The Barbecast

Welcome to Barbecast 92! Our special guest this week (at 17:20) is Mike Lananna, college baseball writer for Baseball America, and noted #1 fan of the Coastal Plain League's Savannah Bananas baseball team. Mike joined the show to talk about his inherent passion for the Bananas franchise before getting us hyped for this weekend's D-I baseball regionals. Topics include:

  • what makes college baseball more exciting to both watch and cover than pro ball (or other college sports)
  • why all 16 regionals this year are east of Lubbock and south of Louisville
  • what the hell is wrong with west coast college baseball programs
  • the most intriguing regionals to watch
  • ...and more!

After Mike (at 42:45), we engaged in another B-Ref Battle, brought to you by baseball-reference, featuring two players who had curiously short careers for very different reasons. We concluded (at 53:40) with a Men's League update about Jake's first start of the year (8 innings!!!!!), a shoutout to last week's guest Daniel Palka for USING PABLO SANCHEZ'S MUSIC AS HIS WALKUP SONG OMG, and gave a little tease as to what we've got planned for the summer. Hint: it's a ridiculous amount of driving. Thanks for listening <3

Musical Guest: ring ring ring ring ring ring

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

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Direct download: Pod_92.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 2:10pm EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 91! After a guestless episode last week, we've returned with TWO special guests for this week's pod, both currently inhabiting the Southern League. First (at 18:15 ), we talked to Twins minor league outfielder Daniel Palka. Daniel comes on the pod a little under a year after we first saw him in the Diamondbacks organization with the Visalia Rawhide and commended him on his walk-up song. After being traded to the Twins in the off-season, Daniel's had a good start to the 2016 season with Double-A Chattanooga. We asked him about a bunch of stuff, including...

  • his experience as an aerospace engineer
  • his favorite BESR bats
  • suddenly stealing 24 bases last year
  • the process of choosing a walk-up song
  • his Backyard Baseball lineup
  • ...and more!

After Daniel (at 56:40), we brought on Brandon Liebhaber, the voice of the Jackson Generals, to discuss things related to being the voice of the Jackson Generals, such as...

  • How a Los Angeles native ends up in Jackson, Tennessee by age 23
  • What a broadcaster can learn/take from Vin Scully
  • Tyler O'Neill and Guillermo Heredia
  • Jerry Dipoto's magic
  • being overrun on the radio by Rush Limbaugh (?!?!)
  • ...and more!

After Brandon (at 1:33:45), another B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference went down. Names were shared. Laughs were had. And then we moved on. We concluded (at 1:41:20) with a Varsity Baseball Update about the end of our respective D-III schools' baseball seasons with similarly crushing losses in regionals, before looking ahead to the excitement of men's league baseball. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening <3

Music: 2Pac/Biggie (Daniel's walk-up song)

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We’d really appreciate it!

Direct download: Pod_91.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 11:21pm EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 90! There's no special guest this week, because we just wanted to record a full damn Barbecast and didn't have time to arrange a guest. So here we are! Instead of a guest, we did perhaps the longest e-mail segment in Barbecast history, on topic such as...

  • Trading Mike Trout (Mike Trout is a Lunchable)
  • Bartolo's dinger
  • Bartolo's dinger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Craziest thing we've done for baseball
  • Rougned Odor punching Jose Bautista
  • Rougned Odor punching other things
  • Getting punched in the face (please e-mail us at cespedesfb@gmail.com if you've been punched in the face)
  • Jake's baseball brawl story
  • How to pack bobbleheads and hats
  • An epic tale from Big Poop about Jeff Francoeur 

After our lengthy e-mail segment (at 51:50), the B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference returned with a name inspiring the #FreeTheB movement, and another one that is just downright strange. We concluded with a very exciting Varsity Baseball Update (at 1:00:49) from BOTH of us, as both the WashU Bears and the Wooster Fighting Scots are both heading to the D-III Regionals this week. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening <3

Music: Chance the Rapper

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We’d really appreciate it!

