Toy Cannon Canon

Vik, Jacob and Murphy finalize their pitching staffs and benches. Vik finally picks up the two batting legends that have been dangling for his team all draft, Jacob splits some hairs between all-timers and Murphy continues to make decisions that leave the two hosts scratching their heads.

Vik, Jacob, and guest Alex Murphy resume their Wine Cellar MLB Draft with part 3 of 4. Rotations are set, bullpens are established, benches are crafted and tensions are, as always, at a fever pitch.

Rounds 6-10 of the ultimate MLB Wine Cellar Draft featuring Alex Murphy continues as Murph builds a strange rotation and Vik and Jacob almost draft in lockstep in terms of eras. As a refresher: each drafter can only take one player from a given franchise and they need at least one player from every decade.

Vik and Jacob celebrate reaching their tenth episode with a special program. Alongside guest Alex Murphy, our heroes conduct a Wine Cellar Draft spanning the entirety of MLB's modern era. "Wine Cellar" is a Bill Simmons concept wherein you pick "vintages" of a player, such as 2012 Miguel Cabrera or 1966 Frank Robinson, as opposed to drafting a player's entire career. Each GM can only select one player from a franchise and they must select at least one player from every decade. The eventual rosters will consist of 5 starting pitchers, 3 relievers, 8 starting fielders, 1 DH, and 3 bench batters. Who will craft the perfect team?

Get ready for laments and requiems. Featuring "Live From The Lounge" host Gary Lightman, Vik and Jacob get together for a round of reminiscing. First, Vik waxes poetic about a baseball uniform style that has recently gone out of vogue, despite it's close ties to some of the sport's greatest moments (2:45). Then Gary remembers one of his favorite Philadelphia Phillies from 50 years ago, who should by nearly every measure be in the Hall of Fame already (30:11). Finally, after what's been a tough week for Minor League Baseball, Jacob offers a requiem for not only what the organization once was, but also the career of the man who embodied its mythic past and utilitarian future (56:32).

In light of the recent and approaching waves of cuts across Minor League Baseball, Jacob canonizes the all-time minor league phenomenon. Not a prospect, but a vestige of an earlier era, one in which a game could be a game and a man could be a myth.

Guest Gary Lightman (host of Live From the Lounge) joins Vik and Jacob to canonize Dick Allen, who was cut from such a similar cloth as Jimmy Wynn that this podcast could be called the Wampum Walloper Wall of Fame or the Allen All-Stars. You don't have to try too hard to make Allen's HOF case, yet circumstances have left him outside Cooperstown for nearly 40 years.

Vik is joined by Jacob and guest Gary Lightman as he kicks off Episode 9's many lamentations with a memorial service for a jersey associated with underdogs and fringe teams that is also closely tied to baseball's greatest moments over the last 60 years. From Bill Mazeroski to Ken Griffey Jr., the uni is iconic, easy on the eyes, and so unfortunately seldom worn anymore.

Jacob and Vik talk about the current and former state of NASCAR (something which they know next to nothing about). Plus, they preview an exciting week to come featuring Harrisburg radio and podcast legend Gary Lightman of "Live From the Lounge". Finally, the game this week is shamelessly ripped off from yet another respected baseball media institution as the boys play "Is This Guy Good?" with relief pitchers from the 2019 MLB season.

Special guest Varun Raghupathi joins the fold as he, Jacob and Vik canonize athletes who stood alone in their respective endeavors. First, Jacob presents the only man with a baseball card that says pinch runner (3:32). Then, Varun honors an athletic marvel who had the awful luck of being obscured at every stage of his career because someone was always doing similar things more prominently. However, all told, no one ended up doing what he did (37:08). Finally, Vik waxes poetic about his favorite play-by-play call of all time: one in which decades of lonely pursuits are packed into three words (1:04:40).