Just Spitballin'
12 episodes - English -Jeff Snider and Josh Sadlock of Baseball Essential talk baseball, current and historical, in this entertaining, informative, and intelligent podcast.
Homepage Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Just Spitballin' Episode 12
September 25, 2015 22:22 - 58 minutes - 25.5 MBIn Episode 12, we started with a little bit about Yogi Berra, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 90. Josh and Jeff each shared there favorite Yogi stats: Josh: In five different seasons, Yogi had more home runs than strikeouts, and another season with the same number of each. Jeff: Yogi had 26 fewer career strikeouts than 22-year-old superstar Bryce Harper, and he had three top-five MVP finishes before he had struck out as many times in his career as Harper has struck out this se...
Just Spitballin' Episode 11
September 21, 2015 22:48 - 1 hour - 33.7 MBIn Episode 11 of Just Spitballin', we talked with Zack Hample (@zack_hample on Twitter), the "ball hawk" who caught the home run Alex Rodriguez hit for his 3,000th hit earlier this season. We talked about A-Rod's homer and the controversy around it, as well as Zack's more recent ball-hawking efforts, including a two-homer night in Philadelphia the night before we recorded. Before our talk with Zack, Jeff and Josh discussed the National League Cy Young Award race that they both wrote about l...
Episode 10: Matt Stoltz is Biking for Baseball
August 12, 2015 00:55 - 58 minutes - 25.6 MBIn this episode, we talked with Matt Stoltz, who has been riding his bike since Opening Day in Seattle on April 6. He has since gone to games in 22 additional stadiums (including two more since the interview was conducted), and he will wrap things up on October 3 with his hometown Milwaukee Brewers. We talked with Matt about why he's doing it, the challenges he has faced along the way, and plenty of other topics. Josh was absent for the interview, but he was present for the rest of the podc...
Episode 9: Barry Svrluga talks about "The Grind" of the MLB season
July 10, 2015 17:01 - 1 hour - 28.9 MBBarry Svrluga is a writer for the Washington Post who has covered the Washington Nationals and the Washington Redskins. His latest book is called "The Grind: Inside Baseball's Endless Season." Barry joined Jeff and Josh to talk about his book and the 2015 Nationals. We opened with some discussion of Jeff's recent trips to Southern California, including his brush with Vin Scully, throwing out the first pitch at a minor league game, and Ariana Grande licking donuts in his hometown. At about ...
Episode 8: Talking "The Game" with Author Jon Pessah
June 17, 2015 16:48 - 1 hour - 29.9 MBIn Episode 8 of Just Spitballin', Jeff and Josh talked with Jon Pessah, author of the book The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball's Power Brokers. The interview, which begins at 13:25, covers a range of topics, including how the world would be different if George W. Bush, and not Bud Selig, had replaced Fay Vincent as commissioner of baseball. We talk about the five long years of interviews and research that went into Pessah's book, and how the only hero in the book is th...
Episode 7: Greeney Got Run Over By a Fielder
June 10, 2015 06:54 - 1 hour - 30.7 MBIn this episode, we talked with former Major League catcher Todd Greene, who played ten seasons with the Angels, Rockies, Rangers, Giants, Yankees, and Blue Jays. We talked about: Todd's minor league career, including his struggles when he was first converted to catcher. His time with the Yankees in 2001, including catching the first pitch from President George W. Bush before Game 3 of the World Series, the first World Series game played in New York after 9/11. Being run over by Prince Fi...
Episode 6: Saving Pitchers' Arms and Taking Kids with Cancer to Baseball Games
June 02, 2015 07:28 - 1 hour - 36.9 MBEpisode 6 is the first one to have multiple interviews. After missing a few weeks due to Mothers Day, anniversaries, laziness, and computer problems, we thought we owed you a jam-packed episode. In the opening segment, we talk a little bit about Alex Rodriguez's future as the manager of the Miami Marlins, as well as Jeff's brush with fame when Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies talked about him on TV during a Cubs/Pirates game. At the 9:10 mark, we jump into an interview with Greg Durfee (@YCBT20...
Episode 5: Jesse Spector, Josh is Young, and What We'd Do for $6 Million
May 05, 2015 22:28 - 1 hour - 40.1 MBWe ran into some technical issues with this episode. We recorded our interview with Jesse Spector on Saturday night, and then we recorded the rest on Monday evening. Unfortunately, Monday's recording only picked up Jeff's voice, so it sounds like Jeff is just talking to himself, which is not actually very entertaining, believe it or not. So we re-recorded our parts today, Tuesday, but we had to do it on Josh's lunch break over the phone, and Jeff was up half the night with a crazy three-year...
Episode 4: Jaye Chapman, Monkey Rodeos, and Barry Manilow
April 28, 2015 04:41 - 1 hour - 34.6 MBIn Episode 4 of Just Spitballin', Jeff and Josh talked with Jaye Chapman, a minor league pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization who pitched in the big leagues for the Cubs in 2012. We talked about living the dream of being traded by your childhood favorite team for Paul Maholm, monkeys riding dogs, and his recovery from surgery on both hips that temporarily put his Major League dreams on hold. In the first segment, before the interview, we talked about the Royals and their attitude p...
Episode 3: Former Pitcher Blyleven, Plus the Scout Who Signed Tulo!
April 20, 2015 04:12 - 1 hour - 34.3 MBWe've got ourselves a streak: three straight episodes with absolutely outstanding guests! This week, we have Todd Blyleven, who has lived at least four different interesting lives in baseball: the son of a Major Leaguer (Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven); a pitcher who spent several seasons in the minors and had highlights such as playing in big league spring training and meeting Jeff Snider; a Major League scout for the Angels and Rockies who signed superstar Troy Tulowitzki; and now working har...
Episode 2: Jacob Hannemann, Josh Hamilton/Arte Moreno, and more
April 12, 2015 20:05 - 1 hour - 29.8 MBIn this episode, Jeff and Josh talked with Jacob Hannemann, a center fielder in the Chicago Cubs organization currently playing for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the High-A Carolina League. They discussed Hannemann's childhood in sports, his decision to serve an LDS mission instead of signing with the Royals after being drafted out of high school, and how his eyes look in his baby blue Pelicans uniform, among other things. Topics discussed outside of the interview included Opening Day, the J...
Episode 1: Burleigh Grimes, Molly Knight, and Kevin Stocker
April 05, 2015 07:12 - 1 hour - 35 MBIn our first episode, we introduce ourselves, talk with ESPN the Magazine writer Molly Knight, and play a few games. We look forward to looking back on this episode when we're much more comfortable and just cringing.