Bat Flips And Nerds

It's our 200th episode, and the start of the 2020 World Series! Rob, Russell, Ben and Darius celebrate this momentous occasion by discussing how everyone will treat the Astros going forwards, before debating whether the Rays are really underdogs, if Dave Roberts and Kevin Cash deserve their reputations, and pick their candidates for the Steve Pearce Random World Series MVP Award.

Comedian and documentary maker Reginald D Hunter joins Rachel to discuss his passion for the Atlanta Braves, following baseball from his home in the UK and how Greg Maddux influenced his career in stand up.

The postseason is here and that can only mean one thing: ill-advised predictions. John, Russell, Rob and Darius fill out the official BF&N playoff bracket live on the pod. Is it finally the Dodgers' year? Did the White Sox peak too soon? Why not Miami?

As the regular season approaches its conclusion, Rob, Russell, Ben and Darius talk about the race for the final NL playoff spots, the lack of race for the AL playoff spots, the new postseason format, and the leading MVP and Cy Young candidates.

Russell Carleton, Baseball Prospectus analyst and author of The Shift, joins Russell and Darius to talk about whether teams are shifting too much, the next frontiers of baseball analysis, and the intersection of sabermetrics & psychology.

John, Darius, Russell and Ben reflect on the first half of the 2020 MLB season, whether the baseball feels normal and whether that matters at all as long as it's fun?

Fernando Tatis Jr gets a ton of love, and we discuss whether he is leading a new era of charismatic baseball players and signalling the death of the 'unwritten rules'.

There's also time for some chat about fun and obscure relievers (of course) and what we expect to see from the upcoming trade deadline. John's cat also makes a guest appearance.

Guest hosts Sarah and Helen from the UK Yankees podcast, the Empire Strikes Back, are joined the the brilliant Annika Orrock to discuss her fabulous new book The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

You can find it on Amazon right here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incredible-All-American-Professional-Baseball-League/dp/1452173648

And you can find The Empire Strikes Back podcast right here: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-empire-strikes-back

Rachel, Rob, Russell and Darius chat about their favourite things from the season so far, debate the runner on second base in extra innings, and recap a whole lot more from the first week of the 2020 season.

Tom, Russ and John are joined by Miami Marlins UK's Pete Pratt to discuss a dramatic day in MLB following a classic Opening Weekend for the 2020 season.

Will three days in July be all the MLB musters this year?

Ben, Darius, Tom and John preview the 60 game wild card season in trademark BFN fashion - by inputting win totals into a spreadsheet you can't see.

Listen in to hear which basket your team falls into:

- Teams we hate because they suck
- Teams we hate because they are amazing
- Teams we hate due to their abject banality