Leadoff Grand Slam

This week, for our surprise return - the first episode of season 2, which is a preview for season 3?? - the thing Jordan and Nick love about baseball is Kim Ng! Also no we don't think recording an episode a month after the season ended after not recording any episodes during the regular season is weird at all, why do you ask? We also do a very brief free agent roundup - because there isn't much to talk about because it's a #ColeWorld - discuss whether we think the COVID-shortened plague season worked, and throw virtual tomatoes at Robinson Canó.Our non-baseball things were:- Nick: Nick's mother-in-law Cynthia for holding it down for Thanksgiving- Jordan: Sliding into your DMs likeThanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 11/27/20)

This week, for our second offseason episode, the thing Jordan and Nick love about baseball is basketball! Because being a baseball fan this offseason was rather depressing, and mostly Jordan and Nick prefer to enjoy basketball rather than behold the objective awfulness of Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball.Fun fact though, we recorded the afternoon of Tuesday the 4th, and on Tuesday evening they announced the Brusdar Graterol trade - aka the Mookie Betts trade if you're pedestrian like that. Which isn't much less depressing but is more fun? If that makes sense. So they recorded a lil' supplement on Thursday the 6th.We also talk about the Florence Y'all's, Derek Jeter, and the big story with Minor League baseball which is definitely not just dogs.Our non-baseball things wereThanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Video of Mike Clevinger getting a tattoo (???) and explaining why the Astros suck buttsSheryl Ring's story about Alex Verdugo's uninvestigated involvement in a sexual assaultWhere you can buy silipint glasses from Duluth Trading Company (Nick's non-baseball thing)A bunch of stuff related to the great thriller writer Megan Abbott (Jordan's non-baseball thing)- Dare Me on USA Network - based on Abbott's book; she's a writer for the show too- You Will Know Me, the book Jordan read that was so good he couldn't read it at night because he would just not sleep and read all nightWhere you can watch the steroid documentary Screwball on Netflix (tbh I can't remember if we talked about this, but we talked about it before we started recording and it's great and you should watch it)Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 2/4/20 and 2/6/20)Screwball

This week, for their first offseason episode, the thing Jordan and Nick love about baseball is Blake Snell's Twitch Stream! We also talk about bad photoshopping, how deepfaking is the future of baseball, and why Rob Manfred is bad this week. He's bad every week, but there's a new reason this week. We also spend a good five minutes complimenting each other.(Also, Jordan here: I realized I said I took Rachel to see her favorite band but never said what the band is. it's Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Check out them doing "S.O.B." live on the great British music show Later with Jools Holland.)Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Peter Lerangis - aka Nick's dad - NYT-bestselling author of the Seven Wonders and Max Tilt seriesBlake Snell's Twitch streamJordan's friend Watson's Twitch streamThat YouTube video Jordan watched about how to shave his beardA Vox video about voguing for dumb white guys like JordanNative actor/activist Dallas Goldtooth's daughter's 7th grade social studies assignmentLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 12/14/19)

This week, for their final episode of the 2019 season *sob* the thing Jordan and Nick love about baseball is bandwagons! We spend the first part of the ep gushing about the Nats, the bandwagon we jumped on for the World Series. (Except we found out just after we recorded the episode that the Nats are MAGA hat-ers, which completely yucked our yum. So the Nats are actually cancelled, but we didn't know that when we recorded most of this episode. Woof.)The rest of the show is devoted to our LoGS End of Year Awards, aka our Senior Superlatives, a word that Nick is physiologically unable to say: we've got ump butts, butterfly gloves, perfect slides, and cotton candy fatwas. It's a blast.Our other baseball podcast is the Fangraphs Baseball Podcast - not to be confused with Effectively Wild, one of the other great Fangraphs pods. (There are more! We'll probably feature them in future episodes.) It's hosted by Meg Rowley, and like everything else associated with Fangraphs, it's great. Follow Meg and Fangraphs on Twitter - WHY HAVEN'T YOU DONE THIS ALREADY - and subscribe to the show.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Thicc umps‘Sometimes baseball can be brutal’: After a spectacular September run, the Brewers’ season ends in October heartbreak (The Athletic)Sheryl Ring's flame emoji Alex Bregman tweetMolly Knight's tweet of the series about Daniel Hudson/R*****o O***aCarGo hugsLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 11/4/19)

