Foul Territory

First and Foremost, are you concerned about baseball’s home run crazy season?

After a brief hiatus, Jed Rigney and Jon Sumple are back for the pennant drive with Episode 109 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast—The Jerk edition. Lots to catch up on over the last few weeks, so here’s a look at this week’s Headlines:

Red Sox win their August 7 game on August 22

Diamondbacks discussed a move to Nevada

Fan at Rockies game throws 96 mph and gets signed by A’s

Phillies file lawsuit to keep Phanatic as mascot

Mets have best record since the All-Star break (maybe)

Marlins apologize for Steve Irwin Twitter joke fiasco

Pedro Martinez suggests smaller ball contributing to home run crazy season

Yankees’ Aaron Boone says it’s worth exploring the “mercy rule” and Alex Cora suggests dumber ideas

Fernando Tatis is done for season (back)

Dodgers set MLB record of 22 home runs in five games

Clayton Kershaw passes Sandy Koufax in Dodger wins

Aristides Aquino reached 10 home runs in just 16 games

Mets’ Pete Alonso sets NL rookie mark with 40th HR

Carlos Carrasco pitches for first time since leukemia diagnosis

Albert Pujols sets MLB record for most hits by foreign-born player

MLB bans playing in Venezuela amid Trump order

Astros stunned in historic upset at sportsbooks

Astros deny Detroit reporter access to Justin Verlander

Orioles claim dubious record with 259th HR allowed

Court says Orioles owe Nationals nearly $100M for TV rights fees

Braves fan arrested attempting to bring cocaine in a cowboy boot to SunTrust Park

MLB reportedly has a new PED threat — gas station sexual-enhancement pills

Yasiel Puig becomes a US Citizen

With all the headlines to cover, we wrap up the show with this week’s Starting Nine.  In honor of the Little League World Series, Jed brings us nine players with movies starring little people names.

First and foremost, the Baldwin Scale is back! Did you miss it? We know you did!

Episode 108 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast—the Annie Hall edition—devotes most of the episode to the Jed Rigney’s brainchild from several years ago: the Baldwin Scale. It’s Jed’s way of ranking GMs after the trade deadline, giving them an Alec rating for a great performance, a Billy rating for good but not great, a Stephen rating for failing to do enough and a Daniel rating for a dreadful performance. A handful of Alecs and Daniels, but most teams landed in the Billy or Stephen camps. Listen to get the details on Jed’s thoughts for each and every team. How about that blockbuster Grienke deal at as the clock struck 4 pm EST? Astros won the day and earned the biggest Alec of them all.

In addition, we discuss Woody Allen movies and their creep factor, and a few Headlines (Troy Tulowitzki, Twins fastest to reach 200 home runs in a season and Steve Wilkerson becoming the first position player to notch a save).

This week’s Starting Nine is a tribute to actor Rutger Hauer, who recently passed away. Jed transforms Hauer’s epic speech at the end of Blade Runner by strategically adding baseball player names to the soliloquy. Time to die … RIP, Rutger.

First and foremost, who’s excited about MLB trade season getting underway?

After a two-week breather following the All-Star Game break, Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast is back with Episode 107—the Dumb and Dumber edition. Jed Rigney and Jon Sumple shake the rust off by stumbling and bumbling their way through this week’s Headlines, including:

Andrew Cashner heading to the Red Sox and Homer Bailey to the Athletics to kick off trade season

Hall of Fame inductions

Hector Neris getting suspended three games for head-hunting

Angels pitching a no-hitter in their first home game after Tyler Skaggs’ death

Rick Ankiel ending his comeback

Francisco Cervelli giving up catching

Carlos Carrasco being diagnosed with Leukemia

Commissioner Rob Manfred saying the ball isn’t altered to get more home runs

Justin Verlander saying the balls are juiced, turning game “into a joke”

Yu Darvish winning his first game at Wrigley Field

Tigers extending GM Al Avila

CC Sabathia saying he’s interested in a front office role with the Yankees

Ken Giles hurting elbow due to massage

Dwight Gooden reportedly getting arrested for cocaine possession last month

Yadier Molina joining millions of Puerto Ricans calling for its governor to resign

