Tipping Pitches

Another season, another year of a storied Tipping Pitches tradition: the All-GIF Draft. Bobby and Alex preview the season by taking a look at which players will produce the best GIFs this year, bringing on Bradford William Davis, Stephen Hesson, Jake Mintz, Jordan Shusterman, Clinton Yates, Meg Rowley, and Shakeia Taylor as fellow evaluators. Long necks, tight pants, can't lose. Links:Follow B...

Bobby and Alex talk about one journalist’s coverage of the Astros and wonder whether Tipping Pitches’ second act will manifest itself in defense of service time manipulation, then discuss Oneil Cruz, Hunter Greene, and the varying logics behind prospect promotions. Then, they decide on a handful of “banned” topics in 2022. Finally, they answer a few listener questions about preferred rooting inter...

Alex and Bobby attempt to parse Phil Mushnick’s sprawling metaphor for New York sports teams, discuss the dizzying flurry of player movement in the last week and what it has revealed about some teams, a labor win for minor leaguers last week, then answer listener questions about their playing days, advertisements on uniforms, the nonexistence of the Phillies’ defense, how their consumption of the...

With the added perspective three days of a CBA has brought, Alex and Bobby gather to discuss the true culprit behind MLB’s lockout: that’s right, it’s you, the fan. They also discuss MLB’s latest cash grab at the expense of baseball’s accessibility, before answering a slew of listener questions about the CBA and Taylor Swift. Songs featured in this episode: Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onion...

Alex and Bobby get together hours after the news of a new CBA between MLB and the MLBPA to discuss the end of the lockout, their instant reactions to some of the key points in the agreement, what this means about player-owner relations moving forward, and more. Baseball’s back, baby! Songs featured in this episode: Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

Bobby and Alex bask in the glorious prose of Bob Nightengale’s accidental poem and give Derek Jeter his due as a spurned former owner, then recap a whirlwind of a week in labor talks, including MLB’s astute weaponizing of the media, Rob Manfred’s press conference, the movement in the players’ latest offer, the concept of bad faith negotiating, and much more. Songs featured in this episode: The Bea...

Alex and Bobby talk about unionizing the fans and getting in on labor negotiations. Then they review the week in CBA nonstarters and remark on the apparent tone shift among fans and media ahead of the league’s self-imposed deadline. Finally, they answer a few questions about minor leaguer NIL rules, the MLBPA’s strategies, baseball road trips, and more.

Bobby and Alex talk Bill de Blasio’s desperate plea for a resolution in MLB’s ongoing labor battle, then turn their attention to the Tyler Skaggs & Eric Kay case and discuss the broader implications the saddening tale may have on the sport. Then they bring on Harry Marino, executive director at Advocates For Minor Leaguers, to talk about the plan for housing in the minors, the complicated natu...

Bobby and Alex fantasize about players who they’d love to see juicing, then dive into the latest in MLB showing their behinds, including Rob Manfred’s apparent contempt for baseball fans and the league’s refusal to compensate minor leaguers for spring training. They round things out with listener voicemails about high socks and low socks, the conflicting labor interests of players owning teams, an...

Alex and Bobby bid adieu to Cowboy Joe West’s time as an umpire, which thankfully means more time for him in the recording studio. Then they dive into the latest news on the bargaining front, including why owners want a mediator and why players rightfully rejected it, what this maneuver says about the state of negotiations, how the owners underestimated players coming into the offseason, the playe...

In this episode (originally aired in January, 2021), Alex and Bobby were joined by Baseball Prospectus writer Rob Mains to discuss the modern baseball owner — how they make their money, bend public will, wield political influence, skew bottom lines, and more. If you're a new listener, please enjoy this old episode. If you've already heard it, we'll be back with a brand new episode next week, after...

Alex and Bobby wade into the discourse about whose fault a potential delay to the season would be, and whether or not fans have any right to to feel entitled to the 2022 season starting on time. Then, they're joined by Emma Baccellieri of Sports Illustrated to discuss her piece on The Players' League, an 1890 National League spinoff that was run like a co-op amongst professional baseball p...

