Category: Baseball Podcasts

300

No waiting for Glavine,

Today, those us in the Illowa APBA League were trying to nail down a date for our annual All-Star game.  I tacked this on the end of one of my emails:

By the way, God Bless Tom Glavine.  I rooted for the Cubbies the whole
way and swore a blue streak when Ohman essentially put the game out of reach.  But when the game was over I felt good for Tom G.

Glavine has been on my team for 17 years, more than any other player.
His career record in the IAL is 229-174.  Not only that, he is getting
better with age, in the last two years (06-07), he is 28-7.

Way to go, Tommy!  I’ll be there at Cooperstown when you get inducted,
buddy.

Speaking of the IAL All-Star Game and Glavine, I wouldn’t be too surprised if he makes a showing.  He’s in the running for the starting role.  Through 87 games, he is 10-2 with a IAL leading 2.42 ERA.

Sunday’s game between the Cubs and Mets was full of sub-plots and storylines as if Glavine’s quest for 300 wasn’t enough.  Alfonso Soriano pulled up short with a strained quad muscle on his way to third base.  Anyone who saw that surely had sympathy pains.

Kerry Wood made his first appearance for the Cubs this season.  Luis Castillo got injured and had to be pulled.  Even the home plate umpire (whose name escapes me) appeared to suffer a concussion from a foul ball to the face mask.  Blurred vision almost took him out of the game but since when was sight a requirement for umping?  Hwe was back after 5 minutes.  (That was a shot at our resident ump, Todd).

Congrats to Glavine!  Despite the Cubs loss, it was nice to see a milestone accomplished that everyone (including MLB and ESPN) could get behind.

Finally, if you’re interested, here’s the audio for Tom Glavine’s press conference from MLB.com Also includes ARod’s and Bonds’ press conferences, too.

BP interviews UI physicist Alan Nathan

Baseball Prospectus has interviewed University of Illinois physicist Alan Nathan who focuses much of his research on the physics of baseball. 

Of course, the name should be familiar to Zealot readers.  Our podcast, Baseball Zealot Radio interviewed Nathan for our last show.  It was a fascinating show so be sure to take a listen. 

Here is a link to Baseball Prospectus’ interview.  Unfortunately, you’ll need a BP subscription to read the whole thing.

(hat tip True Blue LA)

HOF Speech Audio Links

If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download. The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too)  is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.

If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download.

The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too)  is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.

Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Professor Alan Nathan on the Physics of Baseball

As he says, Professor Alan Nathan has been a physicist for all his career but a baseball fan all his life. What started out for him ten years ago as a one-time gig lecture on the physics of baseball at the University of Illinois, it has mushroomed into ongoing series of lectures and projects focusing on the topic.

This was a very interesting interview for me despite my initial trepidation of not knowing ANY physics.  Never fear, Alan broke it down so even I could understand it.

Here are the show notes for Show 26:

Hosts: Tom and Shawn

Summary: Alan Nathan is a professor of physics at the University of Illinois who lectures often on the physics of baseball.  During our interview with Alan, we cover the effects of spin on the flight of the baseball, wood versus aluminum bats,  and “Is there such a thing as a rising fastball?”.

Definitely, take a listen to our interview with Alan as he has a unique way of looking at the game.  Afterwards, swing on by his website entitled The Physics of Baseball.  There’s a plethora of info related to his field.

At the end of the show, Alan mentioned that MLB was making a lot of data from Gameday available to the public.  Alan provided me this link to an article on Friar Watch which explains how to access the data and how to use it.

Much thanks to Alan Nathan for his time.  I found the interview very insightful and hope you do too.

Thanks for listening!!

Time: 46:39

Date Recorded: 7/24/07

Direct Link to Show 26

Baseball Zealot Radio website

Listen via iTunes

Baseball Zealot Radio talks to Bryan Alaspa from Chicago Minor League Review

I’ve said it before but one of the best things about blogging and podcasting is meeting, albeit virtually, a wide variety of neat people who are associated with the game of baseball in one way or another. 

Show 25 is no exception.  I interview Bryan Alaspa who has begun a blog that concentrates on minor leagues in the Chicago area.  Bryan seems very excited about the whole project and when he asked if he could talk for a few minutes on BZR, I gave him a whole show. 

So when you’re done listening to Show 25, go out and visit his site, the Chicago Minor League Review. 

Direct Link to Baseball Zealot Radio Show 25

The Baseball Zealot Radio website

Listen via iTunes

Happy Listening!!