This week, the thing Jordan loves about baseball is federal baseball! Baseball in Washington, D.C. (This is a solo ep for Jordan, as everybody else was busy. Accordingly, it's a shortie aka a Leadoff Grand Slam Short Porch, which is something we're determined to make happen.)In addition to giving you a brief history of baseball in our nation's capital, I'll also thoroughly meh the ALCS, get very mad about that dickhead Yankees fan, and talk about robots, Frankenstein, and Jesus. It's a Jordan solo, so it's a weird one.Our other baseball podcast is actually an other baseball *thing.* It's the Foolish Baseball YouTube channel! FB does deep dive statistical analysis on subjects like Clayton Kershaw at his peak and why Tim Locastro should be your favorite weird baseball player, all wrapped in a delightful 16-bit video game aesthetic, complete with pixel art and music from Final Fantasy VI on the Super Nintendo. It's a perfect Venn diagram of Jordan's interest. Follow Foolish Baseball on Twitter, and subscribe to their YouTube channel!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Roger Ebert's review of Andrew Dice Clay's Dice RulesJordan’s piece on tender sports for MEL MagazineAssemble with Care on the App Store (available via Apple Arcade)Monument Valley on the App Store (not available via Apple Arcade)Billy's Tweet about Frankenstein and JesusPedro Capó - "Calma"Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 10/18/19)

This week, the thing Nick and Jordan love about baseball is pitch tinkering! You'd think we'd love the various CSes but nope, ALL our teams got knocked out, so we love something evergreen and theoretical rather than timely. (Though Kyle Boddy got hired by the Reds a few weeks ago so it's sorta timely.) We also talk a bit about the Braves tomahawk thing and why that organization so richly deserved to lose after engaing in the most perfunctory kind of course correction that actually did more harm than good. And finally, y'all get to hear Nick go gloriously papa bear about David P Samson's dumb dumb dumb tweet about Daniel Hudson wanting to be there for his wife and his child. It's beautiful and stirring.Our other baseball podcast is the Productive Outs Prodcast! It's the podcast corollary to the great great twitter account from Riley Breckinridge and Tim Miller of PUIG DESTROYER, Jordan's favorite baseball-centric semi-parodic grindcore band. (Riley was also in Thrice, which is deeply cool for certain people.) Follow Productive Outs and Riley on Twitter, and subscribe! AND FOR GOD'S SAKE LISTEN TO PUIG DESTROYER.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Preludes by Olivier MessiaenAwful Announcing's piece on why David P Samson is a dumb fucking sexist prickRoger Ebert's review of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Jordan's pick for greatest western of all timeAn excerpt from Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik's The MVP MachinePuig Destroyer's Bandcamp page (PUT OUT A NEW ALBUM PLSSSS)Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 10/14/19)

Happy Belated Birthday, Jordan! We got you a podcast episode! On this week's, our 25th, episode of Leadoff Grand Slam, we have a long-awaited Threedoff Grand Slam! The thing we love about baseball is the nebulous concept of players being "healthy," especially when compared with our own civilan relative good health. We get grossed out by a picture of Anthony Rizzo's destroyed ankle (it looks like a bag of grapes thrown against a wall), talk about Max Scherzer's shoulder, and gripe about how easy it must be for MLB players to get flu shots.We also talk Pete Alonso smashing things on Colbert, the Cy Young predictor that doesn't know about Jacob deGrom, the Acuña hustle BS, the Ross Dobnak "Uber" heckle, Brett Taylor of Bleacher Nation pouring 5 beers all over himself on purpose, and we check in on Coach Dave's plants. We also discover Mets players wholesome old tweets.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalkfor our artwork.Stuff we talked about:The Jeff Passan/Brett Taylor challengePete Alonso smashing thingsWholesome old tweets Glenlivet PodsAnthony Rizzo's Ankle (grossout warning)Alex Bregman LOVES October 5thLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 10/5/19)

Today, on this solo episode, the thing Nick loves about baseball is depth. Who is the 5th best player on your favorite team? He dug a bit into the WAR leaderboards and analyzed the differences between teams like the Astros and Dodgers, the A’s, and baseball’s least deep team, the LA Angels. Sorry. Nick might like it if Joe Maddon ended up managing the Mets. Not sure. In the season’s second to last game, Pete Alonso hit dong number 53, placing him in the top spot in baseball’s history for rookie home runs. It’s a wonderful thing, and a guy on Twitter got super Philly about it. Pete Alonso also rebranded Right Field. Leadoff Grand Slam picks the Nats over the Brewers and the Rays over the A’s. Zack Grienke has the Noble Failure of the Leake, and Sonia Sotomayor is an asset to any bench. Oh also Hyun-Jin Ryu hit a HOME RUN!Dedicated to Joe. Shana Tova!Also Nick's brother Joe made up the "This is Howie Kendrick" jingle.Our other baseball podcast was also Nick's non-baseball thing of the week aka our other audio content of the week. It's the new EP from Cannon & deVaron [Spotify | Apple Music]!!!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Korean call of Babe Ryu’s HRSpanish call of Bartolo’s HRPete Alonso cries because he’s a sweet little bearPete Alonso rebrands Right Field, is a published poetSonia Sotomayor throws a strikeNick’s new EPLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 9/30/19)

