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As long as baseball has been played people have bet on the game and events during the playing of games.  Today we see updated betting lines posted during coverage of the games!  A far cry from when bets were made through a casino or a bookie! 

We ask the question are baseball bettors real fans of the game? Do they watch the game the way non-betting fans do?  Betting on baseball is here to stay and will likely get even more reach. 

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out a few kinks so bear with us.  Here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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We start with the obvious 4 - Miguel Cabrera, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.  But Mike Trout is already in HOFer in our book. But how about Joey Votto? Zach Greinke?  Evan Longoria? Evan Longoria!!!?  Since Cabrera is retiring after this year and playing beyond this season is not certain with Kershaw, Votto, and Greinke, you do well to watch these players carefully as it may be for the last time!

There are players who've played more than 8 MLB seasons that we talk about who are either on track and need more time to achieve HOF status,  We also discuss others that had a good start but kind of fizzled out.

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out a few kinks so bear with us.  Here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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Of course Shohei Ohtani would not have been able to play in the 1920s. The first Japanese-born player Masanori Murakari appeared in an MLB game in 1964.  And it might have been the same for Aaron Judge who is bi-racial but may have been deemed 'acceptable' 100 years ago. But we use our imaginations and wonder what Babe Ruth would have looked like (fitter and stronger) in 2023 vs. 1923. And Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani playing in the 1920's would not have them looking the way they do now using the training methods of that day!

All three of them do things that have not been done before.  Babe Ruth did not bat the way he did AFTER he ceased pitching regularly.  Pitching and hitting at elite levels during the same season is unprecedented even if Babe Ruth led the league in 1918 with 11 homers while being a regular starting pitcher for the Red Sox.

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out a few kinks so bear with us.  Here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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Established in 1962 (like the Mets) the Astros were originally the Houston Colt 45's and played in Colt Stadium. The Astrodome opened in 1965 as the self-proclaimed 8th wonder of the world.   The first 20+ years of the franchise did not go very well but since 1997 things have gone better and the 'Stros have only missed the playoffs once since 2015.

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out our own kinks.  No videos yet but if you care to listen from YouTube here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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We spent the entire episode calling him I-Rod without ever mentioning Ivan Rodriguez by name!  We didn't mention a few catchers like Carlton Fisk and Gary Carter who were close.  We also did not talk about Josh Gibson who may have been the best of all time?!

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out our own kinks.  No videos yet but if you care to listen from YouTube here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

www.almostcooperstown.com

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Most baseball fans know the Dodgers have the most Rookies of the Year, 18, since the award now named for the 1st winner Jackie Robinson in 1947.  Jackie was the 1st Dodger with Cody Bellinger being the most recent. The Yankees are 2nd with 9. 

Are some teams better at handling rookies? Is it an organizational thing? Or are some teams luckier than others. It's interesting that most of the teams with the most ROYs have been more consistently in contention than the others.

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out our own kinks.  No videos yet but if you care to listen from YouTube here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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All 30 MLB teams will play on Opening Day March 30 - the day this podcast drops! We were lucky to be joined by Michael Ortman  to talk about his book Opening Day 50-for-50, One fan, One game, A half century of baseball stories.  The history of what was going on at the time of each Opening Day in baseball is woven into his book in a very compelling way.  This season's Opening Day debuts new rules that will make watching baseball in 2023 faster and we think better.

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out our own kinks.  No videos yet but if you care to listen from YouTube here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

To learn more about the book visit Michael Ortman's website: https://www.openingday5050.com/

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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Here we go with season 4!  This is our longest episode ever which we really did not expect since we talk fast. But when you talk about all 30 teams it takes awhile.  And we make our picks for division, playoffs, and the World Series.

We've added a YouTube Channel and are still working out our own kinks.  No videos yet but if you care to listen from YouTube here is the link to the Almost Cooperstown channel.

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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It was not as easy to drop the Indians nickname when talking about the team before, well last season!  Old habits die hard but we're fine with the team having changed its name as it was overdue. 122 years, an original member of the American League with 16 playoff appearances, 2 AL pennants and 2 WS championships. It ain't easy being a fan of the Guardians, Indians, Naps or any other Cleveland baseball team nickname! 

Jacobs Field opened in 1994 - the strike year. Mark had a little trouble with that. And we got through an entire podcast without mentioning 'Super' Joe Charbonneau.  

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com

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We've been asked by listeners about who we'd take out of the HOF since we want to add players and managers. In truth, we don't feel any player elected by whatever means should be 'removed'.  Sure there are some head scratchers and guys that under today's standards should not have been voted in.  But that's reductive and we don't feel it's at all necessary.  

But we do come up with 10 total players that we feel could have been bypassed and we also discuss the long list of players and owners who are often mentioned as being 'undeserving'.  A few of those names are also head scratching!  

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 @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating! 

www.almostcooperstown.com