It was a visually confusing finale for Serie del Caribe what with the Mexico on Mexico naming convention not matching the jersey situation. And then no jerseys to be had because, well, tariffs. In other major international tournament news, when it rains it tropical storms for Puerto Rico. Here’s looking at you, Javy, with hindsight as 20-20 vision. Check if your favorite players actually made it through the gauntlet to a WBC roster. Here at home we’re picking boyfriends from Cities where Patti has lived a significant number of years. Her hometown CLE team offers Pottymouth a Bad Bunny connection and Patti a wildcard upstart. Pottymouth finally found her way to player she has been considering for years, and Patti goes for Salvy’s shadow. We’re keeping score with arbitration and Skubal’s record setting win still only counts as one. So tired of talking about sports betting in the Police Blotter but here we are with Yasiel Puig and Emmanuel Clase. Again. Still.  Hey think about meeting us at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on Saturday, August 22. We can catch a game, too!

We say, “Absolutely no one doesn’t love Salvy.” “Was it a Bad Bunny rabbit hole?” and “You said Book ‘em Danno and Danno booked ‘em.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

This is not the first time we’ve selected baseball boyfriends because of their moms, but this may be the first time we’ve concocted a plan to bring them beer in person. This week we talk HOU and NYM. For the Astros, Pottymouth picks the mom in the stands reminding him to run and Patti chooses the mom in the clubhouse. For the Mets its Pottymouth goes for the mom who just wants both boys to have a great time and Patti the one who could watch her kid every single day playing ball. Two fatal shootings by Feds in Minnesota push the sports and business communities to take a stand at the organizational level, the NBPA adds their collective voice, and our patron saint provides context. Serie del Caribe is just getting started and we are on Yadi watch for the LVBP. We try to suss out the insurance rules keeping certain MLB players out of the World Baseball Classic. In a Police Blotter/cross training/cross over, Patti commits $10 per goal scored by Britta Curl-Salemme to Baltimore Safe Haven so that she can still cheer for US Women’s Olympic Hockey. Hilary and Laila deserve better than a transphobic teammate in this historic year. And we encourage the NHL to use some of its financial gains from the Heated Rivalry effect to make hockey a safer space for all.

We say, “I thought pitchforks in this town were only brandished at Council meetings,” “How big can Ozark be, really?” and “It is, in fact, color coded.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

Patti and the Pottymouth warm up with some baseball talk and hot toddies after attempting to shovel the snowcrete encrusting our respective sidewalks. We profile players from Detroit and Cincinnati, stops on our still theoretical epic midwestern summer road trip. For Detroit, Pottymouth goes for bounce in the clubhouse and Patti leans into small town kid makes good. In Cincinnati, Pottymouth picks an energizer bunny/family man and Patti selects a utility player who grew up in Angels stadium. We appreciate PCA demonstrating excellent cross-training tendencies and celebrate José Ramírez locking in the Guardians for life. Winter ball demonstrates that more teams need dogs and Pottymouth loves to say “Anzoátegui.” And no episode can go by without a reference to a salary cap. Please help shovel out your neighbors and build some community in the process.

We say, “Tito tells me to do something, I’m there,” “the takeaway here is more teams need dogs,”  and, “I did the bare minimum, including breaking my ergonomic snow shovel.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

No, we don’t mean us, we mean the PWHL, where Patti crosstrained with their “Takeover Tour” and helped set an attendance record for US women’s hockey this weekend. Our bfs this week, from Kansas City and San Francisco, are all all young guys doing good in the world and on the field. Pottymouth picks a guy who finds a way to make lack of a second language work for him, and one leaning in to the goofy. Patti goes with a collegiate Ohtani and a lightning bolt. The hot stove claims some bats, adding fuel to the salary cap fire. An unsigned free agent gets suspended – but from what? Rosters for the World Baseball Classic gain some and lose some. Venezuela is really, really hosting an important tournament. Kansas City moves some outfield walls to be more average. And we learn about Tupac’s love of libraries. Or at least one in Baltimore. Philanthropies mentioned on today’s show include: Micah Pietila-Wiggs ”LLM” Foundation, Food4kids Florida, Bat Flips for Kids.

We say, “He tore a tendon in his right middle finger – for me that would be a major injury,” “Of course, Vegas was not a good place for Tupac,” and, "There's gonna be some color-coding and maybe some Google Sheets.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

Bob Kendrick, President of the National Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, joins us for a conversation ranging from touring his childhood hero, Henry Aaron, through the museum, to the incorporation of Negro League statistics into MLB stats, the rebirth of the Indianapolis Clowns, Toni Stone, the unexpected benevolence of a white, Canadian rocker, and the ambitious plan to triple the size of the museum to give Buck the house he deserves. Patti and Pottymouth are now planning an epic road trip and we bet you just might too. In the meantime, consider a contribution to Pitch for the Future, the capital campaign to build the new museum.