Athletics running a Liam Hendricks ad in Australia, saying “ROOTED IN OAKLAND”

In honor of the release of the Top Gun 2 trailer, this week’s Starting Nine features nine players with Tom Cruise movie quote names. (The trailer is awesome.) Episode 107’s trade season extravaganza wraps with Extra Innings and a look outside the world of baseball at the Oklahoma Thunder’s dismantling of its team by trading Paul George and Russell Westbrook, Tour de France rider Rohan Dennis’ unexpected withdrawal and disappearance and R. Kelly saying he’s happy in solitary confinement in prison.

First and foremost, our condolences go out to the friends and family of Tyler Skaggs following his unexpected passing this week. Horrible day for baseball. RIP Tyler.

Episode 106 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast—the “Young Frankenstein” edition—kicks off on a somber note with the passing of Tyler Skaggs. Other Headlines this week include:

MLB All-Star selections and reserves

Tampa Bay Rays given permission to pursue two-city solution with Montreal

MLB and MLBPA begin negotiations

Albert Pujols gets a ton of love upon his return to St. Louis

Yankees HR streak still chugging along

Pete Alonso tops Daryl Strawberry’s Mets rookie HR mark with his 27 (at the halfway point!)

Mets manager Mickey Callaway and pitcher Jason Vargas curse out a reporter

Mets GM denies discussing moves with coaching staff during games

Mets sorry for having two living alums included in a memorial

Dodgers to extend stadium netting after foul ball hospitalizes another fan

Yankees broadcaster’s remarkable 30-year streak is ending

Red Sox hoping Nathan Eovaldi can help fix bullpen problems

July 2 International Signings

Cody Bellinger pleads with fans to stop running on the field to hug him

In honor of the upcoming release of the action movie spinoff from the Fast and Furious franchise, Hobbs and Shaw, this week’s Starting Nine features nine players with spinoff movie names. For Around the Horn, Jed offers who should and shouldn’t have made the All-Star teams (where’s Xander Bogaerts?), and Extra Innings takes a look at the NBA free-agency signing period frenzy, the women’s World Cup, the Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun saga and the unfortunate times of  South Korean Singer-actor Park Yoo-chun, who was sentenced for drug use.

First and foremost, the David Ortiz shooting was horrifying, but the speculation surrounding it is mind-boggling!

Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast is back after a three-week hiatus with Episode 105—The Big Lebowski edition—with a whole lot of catching up to do. Biggest story of the week, though, is the David Ortiz shooting, which, at first, was shocking to say the least. But as more and more info surfaces, it gets crazier and crazier! Drug lords, cheating spouses, hit men! Oh, my! In addition to Big Papi, this week’s Headlines include:

Edwin Encarnacion traded to Yankees

Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel sign

Jay Bruce traded to Phillies

Andrew McCutchen out for the season

Padres and Rockies set modern-era record with 92 runs in a four-game series

MLB sets monthly home run record in May

Bill Buckner passes away

Rangers Retire Adrian Beltre’s number

Noah Syndergaard to the injured list

Mitch Haniger placed on injured list with ruptured testicle

Amateur draft notes

Babe Ruth jersey sells for a record $5.64 million at auction

Sports betting could be coming to Wrigley Field (or is it Rigney Field?)

Madison Bumgarner gets roasted by Max Muncy, twice

This week’s Starting Nine honors(?) of the 25th anniversary of O.J. Simpson’s Bronco ride around L.A. with nine players with murderer names. Jed Rigney takes us Around the Horn for a look at who is going to get better, worse or the same in the second half of the season.

Show wraps with a look outside the world of baseball with Extra Innings and a discussion about the Stanley Cup, the NBA Finals and the Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers.

First and foremost, what did you think about the series concluding episodes of Game of Thrones?

