Episodes

  • Need A Trench Coat?

    Alex and Bobby attempt to parse Phil Mushnick’s sprawling metaphor for New York sports teams, discuss the dizzying flurry of player movement in the last week and what it has revealed about some teams, a labor win for minor leaguers last week, then answer listener questions about their playing days, advertisements on uniforms, the nonexistence…

  • This Is All The Fans’ Fault

    With the added perspective three days of a CBA has brought, Alex and Bobby gather to discuss the true culprit behind MLB’s lockout: that’s right, it’s you, the fan. They also discuss MLB’s latest cash grab at the expense of baseball’s accessibility, before answering a slew of listener questions about the CBA and Taylor Swift.…

  • Emergency New CBA Just Dropped Pod

    Alex and Bobby get together hours after the news of a new CBA between MLB and the MLBPA to discuss the end of the lockout, their instant reactions to some of the key points in the agreement, what this means about player-owner relations moving forward, and more. Baseball’s back, baby! Songs featured in this episode:…

  • MLB Is In the No-Deal Zone

    Bobby and Alex bask in the glorious prose of Bob Nightengale’s accidental poem and give Derek Jeter his due as a spurned former owner, then recap a whirlwind of a week in labor talks, including MLB’s astute weaponizing of the media, Rob Manfred’s press conference, the movement in the players’ latest offer, the concept of…

  • For Sale: Opening Day, Never Played

    Alex and Bobby talk about unionizing the fans and getting in on labor negotiations. Then they review the week in CBA nonstarters and remark on the apparent tone shift among fans and media ahead of the league’s self-imposed deadline. Finally, they answer a few questions about minor leaguer NIL rules, the MLBPA’s strategies, baseball road…

  • The Minor League Theory of Value (feat. Harry Marino)

    Bobby and Alex talk Bill de Blasio’s desperate plea for a resolution in MLB’s ongoing labor battle, then turn their attention to the Tyler Skaggs & Eric Kay case and discuss the broader implications the saddening tale may have on the sport. Then they bring on Harry Marino, executive director at Advocates For Minor Leaguers,…

  • Owners Just Wanna Have Fun

    Bobby and Alex fantasize about players who they’d love to see juicing, then dive into the latest in MLB showing their behinds, including Rob Manfred’s apparent contempt for baseball fans and the league’s refusal to compensate minor leaguers for spring training. They round things out with listener voicemails about high socks and low socks, the…

  • Mediator? I Barely Know Her

    Alex and Bobby bid adieu to Cowboy Joe West’s time as an umpire, which thankfully means more time for him in the recording studio. Then they dive into the latest news on the bargaining front, including why owners want a mediator and why players rightfully rejected it, what this maneuver says about the state of…

  • A League Built on Trust (feat. Jim Quinn)

    Alex and Bobby discuss the latest CBA proposals, and how difficult it is to grade the relative success of the union when so much of the picture is still incomplete. Then, they’re joined by Jim Quinn, lead counsel in a court case intended to challenge MLB’s anti-trust exemption at the Supreme Court level. Jim shares…

  • Long Live the Players’ League (feat. Emma Baccellieri)

    Alex and Bobby wade into the discourse about whose fault a potential delay to the season would be, and whether or not fans have any right to to feel entitled to the 2022 season starting on time. Then, they’re joined by Emma Baccellieri of Sports Illustrated to discuss her piece on The Players’ League, an…

  • The Least Terrible Owner Draft (feat. Céspedes Family BBQ)

    Bobby and Alex are back with a very special episode this week. They’ve invited on their friends Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman of Céspedes Family BBQ to do the unthinkable: draft the owners who they would actually want — or wouldn’t hate — to have running their team. Some of the choices may surprise you…

  • How We Tell the Stories of the Negro Leagues (feat. Andrea Williams)

    Alex and Bobby banter about a potential ARod-Cast for Sunday Night Baseball, and then give their not-so-surprised reactions to MLB Network letting Ken Rosenthal go. Then, they bring on Andrea Williams, author of “Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues,” to discuss her interest in Manley and the…