Almost Cooperstown

Angel Hernandez umpired 33 years of MLB. He stepped down this week and received no demand that he continue. His time was over. Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. went down with an awful ACL injury (again), and will miss the rest of the 2024 season. The last time Acuna Jr. had a season-ending injury the Braves won the World Series. 

Josh Gibson is now the player with the highest all-time batting average in MLB. His .372 career BA beat Ty Cobb by 5 or 6 points depending on how you look at the stats.  The week in MLB was interesting and exciting with Aaron Judge completing an all-time May for Yankee hitters. The Yanks and Phillies are on a pace to win 110 games with the Orioles and Guardian not far behind. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends! 

The infield shift has been banned for about 1 1/2 seasons and the results are that left handed hitters have had some benefit mostly at the expense of right handed hitters. Baseball batting averages are still among the lowest in MLB history.  Watching teams struggle to get hits and score runs can be a chore.  Pitcher injuries continue to blossom.  Can anything be done about it? 

We discuss some weird but intriguing considerations to help create more offense in baseball. 

Luis Arraez played for the Marlins last season and part of this season - not the Twins.  Tyrod Taylor is a NY Jet quarterback, Tyrone Taylor is a Mets outfielder. 

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!  

Happy Memorial day to all of our listeners and their families. A memorial service could be held for a few #MLB teams including the #Mets and #Rockies.  But the #Guardians and #Phillies keep flying high.  The #Royals won 9 out of 10 but gained no ground in the AL Central. #Orioles have starting pitcher health issues. #Astros are playing better but are relying heavily on Justin Verlander. 

The #White Sox lost to the #Orioles this week on a bizarre game ending double play.  Baseball always has a way of pointing out a flaw in the way the rules are employed.  

We lament on the moribund Mets - kinda what we do. 

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.
 

Blasts and swords will become terms baseball nerds will use to describe batter's strengths and weaknesses. Squared-up contact too. We took a look at the new nomenclature put out by Statcast/Baseball Savant and it interesting and amusing. 

We talk about what is the actual description of the bat's 'sweet spot' and how that figures into some of the news stats. 

As would be expected the best hitters are near or at the top of many of the stats. But not all of them since hitters succeed and fail in a variety of ways. 

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.

Like Lazerus, the #Astros are finally rising from the ashes, while the #Guardians continue to surprise, #Yankees and #Orioles are the class of the AL East.  The #Phillies are better than we thought w/the #Braves looking up at them for a change. #Cubs Shota Imanaga is the early Cy Young candidate along with Ranger Suarez and Chris Sale. 

Is it too early to talk about Wild Card races? We don't think so!   

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.

HOFer Cy Young's record 511 wins are safe in the record books as ones that truly will never be broken. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak has a better chance of being broken. 

20-game winners are also going by the wayside with only Spencer Strider last season, Kyle Wright the year before and Julio Urias in 2021. None of those pitchers are currently pitching, all for very different reasons. 

Assigning a 'win' to a pitcher is a bit strange in the first place since baseball is a team spot. We talk about what could be changed as well as why the 'W' is still interesting and important.  

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.

Aaron Judge and Juan Soto for the Yankees are keeping them close to the first place Orioles. The AL playoffs are a long way away but teams can play their way out of the wild card if they're not careful. 

Pirates Paul Skenes finally made his #MLB debut vs. the Cubs and topped 100 MPH 17 times striking out 7 and got the win in a bizarre finish. Tigers Tarik Skubal is having a Cy Young-type season and looks almost unhittable. 

Divisions are settled in with just a few surprises. Injuries still are a bugaboo for many teams. Astros are still close enough to get back into it mainly because the other teams have not pulled away.

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.

We love baseball books and Vince Wetzel's 'Lose Yourself' is a fun read.  Fictional Oakland A's OF Brett Austen is trying to join the great Ted Williams as the newest member of the .400 batting average for a season club.  A's fans don't have much to cheer about despite this year's decent start for the undermanned team.  

Since the A's are slated to move to Las Vegas in 2028, (something we are not 100% sure will happen), and there is not-yet-sufficient MLB park in Vegas, the A's will play for three seasons in a not-yet-sufficient park in Sacramento.  We talked with Vince about what it's like being an A's fan and why he decided to write a book about the quest for .400 for an Oakland Athletics player. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!  And please tell your friends. 

The Twins won 12 in a row with a little help from a bizarre packaged summer sausage that the Twins kept in their dugout.  Whatever the impact the Twins are squarely back in the hunt in the AL Central which is still led by the Guardians. 

The Dodgers had an interesting week highlighted by a zero strikeout game by the offense on Tuesday vs. the Diamondbacks in an 8-4 win.  Mookie Betts leads the NL in batting average with Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani right behind. Freddie Freeman must be somewhere close.  Max Muncy hit 3 HRs in a game on Saturday in a win vs. the Braves for the first time in his career. 

The Pirates have sunk to the bottom of the NL Central while the Mariners on the strength of their pitching have risen to the top of the AL West. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!  And please tell your friends. 

2nd baseman Ryne Sandberg is deservedly in the Hall of Fame. So is Roberto Alomar.  On the other hand, Bobby Grich, Lou Whitaker, and Jeff Kent are not, and it's unlikely that Robinson Cano will ever make it for off-the-field reasons.  Chase Utley has a chance, and Jose Altuve is on track. 

We compared all of these players stats and careers and it's amazing how much alike their careers were or have been so far.  Only 20 2B have ever been elected to the HOF.  

Gordon makes a great point that the historical HOF era committees should vote more regularly than every few years. 

Chase Utley did not play his entire career with the Phillies as he played four different seasons for the Dodgers.  

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at [email protected].  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!  And please tell your friends.