Bat Flips And Nerds

In the second of our 2021 prediction podcasts, the 'Founding Fathers' hand over to the 'B-Team' to offer a different perspective - and they do not disappoint.

Rob and Russell are joined by site editor, and fantasy baseball sage, Gav for a completely different look at who'll be 'in' first come Autumn. Which crew will end as the superior?!

Our mystery guest is unmasked!

ESPN National baseball writer Jeff Passan returns to the podcast to chat about his two game-changing off-season stories on Drew Robinson and Jared Porter, to talk about what league led 'ball tampering' says about the state of baseball and to make some predictions on the players to watch in 2021. He also gives insight into his own fantasy baseball team, and a forthcoming bumper profile of Juan Soto.

This is a banger.

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Ben, John, Tom and Darius run the rule over all 30 teams in the annual predictions pod, assigning win totals through iffy reasoning and impassioned debate.

Check out our Twitter feed for the final predicted standings and of course feel free to weigh in with your thoughts and comments!

In the last of our 2021 Season Previews we head to the Midwest, to hear all about the AL Central from another stellar cast of club experts:

- Southside Sox's Janice Scurio on the White Sox
- MLB.com's Mandy bell on Cleveland baseball team
- Bless You Boys' Brandon Day on the Detroit Tigers
- MLB.com's Anne Rogers on the Kansas City Royals
- Acces Twins' Brandon Warne on the Minnesota Twins

In our penultimate season preview we're over in the AL West, and again joined by an amazing group of experts to keep us on the straight and narrow.

- Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle on The Astros
- Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic on The Angels
- Matt Kawahara of The San Francisco Chronicle on The A's
- Jordan Shusterman of Cespedes Family BBQ on The Mariners
- Levi Weaver of The Athletic on the Rangers.

In the fourth of our 2021 Season Previews, we take to the American League, starting down the East Coast. Our guests this time up:

- MASN Orioles PxP Melanie Newman on the Orioles
- The Athletic Boston's Jen McCaffrey on the Red Sox
- Jomboy Media's Keith McPherson on the Yankees
- The Athletic Toronto's Kaitlyn McGrath on the Blue Jays
- Locked on Rays' Kevin Weiss on the Rays

In the third instalment of our 2021 round-up we turn to baseball's least predictable division - the NL Central.

Once again we have an expert cast to guide the way, including:

- Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun Times on the Cubs
- C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic on the Reds
- Will Sammon of The Athletic on the Brewers
- Nubyjas Wilborn of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the Pirates
- Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the Cardinals

In the second of our 2021 previews we turn to the NL West. Again, the guys are joined by clutch of experts to keep us on the straight and narrow, including:

- The Athletic's Zach Buchanan on the Diamondbacks
- MLB.com's Thomas Harding on the Rockies
- The Athletic's Molly Knight on the Dodgers
- MLB.com's AJ Cassavell on the Padres
- The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser on the Giants

The team are joined by a cast of experts to preview the 2021 NL East:

- AJC's Gabe Burns on the Braves
- MLB.com's Anthony DiComo on the Mets
- The Miami Herald's Jordan McPherson on the Marlins
- Actor and fantasy baseball expert Ellen Adair on the Phillies
- The Athletic's Maria Torres on the Nationals

Russell is joined by Jason Derr aka Bubba on Baseball, and Graeme Nelson of Shutout Cards to discuss their path into the wonderful world of baseball card collecting, the evolution of the card trading landscape and their new podcast 'Tea & Topps'.

In this joint-episode, John is joined by our great friend Matt Mutton of the British Baseball Podcast as they both chat to former New York Yankee, and Manager of the Knights of Britain franchise in the new European Super League of Professional Baseball.

Kevin reveals a few more details about the league, shares his genuine and infectious excitement with the project and talks a little about how his time with the Yankees can help him help the ambitious new venture to succeed. It's a really engrossing conversation.

You can follow the new league on both Twitter and Insta: @eslboficial
You can follow Matt via @britbaseballpod

Cody Decker, the self described 'real life Crash Davis' joins the show to chat about his love of the game of baseball, but hatred of the business as well as his massive love of the UK!

In a wide ranging chat we hit on:

- Being a Jewish ballplayer, and his time with the Israel baseball team
- Why the Colorado Rockies suck
- Jonny Gomes cameo in Cody's legendary career ending walk-off
- The best Doctor Who storylines
- The best Oasis songs

This one's a blast.

Tom is joined by Darius and Ben to talk all about the Tatis extension, the Kevin Mather debacle, their MVP/Cy Young bets (Not who they think will win), Brett Gardner and the misery that is the Colorado Rockies. Stick with the pod to the end for a special (late) guest.

John leads Darius, Russell and Tom on a quick canter through the off-season. Covering all things surrounding the mess of the Mets, the Rockies and on a more positive note, the Padres, Dodgers and who might surprise us this season. Do we finally have a division to take the crown off the "AL Central is Sh*t"? Spoiler alert, we do.

John ends the podcast with a rather humiliating game for Tom and a worrying show of knowledge for Russell and Darius. Maybe Lockdown has hit them harder than we thought...

Jarrett Seidler and Jeffrey Paternostro of Baseball Prospectus are back to break down BP's Top 101 prospects. Topics include:
-How the list comes together
-Balancing stats and scouting
-Their biggest disagreements
-Mackenzie Gore, Spencer Torkelson, Alex Kirilloff, Jose Garcia, Noelvi Marte, Triston Casas and many, many, more!
Top 101 link: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/64061/2021-prospects-the-top-101/

The whole gang - except Tom - convene to pick out their favourite moments from 2020, before discussing what they're most looking forward to in 2021. It's not just about Outlander, honest.

Former Rangers, Cubs and Yakult Swallows pitcher Tony Barnette joins John for a wide ranging chat covering his career in pro baseball including the process to signing in Japan, transitioning to the bullpen, playing with Darvish, Hamels, Fielder and Beltre and his own special role in Rougie Odor and Jose Bautista's infamous face off.

Baseball Prospectus's prospect team Jeffrey Paternostro and Jarrett Seidler join John to discuss the most fundamental redrawing of the baseball map in a generation, including:

- the motivations behind Minor League contraction
- the fate of those clubs and cities left without an affiliated club
- whether MLB is squeezing out all other forms of organised baseball
- aligning Indy Ball to the MLB
- what may be yet to come

In the second part of our LIDOM odyssey, John and Rachel are joined by Dominican baseball journalist Arlenis Peña and former Royals pitcher turned Toros del Este social media guru Antonio Puesán. The pair talk our two through baseball culture in the DR, the struggles of young players to adapt to life in the States and give some tips on the players to watch in LIDOM - both rising stars and local legends.

One half of the awesome Cespedes Family BBQ, and host of The Ringer's Baseball BBQ, Jake Mintz joins John and Rachel to provide an intro into the Dominican Winter League, LIDOM.

Jake details his two month stay in the Dominican for their 2019/20 season, explains which team you should root for and drops the mic when it comes to his favourite LIDOM moment. Do not miss this one.

Jake and his partner in crime Jordan Schusterman have pulled together a LIDOM preview PDF to raise money for Dominican charities. Jake explains how to get it in the show, but you can also find details right here: https://twitter.com/CespedesBBQ/status/1327445604998537216

John and Rachel discuss the impact of Kim Ng's elevation to GM of the Miami Marlins with two of British baseball's own female trailblazers - Kelly Wright, the General Manager of the Sheffield Bruins and Doris Hocking, the brains behind the brand new GB Women's national team.

They talk about the importance of female role models in baseball, its openness to cross gender boundaries and name their own women's baseball heroes as well as discussing the sport's growing cadre of female players here in the UK.

If you want to know more about their work head to Women's Baseball UK: https://www.wbuk.co.uk/ and the Sheffield Bruins website: https://www.sheffieldbruinsbaseball.com/

It's a bumper offseason pod as John, Rachel, Rob, Russell and Darius recap the Dodgers' World Series victory and Justin Turner's COVID protocol violations, before turning to the latest managerial hires, Steve Cohen's rapid action at the Mets, and a look ahead to free agency.

It's our 200th episode, and the start of the 2020 World Series! Rob, Russell, Ben and Darius celebrate this momentous occasion by discussing how everyone will treat the Astros going forwards, before debating whether the Rays are really underdogs, if Dave Roberts and Kevin Cash deserve their reputations, and pick their candidates for the Steve Pearce Random World Series MVP Award.

Comedian and documentary maker Reginald D Hunter joins Rachel to discuss his passion for the Atlanta Braves, following baseball from his home in the UK and how Greg Maddux influenced his career in stand up.

The postseason is here and that can only mean one thing: ill-advised predictions. John, Russell, Rob and Darius fill out the official BF&N playoff bracket live on the pod. Is it finally the Dodgers' year? Did the White Sox peak too soon? Why not Miami?

As the regular season approaches its conclusion, Rob, Russell, Ben and Darius talk about the race for the final NL playoff spots, the lack of race for the AL playoff spots, the new postseason format, and the leading MVP and Cy Young candidates.

Russell Carleton, Baseball Prospectus analyst and author of The Shift, joins Russell and Darius to talk about whether teams are shifting too much, the next frontiers of baseball analysis, and the intersection of sabermetrics & psychology.

John, Darius, Russell and Ben reflect on the first half of the 2020 MLB season, whether the baseball feels normal and whether that matters at all as long as it's fun?

Fernando Tatis Jr gets a ton of love, and we discuss whether he is leading a new era of charismatic baseball players and signalling the death of the 'unwritten rules'.

There's also time for some chat about fun and obscure relievers (of course) and what we expect to see from the upcoming trade deadline. John's cat also makes a guest appearance.

Guest hosts Sarah and Helen from the UK Yankees podcast, the Empire Strikes Back, are joined the the brilliant Annika Orrock to discuss her fabulous new book The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

You can find it on Amazon right here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incredible-All-American-Professional-Baseball-League/dp/1452173648

And you can find The Empire Strikes Back podcast right here: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-empire-strikes-back

Rachel, Rob, Russell and Darius chat about their favourite things from the season so far, debate the runner on second base in extra innings, and recap a whole lot more from the first week of the 2020 season.

Tom, Russ and John are joined by Miami Marlins UK's Pete Pratt to discuss a dramatic day in MLB following a classic Opening Weekend for the 2020 season.

