a...

Michael Ortman is a Washington Nationals fan now living in Florida. He grew up a Senators fan and attended his first Opening Day in 1970. For the next 50 years, Michael was at every Opening Day. Even after his beloved Senators were relocated to Texas, he found a way to keep the streak alive – spanning three cities, six ballparks, and five different home teams. His half-century streak is chronicled...

Ethan Bryan is the author of “A Year of Playing Catch” which chronicles his project of playing catch for 365 days straight. He originally appeared in Episode 40 where he shared his entire baseball story.  In this episode we discuss some new research which highlights the importance of play, and how the perfect storm of Covid and an increase in screen time have led to a new epidemic of isolation and...

Jason Skinner is a Cubs fan from Bourne, UK. Despite the geographical distance from the game, Jason and his family developed a deep connection to American baseball. Their household boasts a unique dynamic where each member supports a different team; his wife cheers for the Braves (and has a soft spot for the Cardinals), while their son is a Phillies fan.  We discuss the family's baseball adve...

Mark Zubizarreta is a life-long Texas Rangers fan and the founder of Friendly Baseball in North Texas. From his early days selling hot dogs at The Ballpark in Arlington to witnessing his Rangers clinch a World Series title, Mark shares his unique perspective on what makes baseball more than just a game. Join us as we explore the close-knit community of ballpark staff and season ticket holders, rem...

Karen Cordaway lives in Connecticut and found her love for baseball shortly after becoming a new mom. We discuss how Karen was captivated not by her town's favorite — The New York Yankees — but instead by the early 2000s Boston Red Sox. We dive into exactly what it was about the Sox that drew her in and explore the emotional rollercoaster of losing connection with the team as players moved on...

Andy Littleton grew up in Tucson, Arizona as a fan of the Oakland A’s. Despite being a fan of the Athletics as a kid, Andy now cheers for the Chicago Cubs - a change spurred by a poignant and personal story of loss and remembrance. Andy opens up about losing his best friend Sam, a massive Cubs fan, in a tragic accident, how baseball has played a crucial role in his grieving process, and the touchi...

Author Patrick Montgomery joins Anna for an episode of Extra Innings. Fans of the show might recall our fascinating conversation last year about his book The Baseball Miracle of The Splendid Six . Patrick left us eagerly anticipating his next work, hinting at a project that delves into one of baseball's most perplexing mysteries: why do some players, despite high expectations, simply fizzle o...

Dixie Tourangeau was born and raised in Central Massachusetts. Despite living near the dividing line of the battleground between Red Sox and Yankees fans, Dixie's allegiance lies in an unexpected direction. We'll chat about how Dixie first fell in love with baseball, the method behind his team loyalty, and his extensive involvement with SABR (Society for American Baseball Research). As t...

Gary Livingston is a Chicago Cubs fan living near San Antonio, Texas. We dive into Gary's love for the game, rooted in his Chicago upbringing and fueled by memorable experiences like attending his first game at Wrigley Field on bat night. Gary shares his experiences working in minor league baseball, covering everything from college radio to interning with the Texas Rangers, and working in the...

Tomi Korkeamaki is a Miami Marlins fan from Vaasa, Finland. In 2016, with their October honeymoon planned for Miami, Tomi and his wife were rooting for the Marlins to make the postseason to have a chance to see live baseball while in America. That was of course the year of José Fernandez’s tragic death, which would happen just a few weeks before Tomi and his wife left for Miami.  Even though he wo...

Alex Goldberg is a long-time O’s fan who grew up in the DC area. After leaving DC, he moved to New York before eventually landing in California where he currently resides and works as a playwright, screenwriter, and director. We hear stories about three World Series games Alex has seen across three different decades, and about a less-than-dramatic no-hitter featuring a clueless Craig Kimbrel. We a...

Jeremy Bever is a life-long Cubs fan from Indiana. Several years ago while Christmas shopping on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, he stumbled across a "loud" Cubs suit  and decided to pair it with a Cubs fedora and sneakers to create his game day outfit. Jeremy and his wife are also on the tail end of seeing the Cubs play at all 30 ballparks, with just 5 parks left to go, so we discuss what g...

Steve Acevedo is a long-time New York Yankees fan living in Los Angeles, California. We discuss how he became a fan of the Yankees mostly thanks to Derek Jeter and the rest of the Core Four, how he completed his ballpark journey of seeing all 30 MLB parks in just five years, and how after that he set his sites on traveling to see international baseball. We also touch on the major differences betwe...

Jorge Diaz is a Mets fan currently living in Tampa, Florida. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, he grew up watching many Major League players train back home in the offseason, even sometimes at his very own little league practices! Jorge also owns and opperates a financial advisory firm that represents pro athletes, including several MLB players. We discuss the age-old question of how so many athlete...

Ted Weiner is a life-long Baltimore Orioles fan from Germantown, Maryland who recently began traveling to visit MLB ballparks outside of Camden Yards. We hear stories about learning to play baseball in a cow pasture, what it’s been like to be an O’s fan his whole life, and the differing levels of competitiveness he’s run across while playing and umpiring in adult baseball leagues. Ted also shares...

Marc Cheatham, aka Cheats, is a life-long Baltimore Orioles fan from Richmond, Virginia. Cheats is the founder of The Black Baseball Mixtape, which is a platform and podcast that highlights black baseball at all levels of the game. We discuss how the lower levels of baseball from little league up through the minors have a unique ability to bring communities together, how the last few years of MLB...

Tyler Petersen is the Assistant General Manager of the Oakland Ballers. The B’s are a brand new Pioneer League team who will play their inaugural season in 2024. Tyler is also a life-long A’s fan who has has spent his entire life in the East Bay. He shares with us what the A’s Las Vegas relocation means to Bay Area residents, and how the Ballers are looking to bring back the community aspects of b...

Melissa Ludtke is a life-long Red Sox fan from Cambridge, Massachusetts and a former baseball reporter/researcher with Sports Illustrated in the 1970s. Her upcoming book: Locker Room Talk: A Woman's Struggle to Get Inside will be released next summer and details her 1978 US court case vs MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Major League Baseball. The landmark case is responsible for providing equa...

Zach Beeson is an Angels fan currently living in Eastern Indiana. He’s visited over 180 ballparks and does a great job of documenting his journeys on social media and the Baseball Bucket List website. We discuss his most recent trip to the Arizona Fall League, how he uses the game to connect to local cultures, and how the season doesn’t really end with the last out of the World Series.  Below is a...