Almost Cooperstown

As we launch our 6th season of Almost Cooperstown podcasts we start by saying thank you to our listeners and viewers. 280 episodes in the can and still going strong!  Thank you for liking to hear and watch us talk about our favorite thing - baseball! 

We go division by division picking all 30 teams in order of finish. It's a long episode for that reason but we just couldn't stop ourselves!  Take it in bites if you can't listen all at once. 

Will the #Dodgers go 162-0?  Can any team beat them in the NL West? Which teams will surprise? Which teams will disappoint? What will happen in Sacramento this season? Or Tampa? Both are hosting #MLB teams who've not played regular season games at their ballparks. 

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

Author of 19 books, Keith O'Brien grew up in Cincinnati and had a front row seat to much of Pete Rose's career. Keith's 2024 book "Charlie Hustle" won awards from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and The New Yorker. We both enjoyed the book immensely and recommend it highly. 

Pete Rose was addicted to gambling, something he finally admitted, but only when he was trying to get baseball to reinstate him to be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Pete always played to win and also always managed his teams to win. But his lifelong association with gamblers and gambling proved to   be his ultimate undoing. He does have the most hits in MLB history AND a 44-game hitting streak that remains a National League record. 

Keith has so many great stories from having interviewed Pete for 27 hours and talking with so many people who knew and interacted with Pete Rose on a daily basis. Keith asked us if what we thought about Pete Rose being in the HOF! 

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

Even before Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis banned eight #Whitesox players for their attempted fix of the 1919 World Series, players had been banned, blacklisted and banished from baseball mostly for trying to fix games but not always. Once Commissioner Landis was given the job and power to kick players and people out of baseball he used it liberally as did his successors. 

Even Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were banned from #MLB in 1983 for being greeters at different casinos in Atlantic City. Finally Peter Ueberroth un-banned them which might have been his finest moment as commish. 

Sometimes it's gambling, other times drugs, and still other instances are even more serious and criminal. We talk about the difference between black-listing and blackballing and how #baseball hopes one of the other major sports has a gambling scandal before MLB does. 

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

#Yankees Giancarlo Stanton is injured. Again. This time it is tennis elbow in both elbows!  #Mets FA acquisition Nick Madrigal is doing his Jed Lowrie imitation as he's out for the season before it ever started!  Injuries are part of the game but you hope to get through Spring Training! 

Max Scherzer is not thrilled with ABS testing so far. But Max is never happy about, everything? Terry Francona of the #Reds told his players to ignore ABS since they are not going to use it this season anyway. 

Authir Keith O'Brien will join the podcast in 2 weeks to talk about his book "Charlie Hustle".  Pete Rose was in the news again as he's set to receive a pardon for his criminal activities (tax related) from President Trump. #MLB commissioner Rob Manfred then piped in that they will take another look at Pete's explusion. 

The youngest player to play MLB was LHP Joe Nuxhall in 1944. He was still 15 years old and only in high school!  He pitched one game, got shelled, and didn't come back to the show for 7 years!  Joe pitched 16 seasons and won 135 games a pitcher and became a long time broadcaster for Cincinnati with HOF broadcaster Marty Brennaman. 

We also talked about NY Giants Freddie Lindstrom who became a HOFer - somehow, and still is the youngest player to ever play in the World Series. Even younger than #Braves Andruw Jones! 

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends! 

Alex Bregman homered in his first Spring Training game for #redsox. He also went 3-3. #Mets Juan Soto went oppo toco deep in his first AB with his new team. #yankees Aaron Boone got a contract extension and Giancarlo Stanton has tennis elbow. In both elbows?  Frankie Montas now of the Mets is injured. Justin Turner goes to #Cubs. Does that give them an edge?  ABS made its debut in Spring Training and teams are testing it out. 

Yankees also rescinded the facial hair policy. It lasted 49 years. #reds had a longer time not allowing whiskers - from 1902-1999!  Marge Schott put a stop to it of all people! 