Will three days in July be all the MLB musters this year?

Ben, Darius, Tom and John preview the 60 game wild card season in trademark BFN fashion - by inputting win totals into a spreadsheet you can't see.

Listen in to hear which basket your team falls into:

- Teams we hate because they suck
- Teams we hate because they are amazing
- Teams we hate due to their abject banality

Twins lefty Mitch Horacek joins to chat about the plight of minor league baseball players during COVID. During a candid conversation he discusses the need for union representation in the minors, goes into the moral conundrum of 'staying ready' for a spot on a COVID hit team, and talks about his own diversification into the world of web development to get by.

This is a fascinating, and pretty heartbreaking listen.

You can find Mitch and Anthony Shew's web design company 'In the Zone' at https://inthezone.dev/

MLBPA certified agent Joshua Kusnick joins to offer his perspective on whether the season should/will go ahead, the stagnation of the free agent market, the impact on his client Carlos Asuaje and the systemic racism across baseball as a sport, viewed from his perspective having represented high-profile black players such as Michael Brantley, Lorenzo Cain and Jeremy Jeffress.

In the first of a series profiling those in key baseball roles ahead of a season unlike any other, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic Cincinnati joins us to talk about how the job of reporting might be changed forever by COVID-19 and the MLB's approach to baseball in 2020. In a wide-ranging, and thoughtful chat he considers the parallels between open access clubhouses in MLB and the Premier League, the impact of 'player led' media products, and the Black Lives Matter movement on his work. We also touch on how and whether a 60 game sprint helps out the Reds.

Play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti joins Russell and Darius to talk about the role of the broadcaster, calling KBO games from his living room, the prospects of the White Sox and a 2020 MLB season, and how a tuba got him into broadcasting.

Darius, John and Rob attempt to untangle the moral conundrum that will be the 2020 MLB season. Will it even happen? Does anyone care? What happens if a key player pulls out? Who'll spring surprises? And most importantly - should they have done Baseball Big Brother instead?

Veteran of over 150 Big League games with six clubs, and current KBO ace with the Lotte Giants, Dan Straily joins John and Russ to chat about his career - including the impact of coaches and front office figures such as Gil Paterson, Brent Strom and Dick Williams - and his decision to head to the KBO. Dan shares awesome insights on sharing the clubhouse with Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton, and on how Driveline rebuilt his career.

Former Padres pitcher and coach, and current pitching coach for the Adelaide Giants of ABL, Josh Spence joins us to chat about the opportunities of college baseball, winning the College World Series with Arizona State, turning down a $1m signing bonus and getting out his idol - Chipper Jones - on MLB debut.

Alex Fast of Pitcher List joins Russell and Darius to discuss the site's recent PitchCon event, diversity in fantasy baseball, how to analyse pitching, shifting attention to the KBO, and much more.

Current Melbourne Aces coach and LA Dodgers scouting co-ordinator joins Russell to chat about his time helming Team Australia to Olympic silver, the cultural differences between US and Japanese baseball and signing Daisuke to the Red Sox.

Former Miami Marlin, St Louis Cardinal and NC Dino Xavier Scruggs joins John to chat about the Cardinals Way, playing on a Marlins roster up close to Ichiro, Bonds, Yelich, Stanton and Jose Fernandez, and the impact of GB coach Liam Carroll on his pro career.

They also discuss his new venture, Xtraordinary Athletes, which taps into the hidden skills and knowledge of his fellow pros and discuss an odd time in baseball - from minor league pay to Black Lives Matter - and what his fellow players, and we as fans, can do to help.

John is joined by Dutch baseball icon Rick van den Hurk to talk about his journey from the streets of Eindhoven to sharing a clubhouse with Miguel Cabrera and Aaron Boone; his unlikely chaperone as a displaced European kid in Fort Lauderdale, how Asian baseball helped cure his bitterness at a year on the waiver wire and his elevation from 'Jong Orange' team reject to WBC ace.

Rachel gets Rob, Russell, Ben and Darius to draft the aspects of baseball they'd most want if starting a brand-new franchise.

Guest hosts Helen Atkinson and Sarah Briggs chat to former Miami Marlin and current Rakuten Monkey Justin Nicolino about life in Taiwan and his career in the bigs.

John is joined by Darius, Rob, Russell and Tom to talk through their baseball bucket list.

There were five categories to stop them going way off-topic, they were:
- Item To Own
- Player To Meet
- Experience
- Collection
- Baseball Skill

Well, the categories were supposed to keep everyone on-topic, however it got weird quickly.

Thanks to Russell Baseball Facial Hair Museum, Tom's Bartram Bum Platform, Darius's Patchwork Pillow, John's Baby Poo Baseball Glove and Robs Special Feather, they were all a little weird.

Did you expect anything else?

Brad Balukjian, author of 'The Wax Pack', joins Rob to talk about how the book came together, his epic 11,000 mile journey to find all the players, and his elaborate scheme to meet Carlton Fisk.

Eric Hacker spent six seasons in the KBO with the Dinos and the Heroes - there's really no better guy to introduce the culture of baseball in the country and some of the top players he played with over his time out there. He also goes deep on the impact of tech on his game, and his love/hate relationship with legendary KBO prankster Oh Jae-Won. This is a belter.

Former Detroit Tiger and Houston Astro Darin Downs, a man who has won baseball championships on three continents with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, the Melbourne Aces in the ABL and the Monkeys in Taiwan's CPBL, joins John to chat about his storied career, give further insight into one of the only pro leagues currently running worldwide and to hint at the next chapter in his baseball life.

Loving the KBO, but need the inside scoop? We've got you!

English language KBO guru Dan Kurtz of My KBO, and Josh Lindblom, one of the best pitchers in the league's recent history join John for a potted intro to your newest favourite baseball league!

Milwaukee Brewers skipper Craig Counsell joins John to discuss his playing career in various new baseball markets, coming home to Wisconsin, the role of a baseball manager vs a soccer manager, and Wade Miley (obviously).

Great friends Jon 'Boog' Sciambi and Mike Lowell join John to reminisce about their time with the World Series Florida Marlins franchise, Mike's triumphs over adversity and some of the great baseball characters they worked with in Miami, and for Mike in Boston.

Russell and Rob talk to legendary umpire Perry Barber (@perrybarber) about her path into baseball umpiring, what umpire school is like, how umpiring took her around the world, and how the landscape has changed for female umpires.

Episode 101 arrives just 70 episodes late as the gang take turns to attempt to consign their least favourite elements of the game we love to history's dustbin, overseen by the arbiter of taste - Darius.

The baseball astrophysicist Meredith Wills joins Russ to chat about her work on MLB's bouncy 2019 balls and a whole loads of other trends in baseball analytics.

Live baseball is back in Taiwan, and being piped into our homes every morning via the wonders of the internet!

Like everyone else in baseball world, we've been bitten by the CPBL bug and thought it right to devote a whole podcast to all of our new favourite league.

In this episode, Rob Liu the master behind CPBL stats, and Bruce Billings who pitched for the Lions and Guardians between 2016 and 2018 (and in the bigs with the Athletics, Rockies and Yankees), join us to get under the skin of baseball in Taiwan and help us understand what makes the league so special.

Minnesota Twins stud reliever Trevor May joins Russell to discuss his dual life as a Big League pitcher, and an elite gamer. And to talk about setting up the MLB The Show 20 tournament, obviously...

In this bonus mini-pod, The Athletic's star baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal talks to John about the MLB London Series, and the impact of 2020 crises on the sport - the Astros 'banging scandal' and the COVID-19 epidemic.

Rachel chats to former Mets and Phillies infielder Ty Kelly about his career in the bigs, his time with Team Israel and missing out on the Olympics, his efforts to improve Minor League pay and sweet potato fries.

GB Baseball coach, and freelance MLB hitting consultant Brad Marcelino joins John to chat about his career with the national squad, his time coaching Kris Bryant at University of San Diego, his friendships with Trevor Hoffman and Manny Ramirez and his new venture to support struggling minor leaguers earn a buck.

Former Athletics pitcher turned baseball broadcaster Dallas Braden joins Russell to chat about his career from high school to the bigs, his show Starting 9 with Jared Carrabis and the changing face of baseball players in the 2020s.

Rachel chats to baseball historian John Thorn who offers tales of Mickey Mantle, Ken Burns, Babe Ruth and everyone in between. They also talk about shortened seasons, why it's called the World Series, and John offers his take on baseball books and films

Rob is joined by Jacob Kornhauser, author of 'The Cup of Coffee Club', to talk about those players who only ever got one game in the majors.

Current Minnesota Twin, and former big leaguer with the Royals and Braves joined John to chat everything from the upheaval to Spring Training caused by COVID19, the fight for better pay for Minor Leaguers and his lousy MLB The Show skills.

Russell chats to GB coach Liam Carroll about their ill fated trip to Arizona for the WBC that never was...

Blue Jays infielder Andy Burns chats to John about his time with the club, his career as a 'rock star' with the Lotte Giants of the KBO and spending 2019 up close and personal in Buffalo with the Blue Jays legends of the future.

Darren Fletcher, the voice of football on BT Sport and BBC Radio 5Live, joined Russell to chat about calling the MLB London Series for the UK broadcast, his own baseball fandom, and becoming a viral sensation Stateside.

Rachel gets Rob, Russell and Darius to conjure up baseball memories that they associate with each of the five senses, from a tangential encounter with Jake Odorizzi to the heckling of Mike Costanzo.

Ben is back!

Tom, John and Darius are joined by the boy wonder from down under, Ben Carter to go through their now locked in method of predicting the upcoming season. They take the total number of wins available and try to pick out how many games each team will win.

Hightlights:
John loves the Reds, hates everyone and everything else.
Ben loves the Mets, hates the Rockies.
Tom loves the Cardinals, hates Eric Hosmer.
Darius loves relievers (And Buster a little less than last year) and doesn't like the Giants that much.

ESPN's own baseball savant Jeff Passan joins John to talk everything from the current state of baseball, to his evolution from reporter to newsbreaker. Includes a trade mark PASSAN BOMB at the end of the pod - but perhaps not one you'll be expecting.

Get after it...

Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions joins Russell to discuss the latest edition of the Fielding Bible, the updated Defensive Runs Saved metric, and SABR, plus how Matt Chapman is even better than you thought, and how you can get Mark to write you a poem.

Pitcher Rick Teasley returns to the podcast to share stories of his 2019 in the Atlantic League as MLB used them as a testing ground for the new automated strike zone, and his reasons for moving over to Cleburne of the American Association - suffice to say it isn't quite ready for the bigs.

We also talk about his time down in Mexico, and the small matter of throwing a perfect game for Somerset. It was quite a year!

MLB.com writer, MLB Network contributor, Morning Lineup Podcast host and author of "A Fan's Guide to Baseball Analytics: Why War, Whip, Woba, and Other Advanced Sabermetrics Are Essential to Understanding Modern Baseball", Anthony Castrovince joins Tom to talk all about his time working for MLB.com, Spring Training, the London Series, Anthony's upcoming book and his podcast.

Tom (stupidly) tries to convince Anthony that P.I.S.S. (See episode 146 - Udder Zone Rating) is a worthwhile stat and required to make it into mainstream baseball.

You can buy Anthony's book on Amazon.co.uk - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fans-Guide-Baseball-Analytics-Understanding/dp/1683583442/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=anthony+castrovince&qid=1582747903&sr=8-1

Tom is joined by Out Of The Park (OOTP) Baseball's Chief Operating Officer, Rich Grisham. They talk about how Rich got into OOTP, how he come to work with them, some of the challenges facing the team, where the game goes from here and how they handle scandals such as the Astros banging scheme.

New recruit Rachel Steinberg hits the ground running by asking John, Darius and Rob to chart their baseball autobiographies in five players.

This is a fun one.

Russell talks to Derrick Goold, Cardinals beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the team's efforts to become an international brand, Derrick's love of London, and his participation in a world record.

Justin Mason and Joe Pisapia come on the show to educate Tom and Rob on the ways of Fantasy Baseball.

During the show they discuss Justin's murder basement he's recording from, Joe wanting to fight dudes bigger than him, oh and they chat a bit about Fantasy Baseball.

Joe Pisapia is the author of the excellent Fantasy Baseball Black Book, available here from Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Baseball-Black-Book-2020/dp/1652403280/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1L7FQ6RQCLEQB&keywords=fantasy+baseball+black+book&qid=1581452550&sprefix=fantssy+baseball+black%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-1

Proceeds from the book go to St Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Justin Mason produces The Fantasy Benefit draft guide, again available here from Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Benefit-Baseball-Draft-Guide-ebook/dp/B084LH6RBD/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Justin+MAson&qid=1581452634&sr=8-4

Brandon Lee and Alex Crisafulli join Russell and Darius to give the American perspective on the upcoming Cubs-Cardinals series in London, from the players to watch on each team to their outlook on the season, and the all-important issue of St Louis pizza.

Tom, John, Russell and special guest Joey Bailey from Four Bases combine to run through the blockbuster Mookie Betts trade that took place last night.

20 minutes in, Tom's computer shits itself and he's gone from the pod. So stick with it, you won't hear his dull Brummie tones after just one third of an hour.

Darius and Russell team up to try and educate two simpletons on the advanced statistics within the game of baseball.

Will John ever accept stats are good, will Tom manage to wrap his head around the concept of comparing yourself against yourself and will Russell accept the amazing new Pringle Immediate Stars System (P.I.S.S).

Find out right now.

Craig Goldstein, Editor-in-Chief of Baseball Prospectus, joins Tom and Darius to discuss the 2020 BP Annual, from how the team of writers is assembled to the process of editing such a complex book.

Bat Flips and Nerds emergency pod.

We don't want to spoil it here, but can the team recover from it?

The gang talk Astros managerial replacements, Dustin Pedroia, more exciting news for the UK baseball community and finally...the news no-one wanted.

Spoiler alert, John is hosting and DOESN'T swear.

Listen now.

Tom, Darius and John rush through the latest good news baseball stories before going head first into the Astros bin bashing bonanza.

Tom finishes with a quiz that the other two find utterly underwhelming. No one tracks the results, no one will revisit this episode. Still, it filled 5 minutes.

What a way to start the year! All Star closer, World Series champ and all round #gooddude Sean Doolittle, and his equally incredible wife Eireann Dolan join John to discuss the plight of Minor Leaguers, MLB London, and a little bit of Fernando Rodney. Get on it!

Darius and Tom discuss the suggestions the Twitter public made in how they would like to see baseball change.

They discuss Minor Leaguers pay, divisional realignment, changing the all-star game and how often is too often for a hitter to adjust their gloves.

Tom also goes full John McGee, with a sweary rant.

Tom, John and Darius discuss the really important news: which teas they like and Gerardo Parra moving to Japan. Oh, and there's the sign-stealing scandal, the drastic culling of minor league teams, a Premier 12 recap, the release of London Series tickets, and much more.

John is joined by three special guests to preview baseball's 'World Cup', the Premier 12, which is taking place right now! Japanese and Taiwanese baseball experts Kaz Yamazaki and Rob Liu give an insight into two of the highly fancied teams after P12 commentator and Minor League baseball guru Tyler Maun intros both the tournament and the firecracker USA squad.

All P12 games are available to watch for free on YouTube. What are you waiting for?

What!? ANOTHER World Series Preview being released on the night of the World Series? That's right, but this one is different because it features five British blokes all talking about baseball!

Seth Bennett of BBC World joins Tom to talk all about the Stephanie Apstein article in SI and give some live updates from Houston. Then Tom calls in stalwart of the podcast, Darius Austin, alongside regular contributor Blake Finney and Astros super fan George Martin to discuss the chances either team has heading into the big one.

Who will get the series score correct?
Who will be the Steve Pearce MVP of the World Series?
Which yoghurt does Tom and his family eat?

Find out all, in tonights episoide.

Tom returns! He's joined by the ever present Darius Austin and the young spunk, Ben Carter. Tom immediately takes them off track by discussing a twitter storm from the past 24-hours, then the latest mobile games available for Android, before finally switching to baseball.

The guys talk about the postseason situation, World Series hopes, World Series predictions, before finally finishing with some listener questions. Who is your Volvo of baseball?

Ben, John and Darius discuss the unjuiced playoff baseball and then break down all the Divisional Series action. They also hope that Tom's predictions don't come true, figure out which Yankees John doesn't hate, and try to decide which team to back the rest of the way.

John, Ben and Darius break down the playoff bracket, make some ill-advised predictions, and figure out if Kyle Garlick and Mike Leake have ever faced each other.

John is joined by GB Baseball's indefatigable coach Liam Carroll to discuss the national team's recent run at the European Baseball Championships. In Liam's own words 'a rather different 9th place than last time', as the side beat a Czech club who came in 3rd overall and were a couple of well timed hits away from beating two of the top ranked sides in Germany and eventual Olympic qualifiers Israel. They also look back to MLB London and forward to next year for the national team.

John and Darius look forward to the playoffs and digest the Ned Yost news. Mike Ivory of UK Cubs and Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic Boston drop in to offer hot takes on the Maddon and Dombrowski situations.

Tom and John are back! John isn't hosting, which means it's going to be...stupid.

Darius and Ben try to bring some balance into the madness, but unfortunately they get wrapped into Tom's game of "League 2 footballer or September call-up bullpen piece" game.

Darius asks us what we're still excited about.

Tom learns what a Funko Pop is.

John gets sweary (surprise surprise).

Ben learns who Bob Carolgees is.

Actually, if you've read this, don't bother listneing.

Robyn Davidson joins Ben, Russell and Darius to talk doping in baseball, covering cycling, the impossibly resilient Yankees and the playoff races, and they all try to figure out if there is anything nice to say about the Players Weekend jerseys.

Tracey Wilks of UKMetsOnline joins Ben and Darius to talk all things Mets, from their recent hot streak and playoff chances to Pete Alonso's Rookie of the Year candidacy, the masterful Jeff McNeil, and whether Brodie Van Wagenen is a genius or a lunatic (it's both).

Mexican Baseball legend Jorge Cantu, former slugger with the Rays, Marlins and Reds joins us to talk about his MLB career, the World Baseball Classic, and offers some great tales from the clubhouse.

Tom, Russell and Darius react live to all the trade deadline moves, from a rather underwhelming first hour to a wild 20 minutes after the deadline when they find out the Astros have acquired Zack Greinke, among many more deals.

The New York Times' Tyler Kepner joins John to discuss his brilliant recent book 'K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches' following a weekend in which three of its major characters headed to Cooperstown. They also stopped by Tyler's old beats to check-in on the 2019 Yankees and Mets.

Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports joins Darius to discuss her Deadspin documentary 'The Cricket Kings of Queens' about a New York high school's cricket team, her trip to the All-Star Game in Cleveland, fixing baseball's attendance and image problems, and her weekly show The Bandwagon.

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh joins Tom and Darius to talk about his new book, The MVP Machine, plus Effectively Wild approaching its seventh anniversary, and how he consumes baseball.

ESPN's Coley Harvey and Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald join John to unpack the Yakke and Red Sox reactions to that landmark weekend in London.

Your four pals are back (plus extra special appearance from Stand-In Blake) to wrap up the best weekend of our collective lives. Totes emosh.

Marly Rivera joins the boys to round up the wildest day of baseball we've ever seen...

The whole band is back together, and we're only in the bloody PRESS BOX!

John and Tom start the hype...

Tom and John preview next week's series, focussing on introducing the two teams and their players to those experiencing baseball for the first time. They also give their series predictions and tackle a few over/unders.

Mike Ivory joins John and Darius to talk about the Cubs and Cardinals coming to London in 2020, what they're all looking forward to at next week's London Series, and the Kimbrel and Keuchel signings, plus much more.

Russell is joined by Padres Baseball Operations Fellow Samantha Schultz to discuss her role in the San Diego front office.

Tom claims to have hit a home run during the first game of the Softball60 tournament. Ben, John and Darius do their best to ignore him while still discussing the event, as well as what's going on at the London Yards fan event, the ridiculous 2019 Minnesota Twins, and listener questions about Craig Kimbrel, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and the most mediocre player to have a transcendent postseason moment.

