Bat Flips And Nerds

Matt Joyce!

John, Darius and Rob chat about the scourge of sticky stuff and take a Will Craig inspired deep dive into the NL Central; they also have time to big up the Palm Beach Cardinals, Joey Votto and the Tauch, and to pour scorn on the Rays, the As and the poor old Orioles.

Whilst you're here, head over to https://obviousshirts.com/collections/boog and grab a shirt to support our great pal Boog and strike out ALS.

Former Twins and Blue Jays slugger and self styled 'Indy Ball Hall of Famer' Chris Colabello joins John to chat about his long route to the bigs, the magical 2015 Toronto Blue Jays, growing up in Italy and representing the Azzurri internationally, and his ongoing quest to correct the PED injustice which ended his career and continues to jeopardise others.

Darius, Rob and Ben band together to review a groundhog week of baseball action as Tony La Russa grabbed the headlines (again) and pitchers threw no hitters (again).

There was also talk of the weirdest statistical hitting line ever, the greatest manager tantrum in a long time and - of course - the San Francisco Giants have now been struck by the Darius curse...

Chicago White Sox ace Lucas Giolito joins John to chat about his season so far, remodelling his pitching arsenal and how he wants to continuously improve, the vibe in the White Sox clubhouse and his desire to use his platform for good.

John, Darius and Russell tackle the week in MLB, including big thumbs up for the New York Yankees, Patrick Mazeika and the amazing Drew Robinson, but also thumbs down for rubbish outfield defence, pitchers hitting and the Oakland Athletics laying a massive egg.

The brilliant Keith Law, national baseball writer for The Athletic, prospect and draft savant, all round good egg and author of the best selling books 'Smart Baseball' and 'The Inside Game' joins John to discuss:

- Being back at the ballpark
- The 2020 draft, and his No. 1 pick 'sleeper'
- His new book, The Inside Game
- Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa
- Not sticking to sports.

This is a fun one!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Wade Allen Miley.

In an unprecedented development, big baseball news breaks before the pod instead of immediately after it. Ben, Russell and Darius react to the Angels designating Albert Pujols for assignment and take a look back at the highlights of his stellar career. They also tip the cap to John Means and his imperfect game, before another round of 2 Good 2 Bad, featuring Tony La Russa, Robbie Ray, and Mike Trout.

John, Ben and Rob are joined by Jon Mackenzie of Absolute Bunts for this week's MLB Roundup.

They cover the Rockies firing of Jeff Bridich, gambling in baseball and the incredible Jacob DeGrom before offering 'Two Bad, Two Good' garlands to the Dbacks, Phillies, Cubs, Astros, Byron Buxton, and that kid who robbed Kole Calhoun - you'll have to listen to find out which way.

We also have a word or two to say about the British Baseball Federation.

How has this taken us 5 years to do?

Darius, Russell and John carry out BFN's first ever bat flip draft.

To keep it competitive, and get some expert help, they're joined by host MLB on FOX's Flippin' Bats podcast, and former pro ballplayer, Ben Verlander.

Do you agree with the guys' picks? We bet we found you a new favourite flip...