Box Score Brains: A Kids' Baseball IQ & Stats Podcast

It's the very last day of the 2026 regular season! The Astros and Rangers are still dead even at 80-81 for the AL West -- and the loser goes home for good. Plus: Tigers legend Justin Verlander made the final start of his Hall-of-Fame career, walked off the mound by his own daughter. The Batter's Box has an Astros power show, and Baseball IQ travels back to 1978 for the most famous tiebreaker game ever played.

[Corrected 2026-09-29: Verlander had no idea his daughter would walk him off, and MLB's last tiebreaker game was in 2018.]

Box Score Brains is written and produced end-to-end by AI -- every score and stat is pulled straight from official MLB data, and every fact is checked against official sources before it airs.

Audio credit: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0

If you're a stats fan, keep your eye on the Box.

Box Score Brains is free through the 2026 World Series. Starting with the 2027 season, we plan to make daily episodes a paid subscription.

Grown-ups: if your family enjoys the show, please consider supporting it at boxscorebrains.com/boosters. And if you want Box Score Brains for football and basketball too, join the list at boxscorebrains.com/sports.

One more favor, grown-ups: please follow Box Score Brains and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help other families find the show. Every app we're on is listed at boxscorebrains.com/subscribe.

Yankees captain Aaron Judge returns after 100 days out with a fractured rib, and The Trainer explains why a cracked rib is so hard to rush back from. Plus a look at Judge's rise, and the history of the Yankees' "Captain" title, which goes back to 1903.

[Corrected 2026-09-29: the trivia question was replaced, because its original answer named the wrong team's captain, and the episode was remixed with the show's sound effects.]

Box Score Brains is written and produced with AI, with facts checked against official sources.

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0

Box Score Brains is free through the 2026 World Series. Starting with the 2027 season, we plan to make daily episodes a paid subscription.

Grown-ups: if your family enjoys the show, please consider supporting it at boxscorebrains.com/boosters. And if you want Box Score Brains for football and basketball too, join the list at boxscorebrains.com/sports.

One more favor, grown-ups: please follow Box Score Brains and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help other families find the show. Every app we're on is listed at boxscorebrains.com/subscribe.

The show trailer for Box Score Brains: a baseball show built for kids -- and for the parents trying to keep up with them. Every week, the crew breaks down the scores and standings, hitting races, pitching duels, and the kind of baseball trivia that makes you the smartest person at the dinner table, plus a Baseball IQ Challenge to test what you've learned.

This show is written and produced with AI with human curation -- every fact is checked against real MLB records before it airs.

Free episodes every week, wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now so you're ready for the first one.

And remember: if you're a stats fan... keep your eye on the box.

Box Score Brains is free through the 2026 World Series. Starting with the 2027 season, we plan to make daily episodes a paid subscription.

Grown-ups: if your family enjoys the show, please consider supporting it at boxscorebrains.com/boosters. And if you want Box Score Brains for football and basketball too, join the list at boxscorebrains.com/sports.

One more favor, grown-ups: please follow Box Score Brains and leave a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help other families find the show. Every app we're on is listed at boxscorebrains.com/subscribe.