Direct download: Pod_90.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 11:55am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 89.5! This not your average Barbecast. There's not even Jake Mintz on this Barbecast :( But hey, it's still 45+ minutes of unadulterated audio content for your enjoyment. Finals week has made the recording of a full Barbecast entirely impossible for both of us, but we really wanted to get something up ASAP, and so I brought Chris Crawford of Baseball Prospectus on to talk about the upcoming MLB Draft! Chris indulged me on several draft-related curiosities and answered a couple e-mail questions on topics including...

  • Jason Groome vs. Brady Aiken
  • The Mysterious Delvin Perez vs. the terrible shortstop class
  • Where In The World Is Alec Hansen's Command?
  • Buddy Reed vs. Corey Ray 
  • Matt Krook
  • How the Tigers draft strategy may change now that Dombrowski is gone
  • How teams treat pitchers throwing insane amounts of pitchers in high school/college, featuring a plus-plus rant from Chris
  • ...and more!

After answering my silly questions, Chris talks about his MLB Draft Guide, available for just $4.99 (!!!) on iTunes. If you have any questions about this year's draft class that weren't addressed on this podcast, the guide is the way to go. It's a fantastic amount of information for the price of a meh Subway sandwich. Seems like an obvious purchase now, huh? 

Anyway, thanks for listening! We'll hopefully be back next week with a full Barbecast, episode 90, likely spending three hours discussing Bartolo's home run <3

(Note: Sorry if my audio is a bit quiet compared to Chris'; I don't usually record these things and am even worse at producing them than Jake)

Click here to get Chris' MLB Draft Guide!

Click here for the B-Ref Battle Database of Amazing Names!

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We’d really appreciate it!

 

 

Direct download: Crawford.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 10:03am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 89! We apologize for the lengthy delay since our last Barbecast, but it's great to be back. Before our special guest, we had a tremendous e-mail segment featuring the triumphant return of NAPOLEAN BOOKBINDERY (Note: Napolean last appeared on Episode 40, back in June 2014). Our special guest this week (at 29:00) is Jon Meoli, Orioles beat writer for the Baltimore Sun. After reminiscing about Jon's appearance on Barbecast 3 (!!!!), we asked him a bunch of O's-related questions about what's most surprising about the team's hot start, Dylan Bundy, the incredible Joey Rickard, the less-incredible Matt Wieters, and more. After Jon (at 57:30), another B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference commenced. It was short and sweet. We concluded (at 1:07:10) with an amusing Varsity Baseball Update about Jake's unfortunate relief appearance and a shout-out to my freshman-year roommate for setting a D-III record. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening <3

Musical guest: Oooo, o, o, o, oooo, o

Click here for the B-Ref Battle Database of Amazing Names!

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We'd really appreciate it!

Direct download: Pod_89.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 1:41pm EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 88! Our special guest this week (at 17:00) is former major leaguer Mark Teahen! Mark came on to reflect on his career, including...

  • getting drafted by the Moneyball A's
  • getting traded as a prospect
  • playing for the hapless late 2000's Royals
  • the brutal honesty of a young Zack Greinke
  • seeing that same organization be World Series champions now
  • the secret to hitting Justin Verlander
  • his two remarkable inside the park home runs (here and here)
  • pitchers that owned him/pitchers that he owned
  • playing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic
  • ...and more!

After Mark (at 1:05:00), another B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference commenced. We concluded (at 1:15:20) with a painful Varsity Baseball Update from a hurting Jake after he had a rough time catching a bullpen. I also talked a bit about the start to Wooster's season before saying goodbye. Thanks for listening <3

Musical guest: Jimmy Fallon having no respect for IMDABES

Link to Mark's fantastic charity

Link to Mark's fantastic wine bar

Click here for the B-Ref Battle Database of Amazing Names!

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We'd really appreciate it!