This week, the thing Nick, Jordan, and Bill love about baseball is second half stars! This is a serious one, y'all! We talk a lot about Felipe Vazquez, Domingo German, and Joe Torre sputtering moronic, incoherent banalities about why MLB wouldn't let the Mets honor 9/11 first responders - banalities that turn out, we decide, to be cynical in a deeply depressing way.Eventually we climb our way out of the darkness and have some fun: Amir Garrett sprinting away from Kyle Schwarber - our Beef of the Week - the end of September roster expansion, and Ronald Acuña approaching the 40-40 club - not the Jay-Z one. But we're not going to pretend all this bad stuff didn't happen. So it's a serious show!Our other baseball podcast is The Lead from The Athletic and Wondery! (Because it's a co-production, it's the rare Athletic podcast that is not behind a paywall.) It's a general sports podcast hosted by Anders Kelto and Kavitha A. Davidson, who Nick went to high school with! It's a great show, so please subscribe and if you like the show, PLEASE give them five stars, because butthurt white guys are review bombing it and we just can't have that. Subscribe and follow Kavitha and Anders on Twitter!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Agadmator covers the FIDE Chess World Cup (Bill's non-baseball thing)Kendrys Morales injures himself leaping onto home plateA writeup of Jordan's sketch show Goddamn, Mitt in the Columbia Chronicle from 2012 holy crap he cannot believe he found thisThe website for Jay-Z's 40-40 ClubLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 9/20/19)

This week, the thing Nick and Jordan love about baseball is...nothing? We love nothing about baseball? That can't be right, can it? Yes, our theme for this week is *nothing,* because both Nick and Jordan are of the opinion that despite the on-paper chances for the Mets and the Cubs, it's just not going to happen for them. (Just listen, it'll make sense.)We also do an injury update, we talk about Mike Fiers' G Beard, and we mehhhhh our way through a discussion of the single-season home run record being broken.Our "Of the Week" Of the Week is "Stick a Fork in It" Of the Week: Our definitive scientific analysis of who, despite still having an ostensible chance elimination-number wise, is done for the season. Our other baseball podcast is Talking Chop, the Braves podcast from the SB Nation fansite of the same name. (We do not condone the chop, but we might condone the wordplay.) It's a great show! Subscribe to the show and follow its host Brad Rowland on Twitter!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:That review of Black Leopard, Red Wolf that Jordan mentioned (NPR)Howie Rose ripping the MLB for not letting the Mets players wear 9/11 tribute cleats (The Yardbarker)The butterfly landing on Yankees reliever Zack Britton's glove (Cut4)Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 9/15/19)

This week, the thing Nick and Jordan love about baseball is no-hitters! Because come on, Justin Verlander. (Coach Dave is off this week.)We also talk about the firing of Dave Dombrowski, we do an old player check-in - did you know Justin Turner is 34??? - and we come to the unanimous and thoroughly scientific conclusion that Enemy of the Pod™️ Gerardo Parra is responsible for the resurgence of the Washington Nationals. Our other baseball podcast is The Drew Goodman Podcast with Julie Browman. Drew is the play-by-play commentator for the Rockies on AT&T Rocky Mountain Sportsnet, and Julie is a former sportscaster who's now the public information officer for the Adams County Fire Rescue! (Jordan here: this is the most deeply Denver thing and I love it.) The Rockies have had a TERRIBLE season, but that doesn't mean you can't support Julie and Drew. Subscribe and follow Drew and Julie on Twitter!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:An explainer for Marvel's crazyballs "House of X" X-Men event (Jordan's non-baseball thing)Fine wooden chopsticks at Williams-Sonoma (Nick's non-baseball thing)Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 9/9/19)

