Baseball Beyond Batting Average – Details, episodes & analysis

Mark and Andy are joined by special guest Kirk McKnight, author of The Voices of Baseball: The Game's Greatest Broadcasters Reflect on America's Pastime to talk about the newest edition of the book, as well as the usual assortment of baseball statistics, odds, and ends. McKnight brings to the episode a wealth of knowledge about MLB's teams, players, and stadiums culled from dozens of interviews with the broadcasters baseball fans have come to know and love. McKnight indulges Mark and Andy in their advanced stats-inclined views on the game, and even joins them in a lively round of Roll The Stat, in which the participants guess the career strikeout-per-nine rates for pitchers who became broadcasters themselves after they retired. Just like the book itself, it's an entertaining and informative way to spend some time that any baseball fan would enjoy.

Mark and Andy determine once and for all who the first family of baseball is, the Boones or the Bells. Taking into account multiple pieces of data, both stats-based and otherwise, the competition between these uncannily-matched combatants comes down to the wire and a surprising finish gives a slight edge to the gang you might not expect. Your hosts finish up the episode with a less-close round of Roll The Stat, America's Favorite Baseball Stat Guessing Game, in which career caught stealing totals are guessed. It's an hour of full-fledged family baseball fun, finally.

The 2020 calendar year and season can finally be properly wrapped up, as Mark and Andy are back for their fourth installment of the BBBA Awards. This time, along with giving their takes on the existing inferior awards (MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young), your hosts attempt to rename those awards to give it a more BBBA flavor. And as always, they give their own awards to players for accomplishments both good and bad. Returning awards include The Wilfong Award, The Jeter Award, and The Fury Gene "Steamboat" Tenace Award for Excellence in Plate Discipline. The hosts wrap it up with a thrilling version of Roll The Stat by guessing 2020 hitters' career ISOs. Listen and help put the 2020 season, and that miserable year, to rest.

The year was 1987. Mark and Andy were 10 years old and baseballs were flying out of ballparks. Your hosts take a look back at that wondrous time in their youth and try to gain a better understanding of who really were the kings of the diamond that season. Each team gets discussed in some detail, as each host takes a league and looks at the standings and the stars. Some names are expected, like McGwire and Dawson, while others are not so household, like Randy Ready and Garth Iorg. The episode ends with a tight round of Roll The Stat, the advanced baseball stat guessing game that helped us all through a pandemic.

Mark and Andy do another in-depth examination of two players, this time the similarly-skilled Rickey Henderson and Tim "Rock" Raines. While Mark takes on Rickey in all his glory, Andy handles the under-appreciated star Raines. Although the players' careers spanned the same time period and their skills mirrored each other, Rickey was in a league of his own. Find out where his value came from and how Rock measures up as a hitter, baserunner, and fielder. Finish it up by playing along in the latest round of Roll The Stat, in which Mark and Andy tackle a new stat, Championship Win Probability Added, for players who led a league in stolen bases during Henderson's and Raines' careers.

Mark and Andy tackle a new kind of topic for the 65th installment of the podcast. This time, they're looking for stars from the 1970s who have been forgotten or overlooked. Although some of the players mentioned are not all-time greats, several others deserve serious Hall of Fame consideration. Just as the hosts did, hopefully you too will gain a newfound appreciation for the players they mention, such as Ken Singleton, Wilbur Wood, Dave Cash, and Gene Tenace. The show wraps up with a round of Roll The Stat in which the hosts guess the career on-base percentages of 1970s stalwarts. Listen and let them know who they forgot to forget.

Mark and Andy resume their exploration of Statcast measurements by focusing on fielding. Although the data is not readily available for most of it, arm strength, distance covered, and pop time form the foundation for what will come when they look at fielding metrics. The lack of data allow Mark and Andy to discuss some other baseball topics, including their thoughts about MLB's rule changes. The hosts do spend time looking at the pop time leaderboards, and finish the episode with a round of Roll The Stat in which they guess catchers' pop times.

In the latest in their Second Look series, Mark and Andy dive into the careers of Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn to try to better understand the two players who became synonymous with batting titles in the '80s and '90s. Both were hailed as excellent players during their time, so what can we learn? Advanced stats shed some light on just how excellent they were, and allow us to evaluate their all-around game. The hosts wrap it up with another round of Roll The Stat, the greatest advanced stat guessing game developed in the last decade, in which they guess career wOBAs of other former batting champs. It will be the best two hours you spend this week.

Mark and Andy are back for another installment in their exploration of Statcast measurements. This time, they focus on the pitching side of things. We always hear about velocity and spin rate, but do we really understand what makes a pitcher effective? Your hosts attempt to sort through all the numbers and determine what it all means. What they find is that it is not always clear what makes an effective pitcher. Looking at other measurements like extension and movement help, but it's still not obvious what it all means. Included in the episode is a quick digression into the "peak 7" component of JAWS, as well as a round of everyone's favorite advanced stat guessing game Roll The Stat. Listen or get made fun of in the school yard.

Mark and Andy are joined by special guest Brad Balukjian, the author of the exceptional new book The Wax Pack. Mr. Balukjian gives some insight into how the book came about and what makes it so special. The hosts help him break down the players featured in the book, both personally and statistically. While Mr. Balukjian is able to show a side of the players that makes them more human, Mark and Andy attempt to reduce them down to a series of numbers and accomplishments. Our guest plays along in a scintillating round of Which Was Bigger?, while Mark and Andy wrap up the episode with good ol' Roll The Stat, your favorite quarantine advanced baseball stat guessing game. It all makes for one of the best episodes of the BBBA podcast yet.