No Crying In Baseball

We kick off Season 7 (!) with a World Baseball Classic wrap-up, an Opening Day kick off, and an intro to our flocks of pitchers. The WBC left many happy results in its wake. Team Australia’s Mitch Neunborn was signed by the Phils, Nicaraguan closer Duque Hebbert signed on site by the Tigers, and Team Israel built new ballfields. There were so many more eyeballs on the games, fans in the seats, and merch in the shopping carts than ever before. Closing out our Fantasy Boyfriend Baseball League recruitment, Pottymouth claims the Blue Jays as her pitching flock, with a focus on Alek Manoah. Patti takes the newly shiny Rangers, which allows her to reference rodeos *twice.* And we had to make our tough calls to narrow down this year’s boyfriend group to fantasy team rosters. NCiB hero Kim Ng is appointed to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, and 13 women will take the field as uniformed coaches this season. MLB gets a sense of humor and uses noted rule-follower Tim Anderson and others to explain the rule changes for this season.

We say “I throw a nice party and I gotta big screen,” “bouncing Czechs,” and “Alek Manoah may have gone shopping but so did the Rangers.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Do we sound sultry or gravelly after three straight days of cheering at World Baseball Classic games, the best baseball weekend of our lives? You make the call. We’ve got the details of what it felt like in the stands, where everyone hung on every pitch, made new best friends, and danced it off won or lost outside the ballpark. Because there is other baseball too, we’ve got our last weekend of baseball boyfriends. Our Astros guys were both drafted as seniors in rounds that no longer exist, David Hensley for Pottymouth and Chas McCormick for Patti. For the Dodgers, we have battling second basemen in Pottymouth’s Miguel Vargas and Patti’s Michael Busch. Darren buys Dusty a grand slam dinner, we watch the birth of a ritual, and we are officially back on misguided sticky stuff enforcement.

We say “the chaos and the roosters,” “Could have done without Reagan in front of me,” and “He broke Altuve.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

World Baseball Classic and Spring Training at the same time?  It is an embarrassment of riches leading to overwhelming choices and lack of sleep. Pottymouth’s boyfriends this week are 22 year old shortstops that are a little mysterious, and Patti chooses center fielders playing for their home teams and we both have to get past childhood grudges to do so. For the Yankees, Pottymouth picks Oswald Peraza who we probably saw in Rochester and just missed in Pulaski. Patti picks new Yankee Harrison Bader, who manages to keep up qHAR even after the flow gets the NYY treatment. For Atlanta, Pottymouth selects funny man Vaughn Grissom, while Patti goes with Vaughn’s pal and 2022 Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II. 

The WBC brought the chaos with a five way tie in Pool A, and our Team Italy bfs Nicky and Vinny are moving on. Yu Chang is the Pool’s MVP and yet his team finished last. An electrician struck out Ohtani, Team USA sports bacon on its jerseys, and the Marlins front office makes it really onerous to buy WBC tickets if you live out of town.

We say “Big ass wheels,” “I’m going to keep that grudge as a policy statement,” and “If you don’t know what Happy Days is, I can’t help you.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Pottymouth convinces Patti that Jason Momoa is thematic because Samoan and because Jorge Alfaro. We’ve got boyfriends on the Guardians and the Mets. Max messes with the pitch clock rules, the Red Sox mess with shift rules, and the Os and Pirates don’t need no stinkin’ badges.

Cleveland girl Patti  is so happy to talk Guardian boyfriends, and of course she and Pottymouth pick gold glove outfield  pals – Pottymouth with breakout star Steven Kwan, and Patti with literally jumping  to Kwan’s  defense Myles Straw. Over at the Mets, Pottymouth bets on the sexy defense of Luis Guillorme, and Patti selects Escobar protege Mark Vientos. Former bf Kiké shares a most embarrassing moment, and Jayme Hoskins brings the plus  one to Patti’s former pick of  Rhys. Ronnie Gajownik gets a bench coach shot at Dbacks spring training, and the Red Sox bring Taylor Jackson on as a single A on-field coach. Vladdy has to back out of the WBC, still leaving a loaded line up behind on the DR team. Duran and Verdugo present a country report on Mexico, and the X-Man has us on the  hunt for honkballer swag. We crosstrain with the NHL, profiling some pride  nights done right, from the solid C of the Ottawa Senators and their T shirt rainbow of an arena, to the A+ of the Anaheim Ducks, from the jersey design involvement of long-time in-house organist, Lindsay Imber, incorporating community organizations, fundraising, thematic giveaways, and visible involvement of team  members.

We say “Is that why our beer is pink?” “I think it was better than the first one but I don't remember the first one,” and “You think the music is only in your head, but it's not.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

We profile boyfriends from Toronto and St. Louis, detail the shake up in the Os quality hair above replacement (qHAR), and share first day fun with the pitch clock. Alejandro “Captain” Kirk is still a Spring Training no-show for all the right reasons, and is Pottymouth’s TOR bf for this season.  Patti selects TOR trilingual utility player Otto Lopez because baseball is the universal language. On the Cards side of things, Pottymouth picks Pujols mentee Juan Yepez while Patti chooses the fast-tracked big bat of Alec “Burly” Burleson. Patti tries to bring the calm regarding the new pitch clock rules – it’s day one, friends, take a breath! In labor news, Tony Clark draws a line in the sand over salary caps while San Diego and Pittsburgh show opposite ends of small-market spending. Manny gets his extension, Bobby sends a home run right to the gut, and we enjoy MLB’s school picture day.