Bobby and Alex are back with a very special episode this week. They’ve invited on their friends Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman of Céspedes Family BBQ to do the unthinkable: draft the owners who they would actually want — or wouldn’t hate — to have running their team. Some of the choices may surprise you and some may not, but the episode reveals the colorful history of some of baseball’s lesser k...

Alex and Bobby banter about a potential ARod-Cast for Sunday Night Baseball, and then give their not-so-surprised reactions to MLB Network letting Ken Rosenthal go. Then, they bring on Andrea Williams, author of “Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues,” to discuss her interest in Manley and the impetus for writing a children’s book about her, reevaluating B...

To ring in the New Year, Bobby and Alex bring back Michael Baumann, staff writer at The Ringer, for their third annual State of Labor in Baseball, where they survey baseball’s current labor landscape and examine the key dynamics that will define the sport's coming years. Amid the ongoing lockout, they look at whether the current stalemate tracks with where they thought things would be going, which...

Coming up on the end of 2021, Alex and Bobby take a moment to reflect on the past year and dig into why it feels harder than ever to separate baseball as a business from baseball as a form of entertainment. Of course, they then go on to break down — surprise — the recent lawsuit over MLB’s anti-trust exemption. Finally, they dig into the mailbag for some listener questions about publicly supportin...

This week, Bobby and Alex finally discuss the Business Insider report that MLB knowingly used two baseballs — that performed very differently — for the entirety of the 2021 season, without informing players, teams, or fans. They, they're joined by Citations Needed co-host Adam Johnson to discuss the way the media industry covers lockouts, strikes, and the labor landscape of professional sports in...

With the recent expiration of Major League Baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Alex and Bobby are taking some time to break down key concepts that will be on the table in the coming weeks and months and examine what’s at stake for each side. To round out the series, they bring on Nathaniel Grow, associate professor of business law and ethics at Indiana University, to take a look at basebal...

Now that Major League Baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement has expired, Alex and Bobby are taking some time to break down key concepts that will be on the table in the coming weeks and months and examine what’s at stake for each side. This week, they do a deep dive on the competitive balance tax, looking at its initial aims to address parity and how its purpose has been twisted by both small...

With the imminent expiration of Major League Baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Alex and Bobby are taking some time to break down key concepts that will be on the table in the coming weeks and months and examine what’s at stake for each side. This week, they look at salary arbitration, tracing its roots back to the end of the reserve clause and outlining its occasionally-squishy boundarie...

Bobby and Alex banter about the Rays doing Rays things with a generational talent, then break down the new plan to provide minor leaguers with housing and why it’s a bittersweet victory. Then, a close reading of Rob Manfred’s comments about the state of CBA negotiations. Links: Jeff Passan’s roundup of Rob Manfred’s comments ( https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32661677/commissioner-rob-manfred-s...

Bobby and Alex chronicle the latest in CBA negotiation news, including an outlandish proposal to replace salary arbitration with a payment system based on FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement. Then, they discuss Scott Boras, and whether his annual comments at the GM Meetings align with MLBPA interests or not. Finally, they finish by answering listener questions about the Athletics' impending tear...

For their 200th episode, Alex and Bobby open up the mailbag and spend an episode taking listener questions about baseball and far beyond, including a baseball podcaster brawl, deadly caffeine consumption, Star Wars characters in bed, all things Taylor Swift, secondary podcast ideas, episode music choices, and much more. Thanks to those who submitted questions, and to everyone for listening! Songs...

Bobby and Alex talk Jon Heyman’s growing sentience, then take stock of the World Series so far, examining what has made it enjoyable — or not — to watch. Then they discuss the looming likelihood of a strike, assessing what they think a potential work stoppage will look like and where the power balance stands right now. This week’s Three Up, Three Down features the pitfalls of Steve Cohen’s poster’...

Alex and Bobby check in on Bob Nightengale’s latest exploits, then discuss how they ~feel~ about a Houston-Atlanta World Series, what makes these teams hard to root for, the complexity of the Dodgers’ exit, and more. They also take listener messages about rooting for the Astros as a Dodger fan, Kevin Millar the scab, and what a devoted Tipping Pitches listener is called. This week’s Three Up, Thre...