This week, the thing Nick and Coach Dave love about baseball is September Callups! They're the pumpkin spice of callups. They're not Pete Alonso. They're not Vladdy Jr. They're not even Aristedes Aquino. But they're fun, sometimes. We talk about the amazing NYT profile of Altagracia Alvino, the woman who begat both Vlads Guerrero and cooks for hundreds of Latin ballplayers. We are sad that nobody is Jamie Moyer, and nobody will be until Steven Matz goes to Korea, develops a slurve, and pitches until 2030. Our Noble Failure of the week is a high-five gone wrong. Our other baseball podcast is Starkville, the Athletic podcast with Doug Glanville (himself a September callup of yore) and Jayson Stark. They kind of also get into what they love about baseball so they're close to our heart. Stuff we talked about: Altagracia Alvino is worth a ton of WAR and Luis Severino forgot to clean his Tupperware Aristedes Aquino is very good, better than Greg VaughnThe Cardinals, ugh, are winning a lot Pete Alonso got the cold shoulder, or hand, from Jacob DeGromSheldon Neuse is the beneficiary of Khrush's paternity leaveMatt Harvey is still in the headlines Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 8/30/19)

This week, the thing Jordan and guest host Bill Porter love about baseball is "the switch!" (Coach Dave and Nick Lerangis are off this week.) "The switch" is moment in August when we go from the doldrums of summer baseball to the excitement of the stretch before the playoffs. (Don't worry if you haven't heard of the switch before; Bill made it up.)We also talk about Derek Holland's noble and most likely misguided butthurtedness on Twitter, why PECOTA is always right and you should never be excited about anything, and the umpteenth rise of the Dark Knight, Matt Harvey.Our Other Baseball Podcast of the Week is The Ringer MLB Show! Michael Baumann hosts, and Zach Kram and Ben Lindbergh are his most frequent guests. It's a wonderful, insightful show and they're some of our favorite baseball people. Follow Michael, Zach, Ben, and the Ringer on Twitter, and subscribe!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.(Btw, I said Billy Hamilton had 12 stolen bases this season; he actually had 18.)Stuff we talked about:Seong-Jin Cho performing a piece from Debussy's Children's Corner suiteFleabag on Amazon PrimeA great piece about Billy Hamilton for The AthleticLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 8/18/19)

This week, the thing Nick and Coach Dave love about baseball is defensive highlights! Jordan is off this week, and sorely missed. Nick and Dave agree that home run highlights are boring. Who wants a two-camera-angle-needing dinger highlight that needs much context when you could have a silky smooth barehanded catch and throw across the diamond?We talk about the crazyballs NL Wild Card, decide that position player pitching is broke and pitcher position play is woke, and recap the Beef of the Week, which is Orioles Beef! Dave shares his Negative Nancy takes on everything, and we talk about Norway. We also sing quite a bit. Nick is the ASMR Mets fan.Our other baseball podcast is The Show Before The Show, a podcast about minor league baseball (!!!) hosted by Sam Dykstra and Tyler Maun - who also hosts the Purple Dinosaur Podcast, our OBP for Episode 3! Follow Sam and Tyler on Twitter and subscribe!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Javy Baez's lefty swing Chris Davis and Brandon Hyde get into it Citi Field finally is a fun place to watch baseball Luis Guillorme catching a flying bat Vince Velazquez plays a mean left field Michael Lorenzen plays a mean right fieldLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 8/9/19)

This week, the thing Jordan (yes, valiant, solo Jordan) loves about baseball is the Cubs radio broadcast team. He does an incredible improvised version of Pat Hughes' ad lead-in, and waxes poetical about Hughes and Rons Coomer and Santo. We/Jordan also do/does a Trade Deadline Recap (tl;dr: the "big" trades broke late but were big, holy crap the Astros are tight, the Mets are confusing, the Reds are that pathetic person who starts dating the toxic ex of a friend, the "medium" trades were medium).The Pirates and Reds are getting to a really rough place in their relationship, friends. They had a real slobberknocker of a fight.Our other baseball podcast of the week was Tipping Pitches. Subscribe!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Pat Hughes is awesome at his jobThe Trade DeadlineThe Dodgers will serve Park's BBQ at Dodgers Stadium The Pirates/Reds Punishment MenuJack Kirby's Fourth WorldLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 8/2/19)