Episode 104 of Foul Territory: A Game of Thrones Podcast, er um A Baseball Podcast—the “Blazing Saddles” edition—leads off with a teaser about Jed and Jon discussing Game of Thrones and all the baggage that goes along with the series finale during Extra Innings at the end of the show. But, first there’s baseball and this week’s Headlines:

Jose Abreu breaks up Justin Verlander’s no-hitter with home run

Orioles become the fastest team ever to give up 100 homers

Dodgers Hyun-jin Ryu extends his scoreless streak to 31 innings

Yankees Didi Gregorius, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton (kinda) are on the mend

Hunter Pence’s re-birth in Texas

Gleyber Torres ups season HR total vs. O’s to 10

Robinson Cano hurts quad running two days after sitting

Yoenis Cespedes fractures ankle in accident at his Florida ranch

Cubs decide not to protest Nationals game after all

Ian Kinsler defends profanity-laced celebration to pump up Padres teammates

A rainout in Anaheim

Carter Stewart signs with Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks for more than $7 million

Someone snapped a photo of Alex Rodriguez on the toilet

In honor of John Wick III, Jed offers nine players with Keanu Reeves film names in this week’s Starting Nine. And the show wraps with the Extra Innings and a quick overview of the NBA and NHL playoffs before getting into a lengthy discussion about the conclusion of Game of Thrones; what worked, what didn’t and how Jed and Jon felt about the conclusion of HBO’s epic series.

First and foremost, how about Mike Fiers tossing a second no-hitter in his career. How did that happen?

Episode 103 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast—the “Airplane!” edition—has its fair share of baseball banter, but it wouldn’t be a proper episode without political, pop culture and tax advice. Yes, you read that right. But first up, this week’s Headlines, including:

Albert Pujols getting his 2,000 RBI

Mike Fiers throwing the second no-hitter of his career

Chris Sale getting an MLB record 17 Ks in 7 IP (and losing)

Joey Gallo becoming the first player in MLB history to reach 100 career HR before 100 career singles

Edwin Jackson getting a chance to play for a record 14th team

Robinson Cano becoming the third player to reach 2,500 hits that debuted with Yankees

Astros’ Ryan Pressly making 38 straight scoreless appearances

Ohtani returning to the Angels

King Felix heading to injured list (and perhaps the bullpen, or maybe the Astros)

Yanks’ Miguel Andujar having season-ending surgery and acquiring Kendrys Morales

Alex Cora not joining the Red Sox for their visit to the White House

Cubs probing apparent racist gesture made by fan during live broadcast

New York lawmaker asking MLB to create new rain delay policies

MLB switching from Trackman to HawkEye for balls and strikes

This week’s Starting Nine is dedicating to the ponies, in honor of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, with nine players with famous horse names. Show wraps with Extra Innings and a look outside the world of baseball at the NBA and NHL playoffs as well as Tiger Woods getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

First and foremost, how could we not talk (extensively) about Game of Thrones after “The Long Night” episode? We do, and we’re not apologizing for it.

Episode 102 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast introduces a new naming convention to coincide with the number of the episode. Since we ran out of player numbers with episode 100, we’re now using top 100 comedy films of all-time. Since we have to catch up, this week’s episode is the Some Like it Caddyshack edition (combo of #1 Some Like it Hot and #2 Caddyshack).

Kicking off the baseball portion of the show, before we get into the ever important Game of Thrones banter, here are this week’s Headlines:

Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Carter Kieboom, Nate Lowe and Nick Senzel debut

Struggling Nationals fire pitching coach Derek Lilliquist

Matt Scherzer becomes third-fastest pitcher to 2,500 career Ks

Nats’ Stephen Strasburg fewest innings to 1,500 career K’s

Brewers Sign Gio Gonzalez

CC Sabathia gets to 3000 Ks

Dodgers are the first team to 20 wins

Tim Anderson, Cody Bellinger win Player of the Month honors for April

Tyler Glasnow and Luis Castillo win Pitcher of the Month

Noah Syndergaard shaves beard, pitches a shutout and hits a home run

Corey Kluber out with forearm break

Red Sox no longer playing Fortnite in clubhouse

Yanks’ Aaron Hicks plays outfield in rehab game

Angels plan to activate Shohei Ohtani in coming weeks

Jeopardy superstar may be drawing interest from MLB teams

MLB attendance is down again, and rebuilding teams are getting hit hard

For this week’s Starting Nine, Jed Rigney offers nine players with names that sound like Animated films he’s seen, in honor of the upcoming release of Pokémon Detective Pikachu. Show wraps up with the longest Extra Innings in history with discussions about the NFL Draft, the NBA and NHL playoffs, the passing of Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew and an analysis of last week’s episode of Game of Thrones (warning: spoiler alert!).