Tom claims to have hit a home run during the first game of the Softball60 tournament. Ben, John and Darius do their best to ignore him while still discussing the event, as well as what's going on at the London Yards fan event, the ridiculous 2019 Minnesota Twins, and listener questions about Craig Kimbrel, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and the most mediocre player to have a transcendent postseason moment.

Red Sox big cheese Sam Kennedy joins John to chat about the bonds between the Red Sox and Liverpool FC, the club's strong desire to pioneer MLB's assault on Europe and the logistical hiccups the team is working on as they embark on new waters for the sport.

John chats to Andy Brown, the Korean based British baseball artist about how his passion for painting found a muse in the sport of baseball, his artistic career to date, his current quest to document all 30 MLB ballparks during the 2019 season and the role of artists like him in recording the history of the game of baseball.

John chats to former Brewers, and current Rangers pitcher - and social media pro - Tim Dillard about making the most of your talent, 'doing something' every day, the importance of kindness and his role as creative mentor to generations of minor league talent. This is a hoot.

Tom returns from his two weeks in Italy and begins by rambling about computer games.

Darius then agrees they really should talk about baseball and Tom rambles about the epic start from Steven Matz against the Phillies.

The guys talks about the potentially juiced balls, before solving the "During this break in the action..." problem, once and for all!

The guys get to grips with the weirdness of the new baseball season, in which Tim Beckham is apparently better than Chris Sale...

ESPN Wednesday Night Baseball play-by-play guy Boog Sciambi joins John to reminisce about his time calling the Marlins and Braves, to look forward to the new season and MLB London, and offer some reflections on the state of the game.

Mark and Ben offer insights into the birth of BT and ESPN's new UK baseball show 'Caps Off', including some behind the scenes stories from Spring Training, which players are obsessed with which Premier League teams and some familiar faces popping up on the show.

It airs this Thursday at 3.45pm on BT Sport 2.

The whole team gets together to predict season records for all 30 teams. Darius makes up player names, Ben continues his bizarre Mets love-in, Tom references... erm 'older' adult dating websites and John gets sick of it all (but wants the Reds to know he loves them).

 

Oh and the predictions? Awful. Tell us why we're dead wrong about your favourite team.

John is joined by Jake and Jordan or Cespedes Family BBQ to discuss their path from the wilderness to MLB, and their enduring love of minor league ball, shared experience of watching baseball from the UK and answer some listener questions.

Emily Waldon of The Athletic Detroit and The Athletic MLB joins Tom to talk about her start in Baseball writing and Minor League Players rights.

They talk about Ken Rosenthal and his Slack messages, juggling two jobs of Baseball writing and Customer Experience Manager at Mercedes, finally they discuss the struggle Minor League Baseball players face when trying to reach the big leagues.

Outsoken veteran Aussie reliever Peter Moylan joins John to discuss his career, and to get a few things off his chest about the state of employment for baseball players, and the impact of front office dominance and thirst for new things on consistent, dependable performers. Hold on, he doesn't hold back...

Tom is at the San Diego Padres Spring Training facility in Peoria, Arizona. He is joined by AJ Cassavell to talk about the Padres Spring Training plans, their outlook going into 2019 and how AJ's thoughts about writing for MLB.com as a beat writer.

 

Next up he is joined by Padres radio broadcast Jesse Agler, where they discuss Tom's true love Don Orsillo, once again Padres baseball and how Jesse deals with being on the road away from his wife and young child.

 

Check out AJ on twitter @AJCassavell and Jesse on @JesseAgler

John is joined by Somerset Patriots ace Rick Teasley to discuss his itinerant career which has taken him from the Rays minors system through Australia and Taiwan to Venezuela. They discuss Rick's approach to pitching in-game and to self-improvement off the mound, and his experiences in different cultures - notably Taiwan's baseball mad populace and the role of baseball in the everyday lives of Venezuelans as the country was on the verge of revolution. 

Darius and Tom break down the Ken Rosenthal article on the major changes proposed in MLB, some as soon as this season!

They then answer listener questions on Harper, Machado, Keuchel and Kimbrel - plus many more!

Tom and Darius are here to guide you through the very basics of Fantasy Baseball.

What is Fantasy Baseball?

What are the different types of leagues?

What are the different methods of scoring points?

How does the draft work?

What are the different types of drafts?

All yor questions will hopefully be answered, if not, then please get in touch @batlfips_nerds on twitter or through the website www.batflipsandnerds.com

Tom is joined by MLB's head groundskeeper, Murray Cook to discuss his role and the upcoming London Series.

They start by discovering how Murray got into being a groundskeeper, then his previous projects and finally the London Series. They discuss the challenges, the potential issues and some of the logistical problems he has already faced in trying to make this happen.

It's a fascinating pod and has a few mini bombshells, including the type of turf for the field!

Craig Calcaterra joins John to discuss Britpop, sticking to sports, baseball's faux history, and the fact that the media is obsessed with ill-informed vox pops the world over.

John talks to NBC Sports Lead Baseball Writer Craig Calcaterra about 'sticking to sports', covering baseball from the middle of nowhere and his recent tour of the UK's crappest towns.

Christmas is here! John is joined by Tom 'Jingle', Darius and Ben for a live Christmas special, complete with mince pies, mulled wine, silly jumpers and secret santa.

They go over listeners Christmas wish lists, deciding whether santa will be naughty or nice, and conduct some live present unwrapping that reveals some truly extraordinary eBay finds - although one poor member of the team is left giftless. There's always 2019...

MLB.com's Mike Petriello is the special guest this week, joining Russell and Darius to talk about Statcast, from what to look for when using the data to what might be coming in the future. They also discuss Mike's experience with bringing Statcast to a TV broadcast, the impact of advanced stats on Hall of Fame voting, and his discovery of the UK's baseball fan community.

John and Darius are joined by MLB Community's Dave Shaw to discuss MLB London's ticket prices and taking a positive from a negative through fan owned events, plus some hot stove chat and listener Qs.

Episode title c/o Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs.

The season is over and the Red Sox are champions. Tom, Ben, and Darius discuss the World Series, including how we were still wrong about Boston even though they won, and whether Alex Cora and his gut reactions really beat the analytical moves of Dave Roberts. They then kickstart the offseason by breaking down the free agency cases of Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, before Tom makes Darius and Ben decide whether they would sign any of the oldest free agents in an ill-conceived game. Listener questions follow, including Halloween-themed questions about players who are always a nightmare for your team, resurrecting dead MLB stars, and filling out a lineup based on classic costumes.

John talks to Joey Mellows aka 'Baseball Brit' about his 75 game baseball adventure. Joey shares his favourite spots, meetings and experiences of the trip, a few scrapes and wild stories and tips for planning your own baseball pilgrimage.

Strap in, this is quite a ride!

John begins the show going crazy about the Jose Altuve "home run" reactions, whilst trying to stay calm.

Tom then tries to bring John down by making reference to his now famous "passed ball" line.

Darius laughs at both of them whilst they go back and forth all about the Red Sox and how they have surprised most this series.

The team then move onto the Brewers and their secret plan to use Wade Miley for one hitter, before bringing in Brandon Woodruff. Except it may be that everyone knew the plan before it happened.

Manny "Johnny Hustle", "Calf Kicker" Machado is discussed, which Tom begins ranting about before his youngest daughter interrupts proceedings.

John then wants Darius to tell him something good thats happened in the postseason because the episode so far has been miserable.

Then Darius rounds it off by giving his LCS predictions for the rest of the way (He's not very bold).

Jackie Bradley Junior is the ALCS MVP.

Four teams are still in with a chance to win the World Series. Darius talks to representatives of all four, starting with Leon Boyne (Dodgers) and Charlie Batho (Brewers) ahead of the NLDS, before bringing on George Martin (Astros) and some guy called Tom Pringle (Red Sox). They discuss the Divisional Series results, the most nervous and confident moments, the prospects for the Championship Series, and predict each team's unlikely hero.

It's playoff season, and that means it's time for some more ill-advised predictions from the gang. Russell, Ben, and Darius go through the entire playoff bracket and put together the official Bat Flips and Nerds predictions, with some pre-recorded input from Tom and John. Will Rocktober last more than three hours? Can the Brewers overcome their thin rotation? Is anyone good enough to beat the Red Sox? Will Aaron Boone use himself to pinch-hit? It's all here, and much more...

The Rays have had such an unusual season that we enlist specialist help to discuss them, in the form of regular Rays expert Rob Noverraz. Rob, Ben, and Darius discuss the experience and effectiveness of the opener, if the fanbase is on board with the strategy, and whether trading star players has actually helped them. There is a check in on Ben's health after a remarkable week which has put his Rockies atop the NL West again, and receive an extremely vehement response on the topic of whether they can hang on. Listener questions follow, with some mathematical debate over how likely it is that the Red Sox and Yankees would both fail to reach the ALCS, the recent call-ups that have impressed the guys the most, which teams will start rebuilding this offseason, whether Carlos Correa will return to form, and last year's stand-outs who have failed to impress in 2018.

Tom and Darius talk their way through the race for the NL West and the NL Wildcard.

Tom waxes lyrical about the Padres future, Darius has little gloom for the Giants future, then the guys work together through the rest of the NL West.

Tom once again makes a stupid bet, offends the Astros fanbase and laughs at his own idiocy.

Darius refuses to offend fanbases and continues to convince Tom into his way of thinking (Kershaw).

With the announcement of David Wright's impending retirement, John quizzes Ben and Darius about Wright's career and whether the Mets third baseman will end up in the Hall of Fame. They debate the likely Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP winners, allowing John to make his Shohei Ohtani case for RoY. Questions follow on the worst deadline trade, where the Nationals will go from here, the most depressing team to follow next season, which unique team rules they'd impose, and much more.

Russell Eassom and Darius give the listeners (well, at least two of them, anyway) what they want with an exclusively stat-focused listener question show. Questions answered range from 'what is a good batting average?' to 'FanGraphs or Baseball Reference WAR?', with a whole lot more on their favourite stats, the limitations of defensive metrics, combining the human and analytical side of the game, and what stats they would like to see on a broadcast.

Sabermetric Starter Cards: http://www.banishedtothepen.com/saber-starter/

Russell's latest piece on the Rays: http://batflipsandnerds.com/2018/08/27/the-rays-are-breaking-baseball-records/

 

John and Darius discuss the storming Oakland As, the end of the affair in Washington and the latest on MLB London. John also finds time for another rant, this one focussed on Red Sox all-timer and awful human, Carl Yastrzemski.

