Tipping Pitches

To celebrate the seventh anniversary of the podcast, Alex and Bobby share seven notable instances of the number seven throughout baseball history, including legendary players to wear the number, rules oriented around it, customs and traditions involving seven, and much more. By the end of this episode, if you still want to hear the number seven, you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Li...

Bobby and Alex tune into Bryce Harper’s audible frustrations at the plate and wonder if some gentle parenting could help, then belatedly recap a middle-of-the-road trade deadline, reflect on Billy Bean’s indelible mark on MLB, slot two new additions onto the most evil jersey sponsors list, and rank mascots they’d like to get a beer with.  Links: The Most Evil Jersey Sponsors, Ranked Join the Tippi...

Bobby and Alex discuss a go-to phrase for ESPN reporter Jeff Passan. Then, they pepper around some thoughts about this year’s trade deadline so far, including Garret Crochet’s surprising demands, Jesse Winker’s heel reverse, and the “state of market value.” Finally, they share some more in-depth thoughts about the amendment to the CBA's luxury tax provisions before Bobby hands Alex a breakfast...

Bobby and Alex chat about the Chrysler Building, discuss the All-Star Game and an underwhelming home run derby, and parse a few (typically horrible) Rob Manfred quotes. Then, they're joined by friend of the show Kyle Bandujo to talk about his new book, "Movies with Balls: The Greatest Sports Films of All Time Analyzed and Illustrated." Finally, they finish with an infrastructure-cent...

Bobby and Alex share, in great detail, everything they watched, did, and thought about on Saturday! Then, they create a drinking game (whatever "drinking" means to you!) for the 2024 All-Star week events by each sharing five rules for your at-home imbibing while watching the festivities. Finally, Alex is put through a gauntlet in this week's...Lineup Construction (?). Buy tickets to...

Bobby and Alex banter about a dearth of fireworks in Pittsburgh and a plethora of cliches from A-Rod and David Rubenstein. Then, they dig into the perplexing case of the Rangers (and a handful of other teams) underperforming expectations with similarly constructed rosters. Finally, they close by tying up some loose ends from last week's mailbag and a Lineup Construction (maybe this is the name...

Bobby and Alex open up the mailbag to take your questions on college sports, broadcasting "icks," Mets vs. Yankees fandom, when it's okay to hate your team, and more. Plus, they end the episode with their patented (and still unnamed) ranking segment. Links: ⁠Join the Tipping Pitches Patreon⁠   ⁠Tipping Pitches merchandise⁠   Songs featured in this episode: Booker T & the M.G.’s —...

Bobby and Alex reflect on the legacy of Willie Mays after this passing this week, discussing his singular place in the game and how fans internalize his legacy. Then they place the Orioles and Pirates’ new jersey patches on the Most Evil Jersey Sponsorship list, answer some listener questions, check in on a couple friends of the pod, and rank baseball superstitions.  Links: Clinton Yates on Tippin...

Alex and Bobby return to their regularly scheduled programming with — what else? — a betting controversy involving umpire Pat Hoberg, and discuss the sport’s increasingly hard-to-ignore gambling problem. Then they react to some comments from former agent Jeff Berry on the league’s economic landscape, cross a couple of items off their season bingo card, and run through this week’s edition of the Un...

Alex and Bobby talk through Alex's journey to London for the Mets-Phillies MLB London series, including the people Alex met, his attempt to meet the Phillie Phanatic, the food at the ballpark, the stadium experience, and more. Throughout the episode, you'll hear natural sound and interview tape that Alex captured during his weekend at the games. Links: ⁠⁠ ⁠Join the Tipping Pitches Patreon⁠...

Scheduling conflicts means we had to take the week off from our normal feed, so please enjoy this unlocked Patreon episode of Three Up, Three Down, featuring in depth discussion of bespoke AI appliances, Catholic guilt, accents, and more. To unlock every episode of the Tipping Pitches Patreon feed, you can sign up at patreon.com/tippingpitches

Bobby and Alex discuss the increasingly confounding (and self-destructive) business plan of the Oakland A's and owner John Fisher, before making fun of Hal Steinbrenner crying poor and the predictability of another betting scandal. Then, they answer listener questions about salary caps, MLB contraction, express written consent, and more. Finally, they close with another Untitled Ranking Segmen...

