Category: Baseball Zealot Radio

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

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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

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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

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

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Baseball Zealot Radio website

Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Mark Pankin from Retrosheet

I think all our shows are good but this one is pretty awesome.

Mark Pankin from Retrosheet.org is our guest and he gives us an inside look at what the website is all about. By the way, if you’re a baseball fan and you haven’t been to Retrosheet, you really should check it out.

It was a very fun interview. Mark talked about the process of compiling boxscores and play-by-play accounts of baseball games. We also hit on some of the strange and unusual (and quite honestly funny) tidbits on the site.

But what I came away from this interview was the philosophy behind the organization and thought that went into it. It was clear that they had the baseball fan in mind when they came up with it.

Thanks to Mark for giving up some time to be on the show and thanks to everyone at Retrosheet for all the work they do.

Thanks also to co-host Chuck for suggesting that we bring someone from Retrosheet onto the show. Great idea!

You can download the show at the Baseball Zealot Radio website or listen via iTunes.

Enjoy!!

Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball

One of the perks as a blogger and a podcaster is that I get to meet (at least virtually) and talk to a variety of people in the baseball world. That includes players and coaches, broadcasters, and fellow bloggers and podcasters. The one thing they all share is the love of the game of baseball. … Continue reading “Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball”

One of the perks as a blogger and a podcaster is that I get to meet (at least virtually) and talk to a variety of people in the baseball world. That includes players and coaches, broadcasters, and fellow bloggers and podcasters. The one thing they all share is the love of the game of baseball. This week’s guest, Brian DeCaussin of Big Ten Hardball, is no exception.

If you have any interest in college baseball, especially Big Ten baseball, a visit to Big Ten Hardball is a definite must. Brian does a great job reporting on and analyzing the Big Ten conference. Week in and week out, he summarizes each conference game and highlights. His web site is worth the trip just for the wealth of useful links that adorn the side of his site.

Brian and I got a chance to chat about his interest in Big Ten baseball, how the teams will shake out in 2007, and the status of the sport of baseball in the Big Ten.

You can download the show from the Baseball Zealot Radio website

or

You can listen via iTunes.

 

 

BZR does some predicting

Tom and Cluke host Baseball Zealot Radio this week. Baseball predictions. Everyone’s doing them so we thought we’d give them a try, Surprisingly, we agreed on the NL East (Hint: we didn’t pick the Mets). There wasn’t much agreein’ after that. Check out the show on Baseball Zealot Radio’s web site or listen via iTunes.

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Tom and Cluke host Baseball Zealot Radio this week.

Baseball predictions. Everyone’s doing them so we thought we’d give them a try,

Surprisingly, we agreed on the NL East (Hint: we didn’t pick the Mets). There wasn’t much agreein’ after that.

Check out the show on Baseball Zealot Radio’s web site or listen via iTunes.

BZR chats with Larry Borowski of Viva El Birdos

The Baseball Zealot “think tank” is pretty eclectic. Among our group, our fandom represents a variety of teams. The Cubs, Sox, Pirates, Angels, and Yankees. But bein’s we’re based in downstate Illinois and we don’t have a good St Louis Cardinal rep, I figured we get an expert on Baseball Zealot Radio and give a … Continue reading “BZR chats with Larry Borowski of Viva El Birdos”

The Baseball Zealot “think tank” is pretty eclectic. Among our group, our fandom represents a variety of teams. The Cubs, Sox, Pirates, Angels, and Yankees. But bein’s we’re based in downstate Illinois and we don’t have a good St Louis Cardinal rep, I figured we get an expert on Baseball Zealot Radio and give a good rundown on the Cardinals. Larry Borowski of Viva El Birdos readily agreed…

… and did a fantastic job I might add. Larry covers the gamut from last year’s World Series to the Redbirds’ outlook for 2007.

We even talk about the Cubs. Go figger.

Anyway, I’d wish Larry good luck on his blog but I don’t think he needs it. This past week, Viva El Birdos was listed #5 in the Top Ten baseball blogs by Sports Media Challenge. Nice work!

You can download the latest episode from Baseball Zealot Radio’s website.

You can also listen to it via iTunes.

Baseball Zealot Radio: One last podcast from the Grapefruit League

It was fun, it was sunny, but it’s finally time for Teddy to leave Florida and come back to Chicago. But he called in one more time and left us one more report for Baseball Zealot Radio. Take a listen to his latest podcast about the happenings at Dunedin and Clearwater. If you haven’t already, … Continue reading “Baseball Zealot Radio: One last podcast from the Grapefruit League”

It was fun, it was sunny, but it’s finally time for Teddy to leave Florida and come back to Chicago. But he called in one more time and left us one more report for Baseball Zealot Radio.

Take a listen to his latest podcast about the happenings at Dunedin and Clearwater.

If you haven’t already, check out Teddy’s articles he’s written while watching the Grapefruit League action.

You can download the show from Baseball Zealot Radio’s website

or Listen to it via iTunes.

Stay tuned as BZR will have reports from the Cactus League in Arizona soon!