The guys revisit their pre-season predictions to find only one of them knows anything about baseball. Unfortunately, it's the one who did a live bat flip during the podcast...

They also ponder precisely who David Bote was apologising to, with a side order of 19th Century French literature. Just another normal podcast.

Our very first active Major Leaguer, Phil Hughes, joins Tom just before he "ships out" to Miller Park to face the Brewers and attempt to take the series.

They talk about Phil's favourite team growing up, his World Series championship in 2009, what he learned from Rivera, how the K/BB record affected his game, his very active twitter profile and if his name is the least baseball name in baseball. They finish off by exploring some excellent listener questions.

You can follow Phil's very active twitter account on http://www.twitter.com/pjhughes45

Brittany Ross Jr, wife of former Red Sox and Rangers pitcher Robbie Ross Jr, and her Partnerships Director Courtney Evans join us to talk about their charity Mission 108; it's ambition to raise awareness of human trafficking and women's rights issues in the USA and India.

Brittany also talks about life as a 'baseball wife', how this offers opportunities to use a platform to make a difference, and how her and Robbie are far from the average 'baseball couple'. She also spills the beans on the Red Sox clubhouse, including the best hugger and the hardmen who are secret softies!

John, Ben and Darius discuss a busy run up to the deadline, the awful orioles, Trout hypotheticals and mull over your trade suggestions.

John is joined by reps of the Phillies, Braves, Mets and Marlins to discuss the 2018 NL East. Topics inclde the form of the unrepresented Nats, whether Machado will be a Phillie and the future fates of the big three - deGrom, Harper and Adam Conley. Thanks to Bob Bamber (Braves), Les McCaughan (Mets), Peter Pratt (Marlins) and Dave Shaw (Phillies) for the insights.

 

The always brilliant Carlos Peña, a 14 year MLB veteran, joins John (and Darius, a bit later on!) to talk about the state of baseball in 2018 including epic rants on hazing, shifting and the All Star Game. He also answers listener questions on the science of hitting and plans for a new ballpark for his beloved Tampa Bay Rays. This is one not to miss!

John has a feature length interview with former Blue Jays pitcher Scott Richmond on his long road to the Majors, his current role with Nettuno in Italy and his globetorotting baseball career. Scott also offers some pitching advice to fans, and answers your questions on his teammates including Roy Halladay and Jose Bautista.

Tom is joined by British based baseball fans; Michael Ivory (Cubs), Craig Hurring (Brewers) and James Feldman (Pirates) to talk all that is good (and very bad) in the NL Central.

They go from the depths of the Reds, to the current battle between the Cubs and Brewers for the top spot and everything inbetween (Including the Cardinals Voodoo Magic)

 

Darius talks to former Oakland A's player Nate Freiman about his Fancred show 'The Launch Angle' and his foray into the world of analytics and coding. They discuss Nate's major league experience, including what it was like to be a Rule 5 pick, Josh Donaldson, the Yoenis Cespedes trade, and the infamous 2014 wild card game. They also touch on Nate's time in the Mexican leagues, the viability of a franchise in Mexico City, and then go in-depth on his time with Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic, from facing Team GB to playing Japan in the Tokyo Dome, and learning from Shawn Green.

Jen McCaffrey digs into her conversations with Red Sox and MLB brass on their hopes for next year's MLB London Series. She and John also address a resurgent Chris Sale and first day nerves for Jalen Beeks.

John is back in the UK and talks about an eventful trip to Boston, including a recreation of the Lion King in the stands. He and Tom discuss Terry Collins vs the Umpires and answer listener questions about the Twins, Harper and Machado.

Dom Clarke (A's), Tom Young (Mariners), George Martin (Astros) and Nick Wright (Angels) join Darius on the second of our divisional roundtables to discuss the AL West, most notably whether the Mariners can push the Astros for the division, if the Angels and A's can stick around in the wild card race, and just how bad the Rangers are.

John heads to the wrong cafe to meet the wonderfully accommodating Evan Drellich. They chat about the 2018 Red Sox and Evan's new book 'The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the Boston Red Sox', including Evan's path to writing the book as a childhood Mets fan, and how he sought to bring new angles to some of the game's most famous stories. We have a signed copy of Evan's book to give away - watch this space! Or download it for your Kindle right now, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-50-Boston-Moments-that-ebook/dp/B074VCT112/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528401219&sr=8-1&keywords=evan+drellich

 

 

Tom gets a short notice call to get his ass up to the bigs, as John is a late notice scratch from the lineup. Without any prep, Tom welcomes back Darius.

Tom attempts (Badly) to update Darius on all the baseball news he missed whilst he was on holiday.

They answer listener questions on Josh Hader, Manny Machado, Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish, Anthony Rizzo and his recent antics, and finally Twitter burner accounts for Manfred and the Steinbrenners.

Tom is joined by Matt Clough (Orioles), Mike Shipley (Blue Jays) and Rob Noverraz (Rays) to talk all about the AL East and the "exciting" division that it is.

Matt starts us off and makes us feel like we're kicking a puppy by making him talk about his beloved Orioles. We also spend time wondering what the Orioles could get for Machado now.

Mike then continues the sombre chat when discussing his Blue Jays, but ends on a high when we discuss those exciting prospects (you know exactly who we mean) on the fringes.

Rob then completes the guest round-up in the only manner he knows. Happiness. He's delighted with his Rays so far but is absolutely, positively, in no-doubt this mini surge won't last. We also discuss the exciting new trend (Used twice, is that a trend?) of the OPENER.

Tom concludes by discussing the well rounded Red Sox, before ending on a low looking at the Yankees and how much they could dominate baseball. Mike makes a great point about Stanton and staring into the future.

Check us out on Twitter - @batflips_nerds

Check the website, www.batflipsandnerds.com for all our writing and our brand new shop, full 'o' t-shirts, stickers and mugs.

It’s double interview trouble! Ben is joined by Gloucestershire cricketer Benny Howell to discuss his passion for baseball, his unconventional ‘knuckleball’ and what the two sports could learn from each other. Then, Tom chats to author Brian Wright about his new book on the New York Mets and the highs and lows of the storied franchise. The pod even ends with a super easy giveaway to win a free copy of Brian’s book: ‘Mets in 10s - Best and Worst of an Amazin' History’.

 

Buy Brian's book here.

The guys break down the huge announcement of a Red Sox v Yankees series in London in June 2019. Tom recounts tales of shading Sadiq Khan and explaining baseball to the UK press corps, Ben talks about the return of MLB UK on Twitter and John rants about something for a change.

John is joined by the London Mets' Ryan Turtill to discuss their baseball for beginners programme, and by GB coach Liam Carroll to talk about GB players at elite level.

The whole gang are back, picking their MLB breakout stars and discussing rough starts for Stanton and Votto. They also chat about Tom's first ever pro baseball game, and the international currency of Green King IPA.

John is joined by 'BaseballBrit' Joey Mellows to discuss his plans to attend 73 baseball games in 2018, and to jump head first into the world of 'Indy' baseball. He also interviews the General Manager of one of the biggest franchises in Independent Baseball - Brian Lyter of the Gary Southshore Railcats.

John and Joey then preview and 'seed' the 16 teams for our upcoming 'UK Indy Affiliate' bracket. Who's your team

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic Boston joins John to chat about the possibility of a return for her to London - this time to see the Red Sox - in 2019 and to dip into some of the reasons for the team's red hot start to the season. She also shares her top tips for Brits visiting Fenway!

Dave Shaw from Baseball by Committee joins John and Darius to discuss the spate of MLB fan meetups across the UK, and to discuss which of the stories of Opening Week might be for real. Including Shohei Ohtani, of course! John also chats with British Baseball Federation President Gerry Perez about Opening Weekend here in the UK - including trials for the GB age group teams, special coaching clinics with Cubs instructor Justin Stone, and the NBL opener.

 

 

It looks like the Yankees and Red Sox are coming to London in 2019. Blake Finney joins John and Darius live from across the pond to discuss the news and ponder the implications and logistics of the situation, including the venue, the timing, and what other events might be in store leading up to the games. They also answer listener questions about the event, including how the teams might prepare (fish and chips before games, anyone?), and, randomly, the inability of the Mariners to win the World Series.

The whole team is back - even Ben is there. So what do they do? They fill in a magic spreadsheet that has magic powers; namely, telling them whether their predictions for the 2018 MLB season make any sense.

They don't. Listen in to see how wrong they are.

 

John is joined by the head of MLB's UK office, Charlie Hill.

They cover everything from MLB Battlegrounds, through fan engagement and the expanding London office. Oh, they talk about some baseball games too...

Another week in which you, the listener, are the star of our show as we answer your weird and wonderful questions - including which second baseman would best a bar brawl, and which MLB stars are secret jazz stars.

We also consider tanking, surprise teams and try and place some of the remaining free agents.

Darius fawns over Tim Lincecum, and John teases a surprise in the offing.

Miguel Sano provies nothing but a pun.

John and Tom are back, this time they answer all your burning questions.

They start by looking at the Red Sox and their recent moves, tackle the Rays teardown/rebuild/who knows, they speculate free agent training camp, they draft street furniture (feel free to skip this) and finally end by discussing their favourite baseball website and apps.

John and Darius are joined by The Athletic's new Reds correspondent C. Trent Rosecrans to discuss the team's 2018 vintage, and his own podcast 'Great American Dream', which follows Minor League prospect Shed Long through his 2017 season. They also learn about Ken Griffey Jr's secret passion, and ask loads of questions about Joey Votto, obviously...

Tom and Darius talk about the revamped Milwaukee Brewers, including the Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich moves, then discuss the many reasons suggested for the general lack of free agent activity. The new pace of play improvements are then critiqued, from the pitch clock to putting a man on second base in extra innings. Finally, they delve into the mailbag to answer questions about an Ashes baseball series, baseball players in the WWE, whether they'd rather strike out all the time or have no power, which member of the crew would win a home run derby, customised John Sterling calls, and the Disney character who would be the best baseball player.

Former Labour leader and current MP for Doncaster North, Ed Miliband, joins John to discuss his love of the Boston Red Sox and the crossover between baseball and politics.