This week, the thing Jordan and Bill - who??? - love about baseball is first base chats!We also do MORE trade deadline check-in - because that's basically the only thing going on - we posit a theory about why there's such a big gap between Mike Minor's Baseball Reference WAR and his Fangraphs WAR, and we throw out a simple, harmless idea - maybe there should be ties in baseball? - that will surely see us burnt at the stake as witches. Oh also, "we" this week is Jordan and Bill Porter. Bill is our guest host for the week and an elite baseball knower. He also has a sexy deep voice.Our other baseball podcasts of the week is Three Swings, hosted by Rhea Butcher, one of our favorite comedians! It's funny and feministy and smarty and generally great. Follow Three Swings - and Rhea - on Twitter, and subscribe!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Jeff Weiss' coverage of Drakeo the Ruler's murder trial for the Fader (and news of his acquittal)agadmator's Chess Channel on YouTubeCompetitive Tetris on YouTubeLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 7/26/19)

This week, the thing Nick and Jordan - Coach Dave is in Norway! - love about baseball is 3 outs! We'll explain, we promise. It's kind of abstract but it's Leadoff Grand Slam, and it's just Nick and Jordan this week, so.We also do a check-in in advance of the trade deadline on July 31st - spoiler alert, Nick meh's a lot of it - we talk about some simmering Kenley Jansen/Dave Roberts beef, and we exult in the fiery cuteness that is Coach Drake. We talk savages too, because we're a baseball podcast.Also apologies for the jingling noise, that's my dog Lavender badgering me to pay attention to her.Our other baseball podcasts of the week are Talkin' Yanks and Talkin' Baseball, two podcasts by Jomboy, the the new chosen one of Baseball Twitter. He's the guy who initially uploaded and captioned the now-famous video of Aaron Boone speaking so eloquently and discretely of his team's disposition in the batter's box. Follow @jomboy_, and subscribe to Talkin' Yanks and Talkin' Baseball!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Hansel Robles' entrance musicJomboy's savages video (duh)"Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me"Coach Drake's interview with CBS This MorningThe official website for the Atlantic Center DMV in BrooklynMartin Maldonado's framing is artLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 7/20/19)

This week, the thing Coach Dave, Nick, and Jordan love about baseball is the Disco Demolition! You remember, that thing where a rock DJ blew up a crate of disco records in center field at Comiskey Park? Yeah, it does sound pretty dumb. (Fun fact: this thing we love may actually be a thing we hate.)We also do an All-Star Week Recap (tl;dr: Home Run Derby amazing, All-Star Game boring - we talk about the Rob Manfred/Justin Verlander kerfuffle over the space balls, and we ruminate over the impending robot umpire apocalypse. Oh also we said we were gonna do an Of the Week Of the Week but then we forgot.*edited after the news of Jonah Keri's arrest for assault broke*Our other baseball podcast of the week was The Opener, Jonah Keri's podcast for the Athletic. But Leadoff Grand Slam does not support abusers, so, fuck him. No other baseball podcast this week.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Dr. Meredith Willis' piece for the Athletic about how the 2019 ball is differentYadier Molina's now-deleted FUCK YOU IG tirade over the Jake Marisnick/Jonathan Lucroy collisionNPR piece on the Disco DemolitionA recent piece by Jordan about a great French disco label that's framed around the Disco DemolitionSpeaking of disco, a great video piece about the link between disco and Chicago house - it's from Vox's Earworm series, which is one of our favorite thingsPolygon video producer Brian David Gilbert cooking every recipe from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 7/14/19)

This week, the thing Coach Dave, Jordan, and Nick love about baseball is little brother teams! You know, the White Sox to the Cubs, the Mets to the Yankees, the Angels to the Dodgers.We also babble - I am running out of synonyms for "talk about" - about why All-Star Week could be so much more fun - short answer, the All-Star Game is stupid and should be replaced with goofy skills tests - and make some predictions now that we've arrived at the break. Coach Dave also enlightens us about Odon de Pins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller - you'll see - and rants about why people in hot cities shouldn't own huskies.Our other baseball podcast of the week is R2C2, Ryan Ruocco's podcast with CC MFIN' SABATHIA!!!!1 How a professional athlete has time to record a podcast *every week* is beyond us. Also, empowering athletes and boosting their voices as human beings is a thing we love about baseball, so we *extra* love R2C2. Subscribe to the show and followed Uninterrupted on Twitter - they're an "athlete empowerment brand" who host the show.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:"I don't think about you at all" scene from Mad MenOdon de PinsThe baseball minigame from Super Mario PartySahadev Sharma's piece on Robel Garcia for The AthleticSANTANA - "SMOOTH" BAHAHAHAHAHAPoochie aka the Washington NationalsLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 7/7/19)

