Scheduling conflicts means we had to take the week off from our normal feed, so please enjoy this unlocked Patreon episode of Three Up, Three Down, featuring in depth discussion of bespoke AI appliances, Catholic guilt, accents, and more.

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Bobby and Alex discuss the increasingly confounding (and self-destructive) business plan of the Oakland A's and owner John Fisher, before making fun of Hal Steinbrenner crying poor and the predictability of another betting scandal. Then, they answer listener questions about salary caps, MLB contraction, express written consent, and more. Finally, they close with another Untitled Ranking Segment about playground games.

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Songs featured in this episode:
Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

Alex and Bobby discuss the latest AI innovation (quoting fake stats with its chest), break down the Perfect Game/Fanatics partnership and what it means for the future of youth baseball, and ponder the prospect of "nationalized" TV rights in the wake of Rob Manfred's comments, then unleash top sunflower seed power rankings in a new segment.
Links:
Perfect Game, Fanatics deal has agents raising concerns 
F.C. Rancho Cucamonga (feat. Ryan O'Hanlon) 
Could MLB nationalize its media rights? 
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Tipping Pitches merchandise 
Songs featured in this episode:
Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

To unlock this and our entire back catalogue of Patreon-exclusive episodes, go to patreon.com/tippingpitches

Bobby and Alex invite FanGraphs writer Michael Baumann to join them in drafting the most powerful figures in baseball, spanning executives, owners, players, politicians (??), and more. 

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Songs featured in this episode:

Huey Lewis — "The Power of Love" • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

Bobby and Alex fulfill their promise of ordering and eating MLB Ballpark Bites on the podcast (at the expense of their stomachs). Then, they each share four extrapolations from the first month+ of the MLB season and whether they expect them to actually continue or not.

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Songs featured in this episode:

TKTK • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

Bobby and Alex take a moment to appreciate the human toil of maintaining MLB Gameday feeds, then try and see if they can become a ghost kitchen for MLB’s new food delivery venture, throw out some other ideas for venture capitalists wanting to squeeze more juice out of the sport, and reflect on one year since the A’s announced their move to Las Vegas. Then they answer some listener questions about an employee-owned team, the MLBPA, and what they'd do if there were no copyright restrictions on broadcasts.

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Alec Bohm breaks play-by-play 

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Songs featured in this episode:

Equipment — "Talk to Strangers" • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

Bobby and Alex take a look at how Slam Corp stock is doing, then discuss a recent article about Diamond Baseball Holdings’s minor league shopping spree and what the encroachment of private equity means for the developmental arm of the sport. Then they settle on a slogan for the A’s and answer some mailbag questions about how to denote outs on scorebugs, governmental investigations, the outlook for robot pitchers, MLB in the Middle East, and more.

Links:

What is Diamond Baseball Holdings up to? 

Rockies under investigation by the FAA 

Every 2024 scorebug 

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Songs featured in this episode:

Arm's Length — "Dirge" • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

Bobby and Alex are joined by Hannah Keyser to run through a grab bag of topics, including the Shohei Ohtani/Ippei Mizuhara investigation updates, the state of the Designated Hitter across the league, why pitchers are not more...anxious, whether Jordan Montgomery leaving Scott Boras portends anything, team slogans, and more.

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The billionaire behind the scenes in White Sox’ stadium plan

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Songs featured in this episode:
At the Drive-In — "Lopsided" • Jimmy Eat World — "Christmas Card" • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”

Alex and Bobby break down the quote that's got them saying "Let's Go Brandon" and check in on some news items regarding a Sacramento baseball team and a recent rash of elbow injuries. Then they take stock of MLB's current bedfellows by ranking this year's jersey patch sponsors based on their benefit (or lack thereof) to society. We're talking grocery stores and oil spills, baby!
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Join the Tipping Pitches Patreon 
Tipping Pitches merchandise 
Songs featured in this episode:
Madonna — "Material Girl" • The Saints — "Know Your Product" • Booker T & the M.G.’s — “Green Onions”