Ed also has his own brilliant podcast, Reasons to be Cheerful, which he presents with the inimitable Geoff Lloyd. It covers the big social issues of the day with an optimistic and wry outlook. You can find them on Twitter @cheerfulpodcast

Host of the Baseball by the Book podcast Justin McGuire joins the guys to share some of his favourite guests and take part in a 'draft' of our favourite, and less celebrated, baseball books.

A full list of choices can be found here: http://batflipsandnerds.com/2018/01/09/baseball-book-draft-podcast-reading-list/

Joey Mellows has an interview with Melbourne Aces stud pitcher Josh Tols covering his development in Australia, transferring to the States for college and his time in pro ball in Indy Ball's Pecos League and American Association and in Japan with the Niigata Albirex. Thanks to Joey for such an awesome interview, and to Josh for his time.

 

 

 

John is joined for an in-depth chat by Dan Vaughan, the voice of ABL's Perth Heat and the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association. Dan shares tales of his path to the commentary booth and how a native Texan comes to call Western Australia, and the ABL, his home from home.

Gabriel Fidler of Extra Innings UK joins John and Darius to talk about the new European baseball tournament and his interviews with British minor leaguers P.J. Conlon and Blake Taylor, Italian star Marten Gasperini, and Colombian prospect Erick Julio. They then discuss Derek Jeter's early days as a Marlins executive, the likely landing spot for Giancarlo Stanton, the latest developments in the lengthy Shohei Ohtani saga, and John Coppolella's demise and the severe penalties handed out to the Braves for infractions in the international market.  Finally, they debate the merits (or otherwise) of Joe Morgan's letter imploring voters not to put PED users in the Hall of Fame.

Gabriel's work can be found at http://extrainnings.co.uk/

For the second in our previews for this year's Australian Baseball League, John is joined by the Brisbane Bandits' Travis Blackley. Travis talks about his fast track to the Majors in Seattle, his Playoff year on both sides of the Bay Area and his life as a globetrotting gun for hire.

 

Thanks again to Cam McHarg for helping sort the interview

In the first of two podcasts to preview this year's Australian Baseball League, John talks to new Sydney Blue Sox manager and long-time Baseball Australia stalwart Tony Harris. They cover Tony's early days in baseball, his time as a coach in the Dodgers system and his current role as a Pirates scout before diving in on Sydney's chances in this year's ABL.

 

Following the tragic death of former Blue Jays and Phillies ace Roy Halladay, John is joined by Colin Murray to reminisce about Halladay's wonderful career and Colin's memories of meeting the man himself. Tom, Ben, and Darius then discuss the two major offseason storylines so far: a potential Giancarlo Stanton trade; and the prospect of Japanese phenomenon Shohei Ohtani coming to MLB. The trio then hand out a set of alternative awards, including a lengthy discussion of Best Fielding Howler (link to all contenders below), Best Blown Save, and Best Player Being Paid By Another Team.

Fielding howlers list

Darius and Ben get together for a World Series wrap podcast after the Astros' victory. They discuss the highlights of the series, where it ranks among recent World Series in terms of entertainment, the tumultuous series of Yu Darvish, and the juiced ball. They then consider what they might be doing with their time now that baseball is over for several months. They also ponder whether the Angels could be contenders with the re-signing of Justin Upton, and Masahiro Tanaka's decision to stay in New York rather than test free agency. Finally, they answer listener questions about whether a team will sign Ichiro next season, what the Astros could get in return for Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, or George Springer, and what they'd like to see as an entertaining compromise over the DH.

Darius is joined by Tampa Bay Rays fan and friend of the show Rob Noverraz to marvel at an incredible seesaw battle in Game 2 of the World Series, including Chris Taylor's bizarre fielding play, Yasiel Puig's tantrum, and some varying approaches to home run celebration. They then round up the plethora of managerial moves, headlined by the Yankees' decision not to bring back Joe Girardi. Rob then breaks down the complicated issue of the Rays stadium saga with news of a potential move to Tampa itself surfacing, followed by discussion of the prospects for the team going forward, the announcement of the Gold Glove finalists, and a push for the Rays to sign Shohei Otani and become a team with two two-way players.

Tom returns to join John and Darius in a discussion of Joe Maddon's latest round of antics as the Cubs teeter on the brink of elimination. They also marvel at the Yankees' resurgence and the Astros' sudden inability to hit, before getting stuck into the rumours that MLB is considering expansion, which draws a broadly positive reaction from John and quite the opposite from Tom, and leads into the latest round of the DH debate. They also touch on the bizarre map that suggests north-west Canada hates the Padres, and the imminent hiring of Alex Cora as Red Sox manager.

With all the excitement of the playoffs, the team has managed to do very little awards research, so they are put on the back burner once again in favour of Divisional Series chat. John asks Ben and Darius about all four series, touching on such matters as the formidable Dodgers, the outstanding Jose Altuve, the Stephen Strasburg will-he-won't-he start furore, the implausibility of Jon Lester's successful pickoff, and the demise of Cleveland. Ben tries to defend himself for actually liking the Yankees, and the trio also ponder the reasons for John Farrell's firing, bringing about a trademark John diatribe against the Boston sports media. Listener questions about using starters out of the bullpen, and why wildly exuberant American fans are featuring on MLB UK instead of properly reserved British fans.

As the only member of the regular team who isn't a fan of a playoff team, Darius ends up quizzing John, Ben, and Tom about the postseason misfortune of the Rockies and Red Sox - the latter very much in real time. When John isn't lamenting Boston's performance, they talk about John Coppolella's shenanigans, the firing of Terry Collins, the ludicrous reaction to Chris Sale's Game 1 start, and terrible MLB themed Christmas jumpers. Ben then joins Darius to recap the Rockies' Wild Card loss, before Tom jumps on to offer a little more Red Sox rapid reaction.

MLB Shop Europe Christmas Jumpers: http://www.mlbshopeurope.com/stores/mlb/en/search/ugly%20cane?culture=en

Jonah Keri's piece on Coppolella's firing and the international signing rules: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/braves-gm-drama-shows-its-time-to-put-an-end-to-sports-fans-sense-of-entitlement/

John and Darius join Tom to muse how many pitches they'd take to get a hit off Chris Sale. They also dig into the Bruce Maxwell story, whether there are too many home runs in baseball and make ill-advised playoff predictions. Tom introduces a new spot - 'Hot Cakes'.

Here's the Ron Darling article John mentioned:http://www.newsday.com/sports/media/ron-darling-explains-the-lack-of-anthem-protests-in-baseball-1.14278874

And Jeff Passan's great interview with Maxwell: https://sports.yahoo.com/bruce-maxwell-knelt-national-anthem-172301672.html

With Darius back in the UK after touring Chicago's MLB parks, Tom and Ben quiz him about all the important stuff - mainly food, from Chicago-style hot dogs to nacho helmets and even Tom's very strict rules about when it's appropriate to eat chocolate. They also touch on the playoff races, the crap catcher competition, how teams with winning streaks fare in the postseason, and answer listener questions about more food and juiced balls.

Don't forget there's another UK fan meetup at the Shooters Sports Bar in Leeds on Saturday, September 23rd; more details at https://twitter.com/MLBUKCommunity/status/908385298765271041.

John, Ben and Tom talk Dodgers and Indians and Ben's trip to MLB HQ before getting creative with listener questions. There are some terrible puns, include perhaps the best/worst Yu Darvish pun of all time, and a bit of a sing song...

The Dodgers article the guys mention is here: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-dodgers-look-beyond-terrible-right-now/

Bryan Joiner (Baseball Prospectus Boston and Over The Monster) joins Tom to talk all about how he got into writing, wiriting for BP Boston and Over The Monster, the recent SB Nation critism, why he hates writing lineups and how awful (fantastic) it is to record podcasts with Jake Deveraux.

They eventually get onto the main topic of the Red Sox and the guys give a realistic prediction for the end of the season.

AppleGate gets its own segment, Tom and Bryan completely agree, but which way will it be?

You can find Bryan on twitter at - http://www.twitter.com/bryanjoiner

All of our posts and previous podcasts can be found on http://www.batflipsandnerds.com

 

MLB UK Ambassador, 2007 Comeback Player of the Year, 2009 All Star and home run leader - all these things describe this week's guest Carlos Pena. In a taster for a more in-depth chat soon, baseball's answer to Peter Ustinov takes a break from his MLB Network to talk to John about his family's time in Europe this summer and his hopes and plans to grow the game of baseball on this side of the pond.

John is joined by Great Britain baseball coach Liam Carroll, making his fourth (including cameos) appearance here on the pod. Liam talks about the experience and impact of MLB Battlegrounds on the GB programme and gives the rundown on the recent Under 23 European Baseball Championships in Austria and the Czech Republic. He discusses the bright future for GB in the shape of this team, and the under 18 side and how they can harness the wisdom and experience of recently retired stars such as Chris Reed and Chris Berset.

 

Liam gives a laundry list of places to visit to learn about baseball in the UK, and his own programme. They are:

greatbritainbaseball.com - for updates on the GB Team

britishbaseball.org - to find your local club, volunteer and play

busk.com - the home of the UK Development Agency, Baseball Softball UK, for regular updates, intros to both sports and more info on finding clubs and facilities.

Tom and John join forces for the first live Bat Flips And Nerds show (There was another one, but we will never speak of it again).

The boys talk Manchester Meetup, the dangers of democracy, Erie SeaWolves, U23 Baseball Championships, GB Baseball, GB players in the minors and finally some listener question...questions after a plea on Twitter.

Stay tuned, we plan to do more!

Ben and Darius break down the very exciting news of MLB regular season games coming to the UK in 2019 and 2020, before brainstorming ideas for the UK Night being held on August 16th by Official Minor League Affiliate of the UK, the Erie Seawolves. They then move onto the trade deadline, including the dramatic Yu Darvish trade, whether the Dodgers are invincible, if the Royals were right to buy rather than sell, and what on earth the Orioles were doing. A Crap Catcher update follows, with Jett Bandy moving John ever closer to having to write about the Blue Jays for a year. Finally, they ponder a listener question about which footballers they'd most like to see on a baseball field.

Tom and John join for a very quick podcast to talk about why they didn't record on Thursday and planned to record on Sunday. It's a tale of hope, elation, desperation and finally despair.