We also dream that a salary cap attempt by owners backfires into a salary floor with NO salary cap!  It could happen but probably won't.  

Deadball era pitchers like Christy Mathewson, Lefty Grove, Rube Waddell, Cy Young made it tough on hitters and were a bigger part of hitters failures than pithcers were given credit for.  Hitters used heavy bats and their approach to hitting was limited once foul balls were counted as strikes - which they were not until 1901 in the NL and 1903 in the AL. We're so glad the deadball era is past but starting pitchers today are a dying breed.

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

There was enough news for us to talk about what went on this week. Alex Bregman #redsox was the biggest player news. #Angels Rendon is out of action for the season. Again. Before it even started! Who will be the dark horse teams in #MLB 2025? How about caps for the HOF inductees? Is C.C. really a #Yankees player?  

Then there's the Deadball era which occurred from 1901-1919. It was not completely consistent and happened for a variety of reasons. Ty Cobb led #americanleague with 9 home runs in 1909! Offense did improve with the change in #baseballs in 1910 but pitchers found new ways to cut, slather and doctor baseballs.

Note: Gavy Cravath actually did lead the lead in home runs 6 times during the Deadball era. 

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

Well here we are with spring training at hand as pitchers & catchers are reporting for #Cubs today. Other teams will follow shortly. Football season is over and baseball is on the way!  How did the NL teams offseason go? #Dodgers, #Giants and #Mets were noisy.  #Reds have Terry Francona at the helm. #Padres are puzzling. #Dbacks are dynamic w Corbin Burnes at the top of the rotation. #Cubs get Ryan Pressley to close. #Brewers were baffling. #Phillies added Jesus Luzardo, #Braves will get Strider and Acuna back early in the season. #Nationals wish they played in a different division. #Pirates were pretty quiet. #Cardinals got older. #Rockies return to play again. 

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

#MLB Pitchers and catchers report in about 10 days. So officially baseball winter is over as the sound of balls hitting gloves is imminent!  Watching video of #Rangers Jacob DeGrom is compelling and full of promise!  The fate of the team is likely tied to how DeGrom pitches in 2025 and how much! 

We talk about the American League teams and what they did of interest since the 2024 season regular season ended in early October.  Four months is a long time!  Which AL teams got better? Did any?  #Yankees lost Juan Soto and Clay Holmes as well as Anthony Rizzo. They brought in Max Fried, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger.  Seems like it could be a good exchange if the three play to their best selves. 

But who's gonna play third base for the Yanks especially when Max Fried pitches? We cover every team on the Junior Circuit - even the team that formerly played in Oakland and was called the Athletics. We have no idea what they will be when they play in Sacramento this and the following two years at least. 

"This is the year" is one of our favorite expressions that is too often hope triumphing over experience. 

Correction - Matt Manning did not pitch for #Tigers in playoffs. It was Matt Boyd who is now with the #Cubs. 

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

Dan was not the voter who didn't vote for Ichiro. But we all wish we knew who it was! For the 3rd straight year Dan joined the podcast to discuss the final HOF voting.  He voted for Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley, and Billy Wagner. 9 in total and we discussed why he didn't vote for one more - could have been King Felix, Andy Pettitte, or Dustin Pedrioia or even David Wright! 

We also discussed allowing voters to vote for more candidates than the current limit of 10. Gordon suggested that if a player got one vote in his first year on the ballot he could stay on for year 2 and then be subject to some sort of minimum percentage - 5% or even less. 

As #Mets fans we are thrilled that Billy Wagner finally made it. New Yorkers will be traveling to Cooperstown this coming July to celebrate CC and Billy. 

Dan is working on a couple of new articles including an upcoming one on Babe Dahlgren's foray into video analysis more than 70 years ago!

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

#pirates and #whitesox Smoky Burgess had a pretty good career with a career OPS+ of 116. But he's third all-time in pinch hits and was a beloved player at the end of his career. We talk about the changes in pinch hitting and why all-time pinch hitting records are likely safe!

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 X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!