Two Strike Noise - A Baseball History Podcast

Could Roger McDowell really have been the second spitter if he was infact in Pittsburgh? We dive into some seminal Seinfeld baseball lure, we remember some of Kurt Bevacqua’s greatest scraps along with some Father’s Day second generation players. In our main segment we remember a game that might have been called the Willie McGee game if it were not for Ryne Sandberg’s coming out party on the NBA G...

Sure, you’ve heard about Johnny Vander Meer throwing the only back to back no hitters in MLB history, but what about 3 in one season, including back to back? Tom Drees wasn’t given much of a chance in the bigs, but in AAA he completely baffled batters 3 times in one season. We hear all about his incredible season plus historic home runs in Fenway, Bartolo Colon doing Bartolo Colon things and Lou G...

On this week’s episode we recall Scott Lusader’s dreadful top of the first defense, Whit Merrifield doing Rickey things & Patrick Wisdom doing unheard of things. Our main story covers the brief but odd history of the Golden Baseball League. The leagues first year saw Hall of Famers, a city losing their team because the military  seized their home stadium & a band of Japanese Ronin who played every...

Moe Drabowsky had a 17 year career in MLB, won two World Series rings with the Orioles and was a big league pitching coach for several years. But he might best be known as the Polish Prince of Pranks. Snakes, prank calls from the bullpen and the master of the hot foot. We celebrate Drabowsky’s entire catalog of tomfoolery and thusly proclaim him, Patron Saint of the Pod. Plus, Willie Mays, Lou Geh...

Another award winning version of our Tales from the Dugout feature. This time we talk more about left handed hitting catchers and why you don’t see them anymore, walkoff triples, a Soft Bank Hawks fan that might have trolled the Yomiuri Giants a little too much for the local authorities liking. Plus the usual debuts, trivia and we visit the year of 1997 for this version of Wax pack Heroes.  Twitte...

There is alot to digest when talking about some of the weirdest trades in baseball history, literally. Teams apparently have no problem trading a player for some donuts, catfish, turkeys or barrels of oysters? Other weird asks when trying to make a trade: a new outfield fence, rent, a new suit and ofcourse the old standby, a bag of balls and some bats. Wax Pack Heroes rips some 2007 Upper Deck.  T...

In a Two Strike Noise first, we revisit last week’s topic to further explore pitchers cheating with some new info on Whitey Ford, Nolan Ryan, Rick Honeycutt and Gaylord Perry. Plus, we look at something that blew Jeff’s mind regarding Vinny Castilla as well as Canadian baseball award winners. Finally, another new set of cards for Wax Pack Heroes, this week it’s 1997 Donruss.  Vinny Castilla’s Walk...

If we’ve learned anything from Trevor Bauer in the past year, it’s that apparently every pitcher cheats. Whether you believe it or not, this week we pontificate on some ways in which pitchers might cheat if they were so inclined. Plus, we found out some new info on Howard Johnson’s rib eating championship that involves none other than Rusty Staub, we go over listeners name submissions from last we...

Things that aren’t supposed to happen in a domed baseball stadium: -A rain out -A luxury apartment complete with a bowling alley and a gun range -A radio announced calling a game from a box suspended above second base All of these things, as odd as they sound, took place in the Houston Astrodome. This week we look at the history and the oddities of baseball’s first domed stadium. Plus, players who...

Do you remember players wearing shiny jackets in the dugout? How about special shoes just for Astroturf? How about umpires holding a balloon protector infront of them behind homeplate. They say Pepperidge Farm remembers, well so do Jeff and Mark. This week we remember some things from when we started out as fans of the game that are no longer around. We also relive the best use of a slice of pizza...

It’s so great to have baseball back!  Leading off this week no-hit catchers, Tim Lacastro update, baseball TikTok and some Hall of Fame debuts. In our main segment we learn about Harvey Haddix, who threw the greatest perfect game inn MLB history only to not only not get credit for a perfect game but also took the loss! Wax Pack Heroes is a nail bitter with some Stadium Club & Fleer providing ammo....

There's so much to talk about from Opening Week. Several starts for players that people will be talking about years from now as well as some odd moves, missing fans, player contact tracking, debuts and the answer to one of our hardest trivia questions yet. Our main segments highlights some of the oddest promotions and giveaways from the recent past in both the major and minor leagues. From toilet...