They then tackle the very difficult subject of the Boston media, David Price and the Red Sox dressing room.

Finally, Tom found a terrible book in his garage and gives it away to a pun-writer. The winner was a cracker.

http://www.batflipsandnerds.com

John and Ben are joined this week by two special guests. Evan October, frontman of the Isotopes Punk Rock Baseball Club talks about their upcoming UK tour supporting CJ Ramone and how a baseball themed band will get to British crowds. 

Journalist Nick Miller then joins to discuss his recent Guardian piece on MLB's efforts in the UK and parallels to the growth of soccer in the States.

He sticks around to answer some truly bizarre listener questions, and partake in some mad deadline speculation too.

You can find the Isotopes awesome music (including an awesome version of Let's Go Blue Jays) here: https://theisotopes.bandcamp.com/

Dates for their UK tour are here: https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/isotopes-1

Nick's piece on MLB is here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/03/mlb-battlegrounds-hyde-park-baseball-europe-regular-season-games-2019

BP Boston writer and The Red Seat podcast host, Jake Devereaux joins Tom to talk all about the Boston Red Sox.

They start by talking about how Jake got into baseball writing, including his running of a daily fantasy baseball podcast. All before joining BP Boston as a writer and starting the excellent Red Seat podcast.

The guys wrap up by almost dismissing their pre-season predictions, getting excited about having Chris Sale appear three times in a playoff series and finally, the big news of the week, the DFA of Pablo Sandoval.

It was a fun podcast to record, we hope you enjoy listening to it.

http://www.batflipsandnerds.com

BP Boston

The Red Seat Podcast

With John, Tom, and Ben all away, Blake Finney (@FinneyBlake) joins Darius to discuss the latest blockbuster MLB transaction, Pablo Sandoval being designated for assignment. They then move on to much more minor moves such as Jose Quintana heading to the Cubs, before thinking up landing spots for the likes of Justin Verlander and Sonny Gray. Blake's All-Surprise and All-Disappointment fantasy teams are assessed, particularly Alex Bregman's unfortunate Twitter interactions, and the duo pick their own All-Crap and All-Star teams, and ponder the bizarre saga of Zack Cozart's donkey. Midseason award frontrunners are picked, considering the issue of whether anyone can stop Aaron Judge, and finally the issue of how to spice up the All-Star game is solved (spoiler: we don't think it's incredibly shiny catcher gear).

 

Jared Carrabis of Barstool Sports and CSN's Baseball programe join Tom and John to talk Red Sox in this very first edition of Brit Sox and Nerds! The Red Sox spin-off from Bat Flips and Nerds.

Jared tells us all about his start in baseball writing, radio and television. Before touching on his relationships with the players and how it differs to everyday beat writers.

The guys then quiz Jared on his successful Red Sox podcast "Section 10", the roles of Pete Blackburn and Steven Perrault, before switching to nicknames of the Red Sox non-stars.

Once Tom and John have exhausted Jared of his life story, they then switch to David Price and his role as a leader in the Red Sox clubhouse. Before disecting the Red Sox pre-season prediction and the current team.

Tom invents a nickname, that is reviewed by Jared. Let's not spoil the results here.

Oh and Pablo Sandoval may get one or two mentions.

It was a fun episode, we hope you guys enjoy it to.

 

Rate and review on itunes, stitcher etc.

http://www.batflipsandnerds.com

A special episode this week with John and Darius live on site from MLB Battlegrounds. We hear from MLB legends Cliff Floyd and Shawn Green, Italian sensation Federico Celli, GB coach Liam Carroll, MLB UK's Charlie Hill and most importantly - you guys, the fans!

It was a great event. Touch wood, the first of its kind here in the UK!
 

Award winning journalist Darius Austin and "Peter and the Wolf" lead Tom Pringle join together on a miserable Thursday evening to talk baseball.

MLB UK have announced the lineup and itinerary for MLB Battlegrounds! Tom reads the list out (Jeff Stelling style) and the boys discuss how everyone who loves baseball has to support this event.

Then it was the turn of trades and rumours, the biggest news of the day being Bartolo Colon being DFA'd and becoming available for all 30 teams. Or does the listener question from last week make sense?

The Crap Catcher Competition gets an update, spoiler alert, you're all going to be reading about the Blue Jays next season.

Then we get to a whole host of great listener questions including the impossible dream of a London franchise, is Nolan Arenado human and is there an MLB manager who is a bit like a dictator?

MLB Battlegrounds Post - http://batflipsandnerds.com/2017/06/29/mlb-battlegrounds-details-released

MLB Questionnaire - https://t.co/oQEjwcHVfj

Visit http://www.batflipsandnerds.com today!

Darius and John are joined by Blake Finney to discuss the Nats bullpen and the state of the shocking NL East. They also look at a 'week of bullshit' in baseball discussing the Mets puzzling reaction to Yasiel 'Joyful' Puig, Jarrod Dyson's uncontroversial bunt and Joe Maddon providing ample evidence that John was right about him all along.

They go deep on which teams will buy and sell at the deadline, with consensus breaking out over some controversial teams.

Legendary Channel 5 baseball broadcaster and GB catcher Josh Chetwynd joins John to discuss everything from his college career at Northwestern, his professional baseball career to his key role in developing players from 'non traditional' baseball countries - including African pioneer Gift Ngoepe.

There's plenty of time to revisit his on screen relationship with Jonny Gould and to get Josh's candid views on MLB's latest attempts to put down European roots.

You can find all Josh's work - and buy all seven of his books - at his website www.joshchetwynd.com

Bat Flips And Nerds - www.batflipsandnerds.com

 

Tom hosts, with Darius and Ben providing all the vital stats and info on the Major League Draft. Who went where, did the Twins pick right? Who has the silliest name? When will Ben be drafted.

Next the guys explain their "Crap Catcher Competition", where the loser has to write about the team of the winners choice (It's got to be John who loses).

Finally we learn all about Ben's new job at MLB UK, how long will it take for him to be fired and what has he asked Rob Manfred so far.

You can find out more about the team here, at http://www.batflipsandnerds.com

Ben and Tom join John in wondering how to pronounce Scooter Gennett's surname, whether anyone saw his four homers under that came uni, and to dig deep on the roasting hot Houston Astros. As ever, fan questions lead things to take a turn for the weird - apologies to Ryan Hanigan who looks like he could kill again.

Here's the Ben Lindbergh Astros piece we discussed:https://theringer.com/2017-mlb-houston-astros-searching-for-a-flaw-f73f4c8f774e?gi=776b54817f8c

Here's where to vote #AllStarllenCraig: https://www.milb.com/milb/news/voting-begins-for-triple-a-all-star-game/c-232404964/t-185364810

Ryan Hanigan's going to go across the street and bring you some orange sherbet: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hanigry01.shtml

Britain's top prospect Ben Carter isn't available tonight, so this time John leads the cause while Darius and Tom pull at his coat tails.

Tonights show consisted of:

Bryce Harper, Hunter Strickland, can anyone defend them? Does anyone care? What was the funniest moment of the whole shebang.

Mr Met, how many fingers does he have? Can he swear? Is it really an issue? Does he has a leg to stand on in court? John was a lawyer!? WTF.

The great comeback team of the AL East! The boys talk all about these plucky heroes and how much the public love them.

Something was announced about MLB in the UK. The boys weren't overwhelmed by the public response.

FINALLY, Tom pleads with the public to all vote for Allen Craig in the AAA All-Star game. #AAAllenCraig

Harper Fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w6tEO81kAY
Mr Met Finger: https://twitter.com/adelucia35/status/870360369402966016
MLB Battlegrounds: http://mlb.mlb.com/social/mlb-battlegrounds/
AAA All-Star Ballot: https://secure.milb.com/milb/events/asg/y2017/ballot/ballot.jsp

John talks to Great Britain player Jordan Edmonds of the Hamburg Stealers about his baseball career and life in the Bundesliga. Then Darius and Ben discuss whether Mike Trout should get the Barry Bonds treatment, if Chris Sale is on Clayton Kershaw's level, and what on earth is going on with Mike Leake and Andrew Cashner, before answering listener questions about player-themed areas at parks and baseball crushes.

Bundesliga stats site: http://stats.baseball-softball.de/
Sam Miller's Mike Trout article: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19451253/is-teams-treat-mike-trout-barry-bonds
Ben Lindbergh's piece on Kershaw's slider: https://theringer.com/2017-mlb-los-angeles-dodgers-clayton-kershaw-slider-improving-43d7492c00e3
David Schoenfield's suggestions for player-themed sections: http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/79832/every-team-needs-a-judges-chambers-section-and-here-are-some-suggestions

Tom takes over hosting duties while John is away watching Battle Bots and reading Harry Potter. The guys start the show with a very important guest, GB Baseball Head Coach, Liam Carroll. Liam tells us all about the upcoming All-Star game at Farnham Park on the 28th May. It's free so you all really should go!

The boys then get serious about baseball, baseball in the UK and end with some very serious and very silly listener questions.

Follow us on Twitter @batflips_nerds
Facebook.com/batflipsandnerds
batflipsandnerds.com

Rate and review, it really helps us out!

John continues his hosting duties, where he offends the returning Tom, the military, anyone who has died during active service, the Rockies, Julio Urias and all the UK Garage fans that are still standing.

The oracle that is Darius continues to feed us solid and serious information, except one vital point that could have stopped us offending Urias.

The lads actually manage to answer some genuine listener questions! Keep them coming please.

Enjoy the show, please rate us on itunes, stitcher, all the others and if you want to get in touch please visit www.batflipsandnerds.com. We'd love to hear from you!

It's #JeterWeek in the Bronx, so it's the perfect time to hear from the man who scored his most famous run - GB Baseball's recently retired outfield stalwart, Antoan Richardson. As well as discussing that run, Antoan talks linking up with GB and the future of baseball in the Bahamas.

John and Darius stick a fork in the Mets before casting an eye over the bona fides of two phenomena - Aaron Judge and the Minnesota Twins. Ryan Schimpf and Eric Thames prove that some guys are easier to nickname than others...

With Tom 'on manoeuvres' Ben and Darius join John to find a fitting nickname for phenom Eric Thames and to discuss which pitchers they love and love to hate. Health warning for fans of John Lackey, Big Degsy Jeter and Bruce Springsteen.

