All About Baseball with Byron Copley

The deluge of data that is delivered to viewers and spectators during a given MLB game, whether in person, on television, or even in a radio broadcast, renders the actual events on the field as specimens to examine rather than feats to admire. In regards to baseball, less data is "more appreciation" for the game itself. This podcast ruminates on the true nature of baseball. And real-time data has no place, in my opinion, in the booth or on any Jumbotron.

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Music: "Field Grass," by Sergei Pavkin

"Vida is throwing extremely hard."

What a difference a week makes. On September 8, the Tigers were 9.5 games ahead of Kansas City. Now, the 2025 Detroit Tigers, as of this day, are in the EXACT same position as the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies -- 5.5 games in first place with 11 games to play, and they lost the National League pennant to the Cardinals. The present second-place team is the red-hot Cleveland Guardians. This podcast measures the Tigers' chances of maintaining its precarious hold on first place and also presents a case as to why the Guardians have a legitimate shot at catching Detroit. I also claim that a baseball season is not a marathon, but a series of sprints, and the Tigers, after jumping out in front by a wide margin, are fading in the home stretch.

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Music: "Field Grass" by Sergei Pavkin

The New York Yankees offered a moment of silence on September 10, 2025, prior to its game against the Detroit Tigers, to recognize the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which had occurred earlier that day. This podcast supports that decision as a gesture to a person who was only attempting to exercise his right -- and that of those with whom he disagreed -- of free speech and discourse.

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Link to article on Heavy.com

Prior to the game of Friday, September 5, 2025, the Detroit Tigers held a 9.5 game lead over the second-place Kansas City Royals in the American League Central. Only a total collapse that would have to even be more catastrophic than the Tigers' losing 12 of 13 game from July 9 to July 26 could allow the Royals to catch the Tigers. So, this podcast is a preventative measure that reviews the collapse of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, when the bottom dropped out of the tub in the final ten games of the season.

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Music: "Field Grass," by Sergei Pavkin

Rob Manfred is at it again. He wants to expand MLB to 32 teams and organize them in divisions based solely on geographic proximity and dissolve the American and National leagues. His rationale is thin in substance and thick in deception. I think that this is merely about making the TV package negotiations in progress more lucrative for the prospective provider of MLB streaming and TV coverage. Also, I offer a somewhat novel wrinkle to the post season that rewards the all best teams who deserve a shot at a World Series championship.

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"Field Grass," by Sergei Pavkin

A listener-request inspired me to dig into the mystery of the so-called "catcher's balk," a term commonly used, but found nowhere in the rule book. Naturally, my investigation lead me into a discussion about the time-space continuum, which, unlike the "catcher's balk," definitely does exist.

www.byroncopley.com

Music: "Field Grass," by Sergei Pavkin

Now that this podcast is approaching 100 episodes, with no intention of slowing down, I'm going to start working in past episodes from time to time. This one is one of my favorites to date, and bears a second listen -- or a first if you have never heard it.

www.byroncopley.com

Music: "Field Grass," by Sergei Pavkin

This rather clumsy podcast title was born out of the emergence of Jen Powol, the first woman to ever umpire a Major League baseball game in the regular season. The historical significance of this event would be better served if everyone dismissed her gender and acknowledged that measuring her performance at the same standards of her male peers, without bias in either direction, is what really matters. The best umpires are rarely, if ever, noticed, and the best compliment to Jen Powol would be to allow her that same opportunity.

www.byroncopley.com

Music: "Field Grass," Sergei Pavkin

The current size of the Little League World Series Baseball field, which features a 46-foot pitching distance from home plate, 60-foot bases, and 225-foot fences, is limiting the development of the 12-year-olds who compete every summer for the LLWS Championship as well as many plays that baseball at the Little League level would offer on a larger field. This podcast identifies specific plays and situations that this small field adversely affects or eliminates altogether, to the detriment of the game.

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Music: "Field Grass," by Sergei Pavkin

Are the scandals involving Cleveland Guardians' pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, who suspiciously threw several pitches well out of the strike zone with the identical count of 0-0 on the leadoff hitter in the inning the result of satisfying bets for their own benefit? This podcast does not answer that question. Instead, it offers a simple solution for rendering these incidents as moot: ban legal gambling from the landscape of Major League Baseball, after "scraping to the bottom of the kettle" to eradicate such possibilities -- for the integrity of the game and potential well-being of MLB players, who could be at the mercy of similar nefarious forces who fixed the 1919 World Series. Will MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred follow these recommendations? I wouldn't bet on it.

Special guest appearance by Vern, our Briard puppy, who we adopted from our late son, Stuart. May he rest in peace.

In Memoriam: Stuart Mitchell Copley, January 4, 1989 - June 27, 2025.

Gus Sands vs. Roy Hobbs in The Natural

www.byroncopley.com

Music: "Field Grass," by Sergei Pavkin