Almost Cooperstown – Details, episodes & analysis

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Free agent hitters Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, & Kyle Tucker have still not yet found a team for the 2026 season as the dog days of winter continue. Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen are also still out there as starting pitchers along with Chris Bassitt. But relief pitchers are off the board with Pete Fairbanks the last one to sign - he with the Marlins for 2 years. White Sox Sign Murakami and Pirates sign Ryan O'Hearn after trading for Brandon Lowe.  Mets move Jeff McNeil to the A's. 

WBC rosters are shaping up with the USA team having a deep and talented group of players who've already accepted. Hall-of-Fame voting has been being tabulated and we will have Daniel Brown from The Athletic join us in January after the HOF votes have been tabulated and announced on January 20th. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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Dr. Stephen W. Dittmore has written a book that needed to be written about Jim "Junior" Gilliam. Gilliam followed HOFer Jackie Robinson through Montreal to Brooklyn and was signed by Branch Rickey. Not quite a HOFer himself, Gilliam was a member of four Dodger World Series winning teams - one in Brooklyn and three in Los Angeles. He played in three different stadiums for the Dodgers.  

Jim did not like being called "Junior" but the nickname stuck around for most of his career.  Dr. Dittmore tells us why as he interviewed many in this extremely well-researched biography.  The conversation flows easily so give us a listen! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa, (and belated Happy Hanukkah) to all our listeners! 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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Did you stay up late to watch game one of the ALCS Sunday night the 12th? #Mariners and #BlueJays both entered the American League in 1977. Toronto has won 2 World Series but the Mariners have never won a pennant. Will they get past the Jays who have the home field advantage? We make our points and tell you why one of the teams may win easily!   

Mariners got by the #Tigers winning a 15 inning classic in game 5. George Kirby hopes he never has to face Kerry Carpenter again! But the M's had Leo Rivas and Jorge Polanco to rescue their season although Cal Raleigh did all he could. 

Jays kind of bludgeoned #Yankees who had pitching and fielding issues despite getting a terrific performance from odds-on favorite for ALMVP Aaron Judge.  

#Dodgers vanquished #Phillies. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner just didn't do enough. Neither team hit all that well and it was defense and coming through in the clutch that led L.A. to the 4-game victory.  Mookie's wheel play in game 2 was amazing and just perfect. Orion Kerkering's brain fart to lose game 5 and the series was unfortunate. We feel bad for him.  

Now Dodgers get the #Brewers who subdued the #Cubs also in 5 games. Brew Crew did the little things a little better and home field meant everything as the home team won every game. 

Will L.A. overcome Brewer mojo? Listen/watch us take that on!  

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!  

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!

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The argument that team owners would be unwilling to give up the revenue from the 8 additional games between 154 and 162 is weaker than ever.  The additional playoff games would more than make up for the incremental loss of gate and TV revenue.   Players could have a bit more rest and maybe we would not need to start the MLB season in late March and carry it through early October.  Does the World Series need to end in early November?

The addition of Negro League stats to MLB is a welcome one but also presents some re-thinking of some of the most famous numbers in baseball history. Ty Cobb is no longer the player with the highest career batting average ceding that accolade to Josh Gibson. It will take some getting used to!

Japanese professional baseball is 144 games.

Link to article in SABR - The Negro Leagues were the major leagues:
The Negro Leagues Are Major Leagues

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends! 

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Angel Hernandez umpired 33 years of MLB. He stepped down this week and received no demand that he continue. His time was over. Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. went down with an awful ACL injury (again), and will miss the rest of the 2024 season. The last time Acuna Jr. had a season-ending injury the Braves won the World Series. 

Josh Gibson is now the player with the highest all-time batting average in MLB. His .372 career BA beat Ty Cobb by 5 or 6 points depending on how you look at the stats.  The week in MLB was interesting and exciting with Aaron Judge completing an all-time May for Yankee hitters. The Yanks and Phillies are on a pace to win 110 games with the Orioles and Guardian not far behind. 

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends! 

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The infield shift has been banned for about 1 1/2 seasons and the results are that left handed hitters have had some benefit mostly at the expense of right handed hitters. Baseball batting averages are still among the lowest in MLB history.  Watching teams struggle to get hits and score runs can be a chore.  Pitcher injuries continue to blossom.  Can anything be done about it? 

We discuss some weird but intriguing considerations to help create more offense in baseball. 

Luis Arraez played for the Marlins last season and part of this season - not the Twins.  Tyrod Taylor is a NY Jet quarterback, Tyrone Taylor is a Mets outfielder. 

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends!  

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Happy Memorial day to all of our listeners and their families. A memorial service could be held for a few #MLB teams including the #Mets and #Rockies.  But the #Guardians and #Phillies keep flying high.  The #Royals won 9 out of 10 but gained no ground in the AL Central. #Orioles have starting pitcher health issues. #Astros are playing better but are relying heavily on Justin Verlander. 

The #White Sox lost to the #Orioles this week on a bizarre game ending double play.  Baseball always has a way of pointing out a flaw in the way the rules are employed.  

We lament on the moribund Mets - kinda what we do. 

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.
 

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Blasts and swords will become terms baseball nerds will use to describe batter's strengths and weaknesses. Squared-up contact too. We took a look at the new nomenclature put out by Statcast/Baseball Savant and it interesting and amusing. 

We talk about what is the actual description of the bat's 'sweet spot' and how that figures into some of the news stats. 

As would be expected the best hitters are near or at the top of many of the stats. But not all of them since hitters succeed and fail in a variety of ways. 

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.

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Like Lazerus, the #Astros are finally rising from the ashes, while the #Guardians continue to surprise, #Yankees and #Orioles are the class of the AL East.  The #Phillies are better than we thought w/the #Braves looking up at them for a change. #Cubs Shota Imanaga is the early Cy Young candidate along with Ranger Suarez and Chris Sale. 

Is it too early to talk about Wild Card races? We don't think so!   

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.

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HOFer Cy Young's record 511 wins are safe in the record books as ones that truly will never be broken. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak has a better chance of being broken. 

20-game winners are also going by the wayside with only Spencer Strider last season, Kyle Wright the year before and Julio Urias in 2021. None of those pitchers are currently pitching, all for very different reasons. 

Assigning a 'win' to a pitcher is a bit strange in the first place since baseball is a team spot. We talk about what could be changed as well as why the 'W' is still interesting and important.  

Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music! 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  And please tell your friends.

www.almostcooperstown.com