Opening week is here and we celebrate by talking about Joey Gallo’s prom date, Charlie Brown’s lone career home run, Johnny Vander Meer’s forgotten no hitter, pitcher’s using pickle juice and nail salons and Minor League baseball’s attempt to curb domestic violence (hint: it did not go well). Plus a couple of 1989 Topps packs  for another version of Wax Pack Heroes.  Circle Back song - Circleback...

We don’t ever want to hear people complain about baseball games taking too long. In 1981 the Rochester Red Wings and Pawtucket Paw Sox decided that 9 innings was not enough for them. It took 33 innings (and a couple of months) for a winner to be declared. Future Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and Wade Boggs were amongst the players who played the equivalent of 3+ games without a break! We break dow...

Long at bats, famous first last names, barber shop quartets, strange Topps products, Cheese steak champions and secretly living in a baseball stadium. What if we told you that isn’t even everything we talk about in this week’s show? Plus, this week’s Wax Pack Heroes takes a rather dark turn quickly when we open one of what might be the most delinquent packs of Donruss ever.  Trivia Answer - https:...

Before Jim Abbott, there was Hugh Daily. He was a fiery, one handed, Irishman who was one of the first pitchers to throw over hand. The biggest problem with having Hugh on your team though was, nobody liked him. His penchant for causing a train wreck mixed with striking out batters made him popular with fans, but much less so with his teammates. Plus we cover more Adam Ottovino fan-fiction written...

Horace Fogel was a failed politician, failed manager & failed owner. How bad was he? He tried to convert a young Christy Mathewson into a first baseman. Despite all of his misfires he continued to be involved in baseball until he pushed too far, dealing in late 1800’s Qanon-like baseball conspiracy theories. Bad enough were these falsehoods that they landed him in very rare company, banned from ba...

The 1981 MLB season was known for two things, a strike and Fernando-mania. Dodger fans went crazy for a 20 year old, left-handed screwballer who captured the interest of the Latin fan base of LA as well as the Rookie of the Year & the Cy Young! There were songs written about him, cereal boxes with his face on them & strikeouts. Lots of them. We talk everything El Toro. Plus, we remember the annive...

Talk of taking the bat out of the pitcher’s hands goes all the way back to the late 1800’s. So why do we still have two leagues with different rules? We’ll walk through all the iterations and arguments for and against the designated hitter this week as well as touch on baseball player home security, Storm Davis’ origin story, the 1976 A’s literally running a mile ahead of the Twins and Wax Pack He...

Rickey Henderson Hall of Fame artifacts now presented by Two Strike Noise! We’ll tell you where to see them. We start our search for the most Wax Pack Hero-ish additional scoring card. Can you beat the 1993 Tony Gwynn Topps? Then we listen to some of the most famous home run calls over the past 70 years. Can you name them just by listening to the call? Finally, we crack a couple of packs of Score...

More tales from the dugout this week as we remember the Astros want to remind you to update those passwords, Bernie the Brewer was a real, beer-swelling, lederhosen-wearing, camper-on-top-of-the-scoreboard-living Brewers fan for five months and baseball insults that cut. Wax Pack Heroes features a pack of 1986 Topps versus 1990 Bowman.  Twitter - @twostrikenoise Instagram - @twostrikenoise Two Str...

The baseball podcast crossover event of the new year continues. This week the Baseball Beyond Batting Average Podcast joins us to go over the 1990 season in the American League. It was a wild year from Dave Stewart’s jock strap, Steve Lyon’s pants (or lack of), a lot of no-hitters and a pair of Griffey’s. Mark and Andy help us take a look at the best & worst from each team & the award winners. Plu...

The 1990’s was awash with what seemed like hundreds of different brands of baseball cards. Brands needed something that made them stand out and be more collectible than others. In 1996 Pinnacle came up with just such an idea. Covergirl model and owner of a red Ferrari in National Lampoon’s Vacation, Christie Brinkley. Brinkley worked with Atlanta and Cleveland (who had faced off in the World Serie...

We lost Tommy Lasorda last week. He was described as the last “Celebrity Manager”. We review Tommy’s greatest hits, from ranting about Dave Kingman or Kurt Beveacqua or talking his way out of a speeding ticket on CHiPs or even hawking Slim Fast. Plus, we are both dog lovers and so are alot of baseball players. It seems like it’s always been that way. We look at the history of baseball players and...

New year, new history. We start it off right by comparing prices on Cameo and try to figure out why Hall of Famers are so undervalued on the platform. Real important stuff. Christopher Fredrick Wilhelm von der Ahe might have one of the longest names in baseball history. He never picked up a bat or threw a ball but he was one of early baseballs most important owners. He pioneered the fan experience...