Alex and Bobby discuss the latest AI innovation (quoting fake stats with its chest), break down the Perfect Game/Fanatics partnership and what it means for the future of youth baseball, and ponder the prospect of "nationalized" TV rights in the wake of Rob Manfred's comments, then unleash top sunflower seed power rankings in a new segment. Links: Perfect Game, Fanatics deal has agent...

To unlock this and our entire back catalogue of Patreon-exclusive episodes, go to patreon.com/tippingpitches

Bobby and Alex invite FanGraphs writer Michael Baumann to join them in drafting the most powerful figures in baseball, spanning executives, owners, players, politicians (??), and more.  Links: Follow Michael on Twitter  Join the Tipping Pitches Patreon   Tipping Pitches merchandise   Songs featured in this episode: Huey Lewis — "The Power of Love" • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Oni...

Bobby and Alex fulfill their promise of ordering and eating MLB Ballpark Bites on the podcast (at the expense of their stomachs). Then, they each share four extrapolations from the first month+ of the MLB season and whether they expect them to actually continue or not. Links: Join the Tipping Pitches Patreon   Tipping Pitches merchandise  Songs featured in this episode: TKTK • Booker T & the M...

Bobby and Alex take a moment to appreciate the human toil of maintaining MLB Gameday feeds, then try and see if they can become a ghost kitchen for MLB’s new food delivery venture, throw out some other ideas for venture capitalists wanting to squeeze more juice out of the sport, and reflect on one year since the A’s announced their move to Las Vegas. Then they answer some listener questions about...

Bobby and Alex take a look at how Slam Corp stock is doing, then discuss a recent article about Diamond Baseball Holdings’s minor league shopping spree and what the encroachment of private equity means for the developmental arm of the sport. Then they settle on a slogan for the A’s and answer some mailbag questions about how to denote outs on scorebugs, governmental investigations, the outlook for...

Bobby and Alex are joined by Hannah Keyser to run through a grab bag of topics, including the Shohei Ohtani/Ippei Mizuhara investigation updates, the state of the Designated Hitter across the league, why pitchers are not more...anxious, whether Jordan Montgomery leaving Scott Boras portends anything, team slogans, and more. Follow Hannah on Twitter . Links: The billionaire behind the scenes in Whi...

Alex and Bobby break down the quote that's got them saying "Let's Go Brandon" and check in on some news items regarding a Sacramento baseball team and a recent rash of elbow injuries. Then they take stock of MLB's current bedfellows by ranking this year's jersey patch sponsors based on their benefit (or lack thereof) to society. We're talking grocery stores and oil sp...

Bobby and Alex preview the 2024 season (three days into the season) by putting together a bingo card of some off-field events they'll be watching for this year, including billionaire shopping sprees, the encroachment of sports betting, political donations, Twitter settings tweaks, and more. Play along with your own card at the link below! Links: A-Rod, Marc Lore and Glen Taylor clash publicly...

Return of the pod! Alex and Bobby are back to kick off the 2024 season with this year’s banned topics, a list which includes a media member, a sport, an oft-repeated lie from owners, a uniform decision, and more. Plus, some discussion of a couple small stories from the last week involving Shohei Ohtani and the MLBPA. Everything is fine here!  Links: Players move to oust Bruce Meyer from union   Jo...

[From April 20, 2020] Alex and Bobby are joined once again by Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle to break down Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS between the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. It’s a game that features plenty of dingers, plenty of Hall of Famers, and vintage Pedro Martínez in the tightest pants imaginable. Plus: a dive into the story of Albert Belle and the greatest heist in baseb...

[From Dec. 9, 2019] For their 100th episode, Alex and Bobby take a look back at the 2010s by picking a player from each year who best represented the decade as a whole. The resulting list is a collection of players who were not necessarily the best, but who made the biggest cultural impact in the last 10 years, or who changed the way that we as fans consume the game. Does Yasiel Puig make the cut?...

[From Jan. 17, 2022] 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 o...