Passed Ball Show

PASSED BALL SHOW #108 11/30/2013 Part 1 WITH HERM WINNINGHAM; I open up the show by breaking down the Hall of Fame Ballot and talk about which players may make it and which ones should. I then speak with former Mets, Expos, Reds and Red Sox OF Herm Winningham about coming up with the Mets, the trade to Montreal and winning the 1990 World Series with the Cincinnati Reds. I finish up by breaking down the 1995 Reds team, led by manager Davey Johnson

PASSED BALL SHOW #107 11/19/2013 Part 2 WITH BOBBY HANEY AND DAMIAN JACKSON; I start out by speaking with SF Giants SS prospect and baseball author Bobby Haney about his development through the Giants system and what inspired his book. I then talk about the NL MVP vote and make my case for Paul Goldschmidt. I then preview the 2014 NY Mets roster if the season started today. I finish off by speaking with former MLB infielder Damian Jackson about his battle to learn baseball on the job and his hard work and determination to make the big leagues

PASSED BALL SHOW #107 11/19/2013 Part 1 WITH ROD GASPAR AND JUAN BERENGUER; I start out by speaking with former Mets and Padres OF and 1969 World Series Champion Rod Gaspar about the 1969 season and how he did not think he was going to make the 1969 Mets team. He also talks about how the success of his first season set back his development and made it difficult to remain in the big leagues afterwards. I briefly touch on the signing of Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz and about the Jay-Z Robinson Cano posturing. I then speak with longtime MLB RHP Juan Berenguer about winning two World Series and his reputation as "Senior Smoke"

PASSED BALL SHOW #106 11/12/2013 Part 2 WITH ANDREW LORRAINE AND WILLIE ROYSTER; I Open up by speaking with former MLB pitcher Andrew Lorraine about his MLB career and his experience over the past several seasons as pitching coach in the Seattle Mariners. Andrew talks about some of the top pitchers in the Mariners organization. I then bring up a possibility that MLB GMs that have a history of being stingy may have difficulty getting free agents to speak with them. I then break down the 12 finalists for the Veterans Committee nominees for the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame. I finish off with my interview former Orioles catcher Willie Royster

PASSED BALL SHOW #106 11/12/2013 Part 1 WITH LEN BERMAN AND FRANK BOLICK; I open up by speaking with longtime NBC Sportscaster Len Berman about his love for baseball and his ability to transform from a NYC Sportscaster to a National one. Len talks about his books, as well as his blog and website www.thatssports.com. I then get into the MLB free agency period, as many think players will sign for what "they would pay." I finish off by speaking with former Expos and Angels infielder Frank Bolick aboiut his battle to get in the major leagues and his success in Japan

PASSED BALL SHOW #105 11/7/2013 Part 2 WITH BEAU WRIGHT AND RON "PAPA JACK" JACKSON; I open up by playing my interview with Miami Marlins pitching prospect Beau Wright. We talk about his conversion from a starting pitcher to a relief pitcher, which as a lefty mean conversion to a LOOGY. I then speak with former MLB infielder Ron Jackson. He has been an MLB hitting coach for the White Sox, Brewers and Red Sox and was the Red Sox hitting coach when they won the World Series in 2004. I finish off by talking about Pascual Perez, Bob Forsch and Hisashi Iwakuma. Then give some insight on the latest MLB hirings and make a case for Joey Cora to get a MLB gig

PASSED BALL SHOW #105 11/7/2013 Part 1 WITH GREG HANSELL AMD CHUCK HARTENSTEIN; I open up the program by talking about how teams need to do their due diligence during the offseason. Many fans get too hung up on which players their favorite teams are talking to the first week of free agency. I then speak with former MLB pitcher Greg Hansell, who pitched for 11 different MLB organizations throughout his career. He also spent 3 seasons with the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese League. I finish off by speaking with former MLB pitcher and pitching coach Chuck Hartenstein, who once pitched 18innings in a minor league game, and also pitched for the Cubs and Pirates in the 1960s

1-28-2023 Passed Ball Show. John spends this program talking about the failures of the National Football League, most notably the NFL Owners, to hire the necessary amount of African American Head Coaches through its sport. The point was made further by the Carolina Panthers and their owner David Tepper, when he chose to bypass his interim HC Steve Wilks by hiring Frank Reich. John makes it very clear that this has nothing to do with Reich, himself a deserved HC that should be one in the league. After calling the Rooney rule "semantics" and blasting teams for their "token" interviews, John makes his case for what he believes will be the only way to ensure more black Head Coach candidates will get their due chances, and that is to mandate that all teams that hire a HC for the next ___? (maybe five?) years to have no choice than to hire a HC of dark skin. John then continues his frustration over the Baseball Hall of Fame's refusal to include some of the greatest players to play in its sport's history. John believes that MLB, the BBWAA, the Veterans Committee, and Hall of Fame puppeteers Bud Selig and Jane Forbes Clark all colluded together to determine who gets in and who does not, completely not based off of merit. John further connects the fact that lesser qualified players are getting in simply because the beforementioned have blackballed players from the "steroids era," among others. This will continue to happen until the best players with the best stats and best accomplishments get their due. In today's version of This Day is Sports History, John talks about Monte Irvin, Roy Campanella, Goose Goslin, the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Sam Thompson, OJ Simpson, Jim Plunkett, Red Holzman, Bill Fitch, Red Grange, Chris Doleman, and Andre Iguodala.

1-24-2023 Passed Ball Show. John spends this program talking about the Vancouver Canucks decision to fire Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. After making the obvious points centered around the fact that coaches in the National Hockey League have the shortest shelf life in regard to holding onto their job, John points out how bad a look it was for the Canucks to leave him out to dry the way they did. They should have fired him immediately- when they decided that they were going to, not wait the ten (10) days or so with the media reporting on it daily. John then talks about the Baseball Hall of Fame and how it would send a message on how the hall is broken if the BBWAA voted in nobody again this year. John reiterates his point when it comes to the change in the BBHOF in how it went from an exclusive club of the game's all-time greats to a popularity contest rewarding players that had the best run campaigns. The best players in the history of the sport are no longer being selected, instead being replaced by very good players that need to be spoken on behalf of so others can be reminded they were good. All-time greats are being replaced by popular very good players.

1-21-2023 Passed Ball Show. John opens up this program by stating there are two classes of New York Mets fans in regard to the Carlos Correa signing/ no agreement. John explains their different stances before offering his own based on the fact that the Mets have not won a World Series in thirty-seven (37) years and why the urgency was there to pay him $315 million over the next twelve (12) years. John openly states that he does not give a shit about how much any player is getting paid and for how long and uses that fuel to declare that two World Series Championships in the next three years would have been enough to pay Correa his entire deal. That being said, John still feels that the Mets had a great offseason and is happy with the team’s moves. John then talks about the four NFL divisional round underdog teams and how the biggest underdog player is on a team that is favorited to win. John then explains why Brock Purdy may have saved what he believes was an awful QB draft class. In the OTD in sports history segment, John gives some respect to all-time great NBA star Bob Pettit and declares Wayne Gretzky the greatest of all sports GOATs (greatest of all time).