Greg Coleman, GM of the Official UK MiLB Affiliate Erie SeaWolves, joins the show to introduce the team and town, and talk about how much they all love the UK!

The boys are tired, which means they swear. So please be warned, John's potty mouth does go for it.

Tom hosts, John and Ben talk at different points, there is a loose structure to the pod, it soon falls apart.

The title isn't some funny joke, the boys do spend some time on the pod trying to name a Twins reliever.

Please forgive us.

John and Tom are joined by 'The Show Before the Show' stalwart and ballpark chaser Benjamin Hill to decide the order for the Bat Flips and Nerds 'Official MiLB Affiliate of the UK' bracket.

Some bloke called Tom Pringle joins Ben Carter to talk all about the Boston Red Sox. They talk about last season, this season and of course the collection of silly questions to finish.

The wild prediction that Tom makes may surprise some of the Red Sox faithful, but his thoughts on Pablo Sandoval, will not.

www.batflipsandnerds.com

Richard Churchill (@RChurchill26)joins Ben to talk all about the St. Louis Cardinals. They go deep into last season with plenty of honesty on display, then Richard continues the pessimism as they discuss the season ahead.

Ben calls the team fat, Richard does little to disagree.

http://www.batflipsandnerds.com

Broadcaster and British Blue Jays fan royalty Colin Murray joins John to talk getting into baseball, why you need to stick with it, how Roy Halladay and Roberto Alomar have left a mark on his life and to compare Canadian musicians to baseball ephemera.

In his first appearance as a preview host, John is guided through the ins and outs of the Cleveland Indians by Bath based Indians fan and blogger Ash Day.

You can check out Ash's Indians writing over at www.englandtribe.blogspot.co.uk

The preview tables are turned on Batflips & Nerds regular Ben Carter (@ukbaseballblog), as Darius Austin (@DariusA64) grills him about the Colorado Rockies, a process that reveals lots of love for Nolan Arenado and not so much for Gerardo Parra.

In a special tie up with Extra Innings, we bring you exclusive interviews with Adrian Gonzalez, Francisco Cervelli, Drew Butera and Josh Harrison direct from the WBC.

John provides appalling narration, showing ring rust by using the wrong mic for his intro...

You can say thanks by following Gabriel at Extra Innings:

On Twitter: www.twitter.com/extrainnings_bb
At their website: https://extrainningsbaseball.wordpress.com
And here on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-166708407/

Sydney Blue Sox and Great Britain pitcher Vaughan Harris (@vaughanh34) joins Darius Austin to talk about his career, the Australian Baseball League, and the World Baseball Classic, including his very own team ratings.

Vaughan's WBC team ratings: https://twitter.com/vaughanh34/status/841085668746969088
Sydney Blue Sox: http://web.theabl.com.au/index.jsp?sid=t4069
World Baseball Classic: https://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/

www.batflipsandnerds.com

Southampton Mustangs and National Baseball League (NBL) commissioner, Ben Davis, joins John to talk all about the Mustangs 2016 NBL victory and the future of the team. They touch on the ever increasing Venezuelan population in Southampton thanks to the fantastic players Ben and his team manage to attract. Ben wraps up the discussion touching on the adjustments to NBL and what the future could be for the league.

Southampton Mustangs - www.southamptonmustangs.co.uk
Mustangs Twitter - www.twitter.com/sotonmustangs

www.batflipsandnerds.com

Matt Smith (@MattBaseballGB) joins Tom to talk all about the Oakland Athletics. They cover the Sonny Gray injury, the hopes for 2017 and Matt leaves everyone with an image of an Oakland A sitting in a gutter, eating a kebab.

Mike Shipley (@99Xenon99) joins Tom to talk all about the Toronto Blue Jays. Mike stays positive, even when talking about Jarrod Saltalamacchia and his potential time at the plate. To Toms disappointment, Josh Donaldson doesn't feature in the silly questions to finish.

Jed (@TigersJUK) joins Ben to talk all about the Detroit Tigers in detail, Jed remains pessimistic throughout the pod until the wild and bold prediction.

http://www.batflipsandnerds.com

BASEBALL IS BACK! Tom is incredibly excited, Darius less so, but seeing as Tom is hosting the chaps talk Spring Training.

The WORLD baseball classic and it's lack of coverage available in the UK is laughed at.

Tim Tebow (obviously) gets a mention

And finally we look at some of the funny tweets in the past 7 days, with the potential prize giving potentially coming...potentially.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/batflips_nerds
Facebook: www.facebook.com/batflipsandnerds

Joe Hulbert (@HulbertJoe) joins Ben Carter (@UkBaseballBlog) to talk all about the Los Angeles Angels. They discuss the back end of the rotation, why Mariners fans should be cautious of Jerry Dipoto and the quick fire questions to finish. Which category will Mike Trout fit into?

Rob Noverraz (@RobNoverraz) joins Tom to talk all about the Tampa Bay Rays, the fragility of their team every year and who broke David Price (This was before we all found out he was fixed). The pod finishes with another round-up of silly questions where the stakes for "Who stays at home?" continues to shift!

New Zealand Test cricketer Daryl Tuffey joins John to discuss the crossover between his sport and baseball, how fantasy baseball brought together the NZ squad in the mid 2000s, his love of the Minnesota Twins and his enduring rivalry with 'arch nemesis' Scott Sytris.

Craig Hurring (@CraigHurring) joins Tom to talk all about the Milwaukee Brewers. They get all poetic and sentimental about this sport we all love, before deciding that Ryan Braun should stay at home, unless he's playing.

Jasmine Baba (@__baba) joins Tom to talk all about the San Francisco Giants, their 2016 fragile bullpen and lack of hitting, then they soon shift onto 2017 and who has the smoothest face in the lineup. This is the sort of content Giants fans want.

Mike Witcombe (@MikeWitcombe) joins Tom to talk all about the "playoff curse" Washington Nationals. Mike has hopes for 2017, but not much beyond the year. All this hope is on the rotation staying healthy and Jayson Werth keeping garlic chilli mayo out of his beard.

Mark Blakemore joins Tom to talk about Tom's least favourite subject, the New York Yankees. The conversation shifts quickly from what happened last year to what will happen this year, then finally onto the mighty team the Yankees could have in 2018.

John is joined by Great Britain, and former Cincinnati Reds AAA, catcher Chris Berset to discuss his career with the GB squad, holidays with the grandparents in London and the craft and psychology that goes into being the busiest man on the field.

Alex Hoad of Kent Online joins Tom to talk all about the San Diego Padres. But before the chaps get down to that, Alex reveals he once competed in the NFL combine, then proceeds to make a wild AND bold prediction about Jered Weaver. Don't miss this one!

On the second episode of the season previews, Tom is joined by BFBS DJ Hal Stewart to talk all about the Seattle Mariners. He begins by admitting he should have never chosen them and finishes by saying he hasn't seen the Adam Lind fart. In between there is some chat about last season and this upcoming season.

Kicking off our series of season preview pods, Tom is joined by Hampshire based Phillies fan Dave Shaw. They talk the team's hopes for 2017, and round off with some very UK specific looks at the roster.

Ben Carter and Darius Austin join to preview pre-season, picking out our sleeper teams, players and fantasy picks for the 2017 MLB season. Meanwhile, John goes off the long run-up at Jeffrey Loria...

London newbie and Expos Nation stalwart joins John to talk about his beloved team, growing baseball in the UK, the role of the Blue Jays in Canadian sport and what it felt like to be present for THAT bat flip.

Jenny Fromer, joint-CEO of national development agency Baseball Softball UK, joins John to discuss their plans to grow the game UK wide, develop elite talent and how the mooted MLB London series might help boost the Great Britain baseball squad's Olympic dreams.

Tom hosts as John and Ben duke it out over how MLB needs to pitch its much discussed London series. The team also introduce the Bartolo Colon Game.

Simon Crosse, Blue Jays fanatic and sports producer for BBC, Channel 4 and BT Sport joins John to discuss the offseason in Toronto and the state of baseball broadcasting in the UK.

John and Tom chat to MLB's Director of Market Development for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Jason Holowaty on his journey to the UK, how MLB found and developed Max Kepler and the next steps for the game in the UK.

Tom takes the host's chair as he and John discuss a few potentially quirky World Series stories before nailing their colours to the mast and predicting a particularly big series for a very big man - Joe West.

They then turn to the issue of domestic violence, attempting to work through the thorns of risk, PR, rehab and censure to work out the tipping point for offending sportsmen. The answer? It's complicated.

Thomas Neumann of ESPN International joins John and Tom to discuss the GB Baseball squad's WBC heroics. Things then go rapidly downhill as Ben Carter joins John and Tom to mock Tim Tebow (again) before the stakes are upped - World Series predictions, and our own adopted players? It could all come back to haunt us.

John McGee and Darius Austin are joined by LA Angels Minor Leaguer, Burlington Bees and GB Baseball utility man Jordan Serena.

John and Darius discuss two near perfect pitching performances from Rich Hill and Jon Gray, cast the lead in 'AJ Preller: Ocean's Seven' and get into the details of Adam Jones vital and timely interventions on baseball and race.

This week's one off intro music is provided by The Motorettes, with the usual sounds from the brilliant Bright Falls.

Darius Austin (@dariusA64) talks to Ben Carter (@ukbaseballblog)about pitch framing, how he got into baseball, the playoff race, and the perils of following the sport from the UK.

John interviews GB Baseball head coach Liam Carroll about the team's forthcoming tilts at the European Baseball Championship and the World Baseball Classic Qualifier. They cover Liam's background as a player and coach, his hopes for the future of the sport in the UK and his own personal coaching creed - The GB Way.

John and Tom are sorry for Clayton Kershaw's loss before bantering about the Ump Show and their beloved Red Sox. They discuss the parallels between the UK and US national pastimes, touching on the Andre Gray homophobia scandal and Fulham FC's attempts at sabermetrics.

Darius Austin and Tom Pringle join John McGee to discuss the legacy and career of a man whose all-time career came to an end this week - Alex Rodriguez.

John, Will and Darius discuss the Olympic return for baseball and the trade deadline. John thinks Jeter is overrated.

More at www.batflipsandnerds.wordpress.com

Intro music 'Mr Thief' by Bright Falls (www.freemusicarchive.org