 

Direct download: Pod_88.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 1:21am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 87! Our special guest this week (at 18:42) is White Sox insider Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. The Sox made some news recently with the supremely strange Adam LaRoche retirement saga, so we asked Dan to give us some COLD HARD FACTS on the story before transitioning into some more substantive White Sox talk. After Dan (at 44:38), we participated in a Purim-themed B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference. We concluded (at 50:35) with a lengthy Varsity Baseball Update from Jake and the WashU Bears and then said goodbye. Thanks for listening <3

Music: Scenario (and other ATCQ) - RIP Phife Dawg

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We'd really appreciate it!

Click here for the B-Ref Battle Database of Amazing Names!

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Direct download: Pod_87_Fixed.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 10:23am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 86! We return after several weeks with special guest Jesse Agler (at 21:08), Padres broadcaster and the brilliant idiot who thought it was a good idea to put us on television for a few minutes. We talked to Jesse about the origins of Padres Social Hour, his favorite baseball thing to broadcast, the challenges of broadcasting Spring Training games, the arrival of Don Orsillo, and of course, Yangervis Solarte. After Jesse (at 53:15), the B-Ref Battle presented by Baseball-Reference ensued, with two more wonderful baseball names brought to the Barbecast table. We concluded (at 1:03:15) with a frustrating Varsity Baseball Update (Jake is hurtin') and then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening <3

Music: Spring Is Here

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We'd really appreciate it!

Click here for the B-Ref Battle Database of Amazing Names!

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Direct download: Pod_86.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 1:14am EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 85! Our special guest this week (at 29:05) is Keith Law of ESPN! We've wanted to have Keith on for a while, so we let our conversation run a little long so we could cover as much as possible. Topics include...

  • the problem with pay-to-play showcase events for high school prospects
  • the geographical "holes" for scouts
  • how Keith adjusts his evaluations after a player proves him wrong
  • Keith's recently released Top 100 prospect list
  • why Pirates SS Kevin Newman is a damn good prospect
  • happy thoughts about Jurickson Profar (!!!!)
  • ...and more!

After Keith (at 1:27:25), a brief B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference commenced, featuring a guy who played on a team called the Nadjys (!?!?) and one of our most Jewish names ever, albeit subtly. We concluded (at 1:35:50) with a long-awaited Varsity Baseball Update about Jake's opening weekend and his IP and ERA projections for his upcoming season. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening <3

Music: Dark Man X

Click here for the What These Pitchers Want music video 

Click here for all of Keith's Top 100 content! (ESPN Insider required)

Click here for Keith's non-baseball blog, The Dish!

Click here for the B-Ref Battle Database of Amazing Names!

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We’d really appreciate it!

Direct download: pod_85.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 11:35pm EDT

Welcome to Barbecast 84! While we rarely mention any specifics from our pre-guest e-mail segment, this week contained an exception, as we presented our all-time Jewish baseball starting lineup, with pump-up music and everything. It was wonderful. Our special guests this week (at 20:15) are Ryan Spaeder and Kevin Reavy, the co-authors of the upcoming book, "Incredible Baseball Stats" (info below). You probably know Ryan as Ace of MLB Stats on Twitter. We talked about...

  • how Ryan got into the whole tweeting amazing baseball fun facts business
  • how he turned it into a book
  • how Kevin got involved
  • how they got Wade Boggs (yes, that Wade Boggs) to write the forward
  • how Ryan keeps track of all of his fun facts
  • HOW?!
  • ...and more!

After Ryan and Kevin (at 47:05), another B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference commenced. Funny names are still funny! After B-Ref (at 57:50), Lana Ber---OH WAIT, THAT'S OVER NOW (we still love Lana). We concluded with one of the dumbest things we've ever recorded on the podcast (link below). Hopefully you find it 1/100th as funny as we found it. Thanks for listening <3 

Music: We Didn't Start the Fire!

Y'all Ready for This Music Video featuring the best YouTube description ever

Pre-order Incredible Baseball Stats on Amazon!

Buy Kevin's first book, "This Day In Philadelphia Sports"!

Click here for the B-Ref Battle Database of Amazing Names!

The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

Please rate and review us on iTunes! We’d really appreciate it!

 

Direct download: Pod_84.mp3
Category:Cespedes Family Barbecast -- posted at: 12:01pm EDT