Bob says, “I grew up in the country, I don’t know if we had gravitas,” “Every time I was with Mr. Aaron I was reduced to that 12 year old kid,” and “You played it with high skill, you played it with passion, but you also played it with a little swag.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

We had the great honor of talking with Bob Kendrick, President of the National Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, which, in his words, “is one of the nation’s most preeminent social justice civil rights institutions – it’s just seen through the lens of baseball.” We share a few of Bob’s stories in this episode, and the full interview will be released as a bonus episode later this week. We’ve got boyfriends from TEX and ARI this week. For TEX, Pottymouth picks the only guy to play for both teams in one game while Patti completes a set of brothers.  We battle for shortstop with ARI, with Pottymouth going sunshine and Patti leaning into the mom thing. We continue to keep an eye on MLB players in Venezuela, and we crosstrain with reality TV and fictional hockey, while women’s basketball crosstrains with women’s hockey.

We say, “Another retirement plan is coming to fruition,” “He can’t sing very well, but he tried,” and “Now that is a momma’s story right there.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

We did not plan to go all Florida in this episode but you can’t fight the rankings. For the Rays, Pottymouth picks Jonathan Aranda of the excellent qHAR and Kirk friendship, and Patti goes sexy defense and trustworthy babysitter Carson Williams. For MIA, Pottymouth selects Jakob Marsee and his good luck travelling pack, and Patti picks former Oriole Connor Norby, maybe just to tell a call up story. You knew it was coming, buckle up for the Venezuela rant. MLB had no plan and team statements are few and far between. Pottymouth has shared this googlesheet of Venezuelan players so you are able to track their statements as they happen. There’s not enough police blotter in the world to contain Lenny Dykstra. And we crosstrain with basketball, salsa, and Olympic hockey.

We say,”I did a deep dive, because, salsa lessons,” “does he not know how to spell OnlyFans?” and “how do you do that without stretching?”  Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

In which our boyfriend profiles reference the chicken dance, churning butter, ballers, and something nice to look at. Welcome to (not the Sacramento) Athletics and Cardinals week. The long strange trip of Anthony Rendon is finally over. He may have been why we changed the rules on forever boyfriends… the multi-talented Katia Reguero Lindor joins the Mamdani transition team and we are here for it. Is that why they are using Mets colors? We crosstrain with the ECHL’s brief but effective strike and share the ridiculously low expectations of minor league hockey. There's a series of series in the international baseball segment and we are no less confused. Happy New Year, friends!

We say, “Tragic in a disappointing sort of way,” “either I have another accident-prone guy or there’s hope,” and “maybe the answer is more colonization.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

The road trip season has pushed us back a day but here we are squeezing in a show between Chanukah and Christmas. Vocabulary lessons this week include Competitive Balance Tax, because the Luxury Tax isn’t just for Monopoly anymore, and Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI). Just because it's the holidays it doesn’t mean you can slack on learning. Our boyfriends this week are from BAL, where Patti leans into the once and forever boyfriend and Pottymouth goes Westy, and the Hammers, where Pottymouth picks a player with a wacky Tennessee claim to fame and Patti goes right to ROY. The Police Blotter features the return of Wander Franco’s case to the courts, and the end of the Tyler Skagg’s courtroom drama. The International Baseball update includes almost baffling chaos around the Serie del Caribe and the Serie de las Americas but the takeaway is absolutely please stop blowing up Venezuelan boats. We’re both on yet more road trips and we wish you safe travels if you are too, and happy holidays if you celebrate.  See you a day late again next week!

We say, “A glass half full of Santa’s Butt,” “There was some hockey, there was some smarts,” and “Donny was the youngest Osmond that had any juice.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth. 

Brittany Apgar, professional baseball player, newly drafted to the WPBL’s LA team, joins us to talk heroes and villains, origin stories, and finding your true self in the face of others telling you who you should be. Patti may have just found an LA baseball team to get behind. Another LA baseball team shows up in our boyfriend report The The Angels Angels, and the Pirates, get their turn in today’s show. For LAA, Pottymouth picks the guy with So Much Winter Ball, and Patti goes family trash talk.  For PIT, we meet the Password and that nice local hockey player. Happy Chanukah! And may your house smell like oil for eight days. We mean that in the best latke way possible.

We say, “There was a little mezcal, a little bourbon,” “Yoga in the outfield with cows,” and “God I love the weird girls.” Fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, get boosted, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available!  They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.