First and foremost, how about Jacob deGrom’s magic arm? One day he’s injured, the next day he’s soft-tossing. The Yankees need some of that magic elixir Jacob deGrom is taking.

For Episode 101 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast, we have no associated player because we ran out of numbers with episode 100. So, beginning next week, we’ll have a new naming convention for identifying the podcast. Wow, we take this way too seriously! On to this week’s Headlines. Other than the magical recovery of Jacob deGrom, here’s what’s going on:

Aaron Judge is the next Yankees player to hit the IL

Matt Shoemaker is out for the season following ACL tear in rundown

Albert Pujols jumps Babe Ruth for fifth place with 1,993 RBIs

Marlins fire their hitting coach after a miserable start

Tim Anderson is banned for what was an alleged epithet, not a bat flip

Yasiel Puig wears a custom T-shirt with picture of his own brawl

Ozzie Albies signs a cheap, long extension, while Khris Davis signs a two-year extension

Shohei Ohtani joins team BP for first time since surgery

Fernando Rodney matches Cy Young (say what?)

Yankees stop playing Kate Smith’s God Bless America

Feds seize hundreds of bogus Bryce Harper jerseys bound for Philly

U.S. Customs seizes nearly $12 million in fake championship rings

Rare Babe Ruth Yankees Jersey expected to sell for over $4.5 million at auction

Ex-MLBer Eric Byrnes breaks the record by playing 420 holes of golf in 24 hours

This week’s Starting Nine gives us players with “To be continued …” film names. Give it a listen, it will make more sense hearing it than reading it! Show wraps with Extra Innings and a look outside the world of baseball at Tiger Woods’ masterful Masters victory, the NBA (Damien Lilliard, anyone?) and NHL playoffs (upsets and Game 7s galore in the first round) and video of Robert Kraft’s junk being held back for the betterment of all humanity.

First and foremost, let’s hear it for Foul Territory celebrating its 100th episode!

The 100th episode of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast—the Al Oliver edition—kicks off with the shortest cold open ever, before jumping into this week’s Headlines, which includes a look at the Red Sox’s continued horrid start, the worst in team history through 10 games (2-8) and the worst for a reigning World Series champ since 1998’s fire-sale depleted Florida Marlins team, as well as the Mariners’ torrid start, which included scoring six or more runs in 12 of 14 games, the first time that’s happened since 1908. In other headlines:

Brock Holt hits IL after son pokes him in eye

Chris Archer suspended five games, Yasiel Puig gets two for melee

Chris Davis breaks record for consecutive at-bats without hit

Shane Greene first player to get eight saves in a team’s first 12 games

Bruce Bochy receives “overwhelming” ovation before final home opener

As home runs fly, theories of a juiced ball circulating once again

Jorge Polanco hits for first cycle of 2019

Cards sign Matt Carpenter to two-year, $37 million extension

Mike Trout out due to groin strain

Luis Severino has lat strain, out at least six more weeks

Robinson Cano gets lost on way home in NYC

All MLB teams worth at least $1 billion for first time—Yankees most valuable, Marlins last

White House voids MLB/Cuba deal

Atlantic League delays robot umps experiment

Ex-Met Lenny Dykstra sues former teammate Ron Darling for libel, defamation

In honor of Sunday’s premiere episode for the final season of Game of Thrones, this week’s Starting Nine delivers players with GOT-ish names. Jed then takes us Around the Horn with commentary about every team’s start to the 2019 season. The 100th episode show ends just like the previous 99 did with Extra Innings and look outside the world of baseball at Magic Johnson’s surprise retirement from the Lakers, Kim Kardashian revealing she’s studying to become a lawyer and Jennifer Lopez saying Diddy apologized to Alex Rodriguez after a questionable Instagram comment on sultry picture.