Baseball Zealot Radio Banter

CLuke and I did a show last night.  Here are the show notes:

Hosts: Tom and Chuck

Summary:  We touch on a variety of issues including the All-Star Game, vintage baseball, Tom’s 1979 APBA replay, the upcoming APBA convention and the woes of the Chicago White Sox.

As we said during the show, sometime co-host Shawn Lee is busy with the vintage base ball team, Vermilion Voles.  For a couple years, he’s been the webmaster for them so check out their website. 

This year, he’s picking up the bat and playing on the team.  Shawn said he couldn’t make the show because the Voles had a game.  Later, he reported back and said the Voles split their double header.  Interestingly, the team they played are from my hometown, the Urbana Boneyards. 

Here is the link to Tom’s 1979 APBA National League replay that we talked about during the show.  Much credit goes to my friend Brando who was responsible for the NL West.  As I said, we only got as far as July 26 but enjoy anyway. 

The APBA Convention is next weekend.  For those interested, here is the link to register (if it’s not too late).  Chuck mentioned the APBA Between the Lines Forum during the show.  I’d highly recommend it to any APBA player who wants to chat with others who play the game. 

Finally, one more promised link… Soxcast.com is a good podcast for White Sox fans.  George Heidcamp does a fine job covering the team. 

Thanks for listening!!

Direct Link to the Show

Baseball Zealot Radio website

Our iTunes link

Podcast review: Cubs Closeup

There’s a new Cubs podcast in town… Cubs Closeup. I recognized one of the hosts, Phil Zuber from the old Big League Baseball Report which used to be one of my favorites till its co-hosts Joe Aiello went on to do The Pitch and Phil got busy with his new Cubs blog, A Cub Fan’s … Continue reading “Podcast review: Cubs Closeup”

There’s a new Cubs podcast in town… Cubs Closeup.

I recognized one of the hosts, Phil Zuber from the old Big League Baseball Report which used to be one of my favorites till its co-hosts Joe Aiello went on to do The Pitch and Phil got busy with his new Cubs blog, A Cub Fan’s Obsession (Cub fans check it out!!).

Phil’s got the mike in front of him again. With co-host Ryan Mendenhall, he is bringing us Cubs Closeup, a (you guessed it) Cubs oriented podcast. And you can’t have too many of these.

I’ve listened to a couple of episodes and Cubs Closeup definitely falls in the intelligent, thinking talk show. You know, the reason I avoid the mainstream radio talk shows.

Check out their website or subscribe to the show iTunes.

Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Andrew Hartwell of Summer Ball

Northwoods League. Coastal Plain League. Central Illinois Collegiate League.

I’ve written about about these leagues and others like them. They’re all college summer leagues and they serve a very important purpose in developing college baseball players.

In this episode of Baseball Zealot Radio, I interview Andrew Hartwell who, as far as I know, has the only website devoted exclusively to college summer leagues. It’s called Summer Ball and if you’re a fan of college baseball, you should check it out. During our interview, Andrew talks about what purpose college summer leagues serve and how these leagues operate.

Direct Link to the show

Listen via iTunes

Baseball Zealot Radio website

 

Yes, BZR is still going… we just put out another show

It’s been about month since we put out a show. Between everyone’s busy schedules and me going to the Big Ten Tournament, it’s been hard to put one together. But here it is.

There are a lot reasons I like having Todd V on Baseball Zealot Radio. Aside from his extensive baseball knowledge (both historical and current), he has a voice made for broadcasting. Not only that, his umpire experience adds a different perspective to the show.

That perspective was very evident in this show. During our discussion of pitchers in the First Player Draft, Todd spoke from experience of the young kids who he has seen over-pitched.

It was also good to get Todd’s input on the whole Piniella matter.

By the way, apologies on how I sound on this show (kinda like broadcasting from a tin can from 100 feet away). It was due to technical difficulties. I thought about scrapping the show but the content (especially Todd’s) was good enough to keep. Bear with my voice during show… it’s worth it.

Direct Link to the show

Listen via iTunes

Baseball Zealot Radio website

UI interviews Illini’s Daniel Webb

Ben Taylor from the U of I Athletic Department interviewed University of Illinois Designated Hitter Daniel Webb on Wednesday. Webb talks about hitting in the 5 hole and being the DH as well as the Illini’s series against Michigan, Indiana and the game against Missouri. You can download the video podcast and others from the … Continue reading “UI interviews Illini’s Daniel Webb”

danwebb

Ben Taylor from the U of I Athletic Department interviewed University of Illinois Designated Hitter Daniel Webb on Wednesday.

Webb talks about hitting in the 5 hole and being the DH as well as the Illini’s series against Michigan, Indiana and the game against Missouri.

You can download the video podcast and others from the fightingillini.com website.