The Baseball Rabbi Podcast

How great was Jackie Robinson? So great that only Joe Morgan is better. And man, was Joe Morgan good - in choosing the greatest five seasons for a second baseman, you could choose five Morgan seasons and no one could really argue that you're wrong. Join Pesach and Scott for an examination of their favorite second base seasons of all time, which - believe it or not - include two obscure 1973 seasons, three different Morgan seasons, a discussion of how Jackie is underrated, and much more.

Curt Schilling offered us some of his insights into pitching (yes, that's a name drop), but do the numbers agree with his theories? Pesach, with an assist from Moshe Schorr, checks it out. And on the heels of our greatest shortstop seasons ever episode, Pesach and Scott discuss the greatest first base seasons of all time - and include a not insignificant list of players who didn't make it for reasons of history, villainy, or... well, they just weren't good enough. And how does Scott shoehorn Celtics great Kevin McHale into this episode? Listen in to find out.

Pesach and Scott have argued that Curt Schilling is a nothing-to-discuss-no-question-about-it Hall of Famer - and on this episode of the podcast, they had the opportunity to tell him that directly. On this episode, Curt Schilling discusses his time on the Phillies, D-Backs, and Red Sox, his thoughts about the mechanics of pitching, how he utilized analytics during his career, the experience of playing with Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, how the Nomar trade helped the Sox win in 2004, his heroics in the 2001 playoffs and World Series, what hat he would wear on his HOF plaque, and much more.

They started off by challenging each other to figure out the most significant individual shortstop seasons ever played, but the results were not necessarily what either Pesach or Scott expected. Join the Baseball Rabbi to hear some wild stats - some crazy, some significant, some truly insane - as they search for the greatest seasons ever played by a shortstop. Plus: if you could go back and watch a game in any bygone baseball field, which would it be?

So the Red Sox are basically innocent, right? Not so fast: die hard Sox fan Scott thinks that Manfred's punishment is 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 last week's 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.

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.

Which players had the greatest consecutive ten year stretches, using bWAR as a gauge? Join Pesach and Scott for a discussion about the results of this experiment, the greatness of Willie Mays and Walter Johnson, the relative merits of A-Rod and Pujols, Trout's place on the list, the missing catchers, and much more. (We'll be back next week with a brand new episode about Al Kaline and more.)

The Baseball Rabbi Podcast is constantly invoking WAR - wins above replacement - as the most telling of all advanced baseball stats. But how do we explain the instances where Fangraphs and Baseball Reference calculate drastically different WAR numbers for the same player? Using Tommy John as a test case, Pesach and Scott present the fundamental difference between the two primary means of calculating pitcher WAR, and demonstrate that the distinction reflects a fundamental difference in baseball philosophy. So how good was Jim Palmer, anyway? Listen in to find out.

What teams are the most disappointing of all time? Which teams should have been more memorable, or won more rings, than they actually did? Pesach and Scott each provide a list of the top (or bottom) five non-dynasties of all time (with only one team making both lists). With baseball on indefinite hold, nothing is more appropriate than talking about great teams that didn't do what they were supposed to do. You'll probably disagree, so submit your list to our new Facebook discussion group and you might win a t-shirt!

In our final Spring Training (remember that?) preview episode, we look at the American League East, and its injury-plagued-but-it-shouldn't-matter Yankees, and the possible challenge they'll face from the we-won't underestimate-them-again Rays. We also look at the not rebuilding Red Sox, a Toronto team that could make some noise if a few things break the right way, and the pennant chances of the Baltimore Orioles. (See the end of this paragraph for our opinion about how many games they'll win this season.) We also do a deep dive into the Hall of Fame case of the Crime Dog, Fred McGriff, and compare him to Eddie Murray and... wait for it... Barry Bonds.

(Answer: Zero.)