The Baseball Rabbi Podcast

Yankee fans often complain about their team's inability to go all the way (2009 was a looong time ago), but that's only part of the story; the bigger issue is that since their last pennant, the Yankees have won more games than any other team, and have watched 13 other teams play in the World Series while they've stayed home. Is it time to change the conventional narrative around the Yankees? Stat guru Moshe Schorr provided some fantastic charts to Pesach and Scott which help analyze this and much more. Plus: the latest in the ongoing attempts of major league pitchers to ruin the game of baseball.

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So the Red Sox were basically innocent, right? Not so fast: die hard Sox fan Scott thinks that Manfred's punishment was a joke and that this is a BIG deal and a bit of a cover-up, whereas Pesach isn't so sure that the commissioner got it wrong. And as a sequel to our presentation of great teenage baseball players, the Baseball Rabbi offers the greatest players in their 40s. Who is the greatest ever (and it's not really close)? Listen in to find out.

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The American League East is becoming the most interesting division in baseball, not to mention the most talented, and Pesach and Scott are ready to uncover the storylines and narratives you need to be an educated baseball consumer. What flaws do the Yankees (baseball's best team for the past month) need to fix? What is the secret of the Red Sox success? Why are the Blue Jays the opposite of the Rays? And is there hope for the actually interesting Orioles? Plus: why the Chicago Bears need to thank Babe Ruth for their very existence.

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Al Kaline's bWAR was close to 93, making him one of the greatest right fielders in history. But when you look at his career stats, it's a little bit difficult to figure out how his WAR got that high. How can we explain his greatness? And in honor of Kaline's great play as a young Tiger (he won the batting title when he was 20), Pesach and Scott list their favorite teenage seasons of all time. Dr. K, Tony C, Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Mel Ott and more: listen up to see if you agree.

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Most people who watch baseball realize that something is wrong, but how can we fix the game in a way that won't ruin what makes it unique? Can traditionalists ever make peace with rule changes? And are the problems even solvable? Join Pesach and Scott as they analyze Theo Epstein's recent appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast, where he asked a key question which, if understood properly, can make all the difference. The Baseball Rabbi is ready to solve baseball, and all you have to do is listen. (And don't miss our important announcement...)

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When Pesach purchased Bud Selig's memoir, he was ready to spend 336 pages rolling his eyes. Imagine his surprise when he actually (gulp) liked it, thereby completely destroying his own self identity. But that's OK, and he tells Scott that it's actually essential reading for any baseball scholar. They also discuss the increasingly important reality of parity this year, and whether we can expect it to last. And people freaked out over the Baseball Rabbi's making statistical observations last week after just three weeks of baseball. Were they right to be skeptical or were they wrong? Hint: they were wrong. (We'll show you why.)

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To purchase Bud Selig's memoir, For the Good of the Game, click here.

With about an eighth of the season behind us, some trends are becoming apparent, like the fact that no one can hit anymore and actually getting on base without hitting a home run is a relic of the past. That may be a small exaggeration, but baseball is changing and the Baseball Rabbi is here to explain what's happening today, and where we may be going tomorrow (goodbye, launch angle, hello small ball!). Are we in a golden age of pitching and defense? Why is the MLB batting average historically low? And what additional metric that almost NO ONE is discussing can explain a lot of what's going on? Plus: why 2020 stats are completely stupid even if we ignore the fact that the season was 60 games long.

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Pesach and Scott (with an assist from Moshe Schorr) have a terrific conversation with noted Fangraphs scribe Dan Szymborski about projections (remember, he created ZiPS), the upcoming CBA negotiations, rule changes, narratives for the upcoming season, how he got his job (we know, every listener is probably jealous), the differences between fWAR and bWAR, the place of the Negro Leagues in baseball history, his favorite baseball books, and more.

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Is the American League East the same old story? Contrary to popular belief, there actually is no such thing; the division changes all the time - and the Baseball Rabbi is here to tell you all about it. The Yankees' pitching is great as usual, but there's a consistent flaw that might - might - be related to their inability to win a pennant. The Red Sox actually look pretty good and are rebuilding the team the right way; Toronto already did that, and the time to win is now. The Rays don't look particularly impressive, but we've seen that before and they end up winning anyway. As for Baltimore - they don't look particularly impressive because they are a terrible team. All this plus Aroldis Chapman and his Hall of Fame resume (yup) on this episode of the Baseball Rabbi.

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The National League East looks like baseball's best division; four teams are among baseball's top thirteen, and its worst team may be better than the worst team in any other division. There are plenty of storylines to go around, including a discussion of the stars-and-scrubs Nationals, the pitching-rich Mets (and they can hit, too), the hitting-rich Braves (and they can pitch, too), the surprisingly good looking Phillies (who might be able to take the division), and the not surprisingly terrible Marlins who, as Pesach will tell you, stink. All this and more is inside for lucky Baseball Rabbi consumers, so listen now to become an educated connoisseur of America's national pastime (for now).

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