We say “designated driver of the podcast,” “Usually i’m very pro-dark lord,” and “I ride Bus 4.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Much ado about Manny Machado as he announces intent to opt out of his contract next year, has a cameo in Pottymouth’s bf conversation and a full on support role in Patti’s. Patti picked Ha-Seong Kim as her SD bf only partially to say nice things about Manny. Pottymouth goes all young, dynamic Dominican players this week by continuing with Juan Soto as her once and forever for SD, and selecting ROY Julio Rodriguez for SEA (which causes us to purchase tickets to a women’s soccer game because we cross-train). Patti seems to have a thing for switch-hitting catchers, evidenced by her selection of Cal Raleigh as her SEA bf. Most pitchers and catchers reported last week, with some notable exceptions, and arbitration concludes with teams winning over players 13-6. CWS minor leaguer Anderson Comas comes out via Instagram, in two languages. Mike Clevenger defends himself in Spring Training media interviews, to the extent he is allowed. Patti aces the pop quiz on WBC trivia, Waino and Yadi tease us with big competitive fun, and the Czech WBC team shows heart by sharing baseball skills with kids from local orphanages. 

We say “They probably went to prom together,” “Can be sexy all over the place,” and “Too weak to lift the credit card.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

We recorded right before The Big Game, putting “Go, Eagles” on record. Purely coincidentally this is Phillies (and Rays) boyfriend week. For Tampa Bay, Pottymouth chooses winter ball favorite Christian Bethancourt and Patti goes for Charm City Villain Luke Raley. Finally, FINALLY, Pottymouth names Kyle from Waltham as her Phillies boyfriend, while Patti scoops up an entire family with her choice of Josh Harrison. Amanda Komekona is named as the first woman on-field coach for Guardians, which ESPN calls a trend and we call a move to equity. The Angelos family eliminates family legal drama as a distraction for Os fans, letting everyone focus on team sale rumors and regional sports network mayhem instead. The Tigres de Licey are the champions of the Serie del Caribe, giving the Dominican Republic its 22nd win. So many boyfriends NOT playing in the WBC after all, so we are focusing on merch. The Mets take out a local Superbowl ad, with an eye for knocking out  the  NYY for Global domination. 

We say, “I can’t even bring a cheesesteak over,” “Don’t ban books,” and “I’ll look it up while you’re talking.”  Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Our Orioles boyfriends include Patti’s once and forever boyfriend and birthday boy Adley Rutschman, and Pottymouth’s selection of Ramon Urias, completing a boyfriend brother set. Pottymouth’s Brewers choice is a twofer as Garrett Mitchell is pretty great on his own but add in his wife Haley and he’s a sure thing. Patti goes for prospect Brice Turang and his large, remarkably athletic family. We celebrate Toronto pitcher José Berríos working to repair baseball parks in Puerto Rico through his foundation, along with Mets closer Edwin Diaz, and former boyfriends Francisco Lindor and Javier Baez. Discussion of Cole Tucker’s engagement to Vanessa Hudgens leads to online meditation and the absence of High School Musical in Pottymouth’s world. In our Business Beat, we talk advertising on jersey sleeves as well as new plans for redevelopment involving Orioles and Rays ballparks. Turns out Ronnie Gajownik checks off even more boxes in her role as manager of the High A Hillsboro Hops. The Serie del Caribe continues through this week – catch some games!  Patti suggests that if you have time for  one more podcast this week, you check out the interview with Grayson Rodriquez on the Baseball Bar-B-Cast.

We say “over-driven and under-beered,” “donut sliders,” and “she’s my spirit animal.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

This week’s boyfriends represent the Chicago White Sox and the San Francisco Giants.  Pottymouth focuses on Venezuelan players and Patti pays attention to CWS draft picks from 2017. Pottymouth selects White Sox 2B Lenyn Sosa, who also plays SS for the Leones de Caracas. Patti selects Jake Burger, not for the easy pun potential but because of his remarkable generosity in sharing his depression and anxiety experiences including strategies for managing them. For the Giants, Pottymouth goes with Thairo Estrada, a teaching moment about the importance of removing bullets from hips, and Patti picks outfielder Luis González, whose best stories are pitching-related. Mike Clevinger is the latest pitcher to be the subject of an investigation under MLB’s domestic abuse policy. New gigs for OAK’s Veronica Alvarez, PHI’s Sarah Edwards, and the Cardinal’s Christina Whitlock build momentum for women in baseball, but we really want to know why Bianca Smith and Katie Krall left BOS. We cross-train with the NHL where Pride nights keep going wrong around the edges in the name of “personal reasons.”

We say “It’s a blowtorch, what could go wrong?” “ Now there’s jazz hands,” and "Good to find a man with flexibility.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

In this super-sized episode fueled by leftover holiday novelty beer, Pottymouth can’t stop talking Red Sox. For BOS bfs, Pottymouth picks good guy Rob Refsnyder and then fixes Patti up with shirtless pregamer Tristan Casas. Pottymouth’s Diamondbacks bf this season is possible ROY Corbin Carroll, while Patti selects Jake McCarthy for his periodic Gunnar-level qHAR. In the Police Blotter, Orioles owner John Angelos overshadows the team’s generous donation to Baltimore’s CollegeBound by lashing out at journalists for asking reasonable team ownership-related questions. There’s great news for women in baseball this week, as the Blue Jays appoint Ashley Stephenson as a coach for their High-A level team, and the Diamondbacks appoint Ronnie Gajownik as the general manager of their High A Hillsboro Hops, making her the first female general manager at the High-A level. We catch you up on winter ball playoffs and World Baseball Classic team additions. 

We say “Lack of draft beer could be considered a crime in many situations,” “frickin’ Santa’s Butt,” and “Kiké is my shiny thing.” Get boosted, fight the man, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Twitter @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. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.