This week, the thing Dave, Jordan, and Nick - but really just Nick; we'll explain - love about baseball is random dudes from the 90s and early aughts!Strap in, Leadoff Grand Slam Pieces, because this is a weird 'un. Jordan was gone this week because he and his wife bought a house and then moved into it. Also, the day they bought the house, their dog got out, was missing for seven hours, and then randomly showed up at the front door of the house she ran off from. Worst day ever, then best day ever. So yeah, he wasn't there.Nick and Dave recorded a delight of a two-hander eppy, but then Dave's computer froze and he lost his audio.So it fell to Nick; sweet, simple Nick, to carry the episode all by himself on his lil' shoulders. What he did was summarize what he and Dave talked about: so he talked about how *they* talked about the Rays fan yelling TRAITORS" at the Rays' ownership for threatening to deploy the ultimate defensive stratagem: the intercontinental shift. Also mentioned: the Bellinger huggers, Meaty Petey Alonso and Vladdy Jr. in the Derby, and Puig v. Strop aka the Strops Monkey Trial.And then, folks, Nick deploys his *beautiful* singing voice on not one, but two versions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." You gotta hear this.Our other baseball podcast of the week is The Wheelhouse with Jerry Dipoto, the only baseball podcast we know of where the GM of a Major League Baseball team - the Mariners - just *talks.* Like, about how and why he does things. What an idea. Subscribe and follow the Mariners on Twitter to hear updates about the show!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 7/1/19)

This week, the thing Dave, Jordan, and Nick love about baseball is pitcher relief! Not relief pitchers. Like, that look on the pitcher's face when an outfielder makes a diving catch to save their no-hitter. We'll explain!We also chew the fat about the Rays' dumb idea to be a two-city team, Marcus Stroman's POSITIVE heckling of Mike Trout - very LGS - and some crazy baseball ideas that would be super fun but entirely untenable. And Nick shares his Fathers Day experience in some amazing seats behind home plate at Citi Field, which may or may not have featured his son leaving a dook in the Wilpons' seats. He was on TV too! And we've got proof!The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is Gleeman and the Geek, the Twins podcast - GO TWINKIES - hosted by Baseball Prospectus EIC Aaron Gleeman and Twins Daily beat writer John Bonnes - aka the Geek. Subscribe and follow them on Twitter!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:NYT article on Dewayne Wise saving Mark Buehrle's perfect gameFangraphs interview with Phil ReganThe Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans’ piece about Derek DietrichA compilation of characters from Metal Gear Solid saying "Otacon"Trailer for Sports Illustrated Films' documentary about the 7 Line ArmyThe episode of Mets podcast A Pod of their Own where they talk about the 7 Line ArmyThe Umpires Association's super gross/unprofessional tweets about Manny Machado and Alex CoraThe @MLBHollywood Twitter AccountLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 6/23/19)

This week for their TENTH EPISODE CUE THE CONFETTI/PARADES/PIÑATAS STUFFED WITH CHECKS TO PAY OFF OUR STUDENT LOANS, the thing Jordan and Nick love about baseball is rivalries! Dave’s off this week because the thing he loves is his dad and he wanted to hang out with him for Father’s Day or whatever.We also jaw about Hyun-Jin Ryu’s training routine or lack thereof between starts, why Adam Jones is the best person in the world, and we debut “‘Of the Week’ Of the Week,” a segment where we try to find a new segment. It makes sense when we explain it. Maybe.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is the cryptically named “The Podcast About Division III Baseball,” hosted by Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman of @CespedesBBQ - one of the our favorite Twitter accounts, follow them v hard. Subscribe! Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Jordan’s short film Taco Night on WhohahaTwo pieces on the D-Backs ownership’s political positionsMLB Random StatsBrittany Ghiroli’s piece on Adam Jones for the AthleticFangraphs piece on the odds of hitting for the cycle Links: Leadoff Grand Slam on Twitter Leadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website (Recorded 6/15/19)

This week, the thing Dave, Jordan, and Nick love about baseball is that annoying platitude, “they know each other so well.” Sample size, people!!! We also slog our way through a draft recap, largely trying not to mispronounce Adley Rutschman’s name, we talk MLB Pride, and we debut our brand new Leadoff Grand Slam theme song.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is 7Innings, ESPN’s weekly Softball Podcast chronicling the Road to the Women's College World Series and beyond. Subscribe here and follow them on Twitter @7InningsPodcast. Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork. Stuff we talked about:MLB All-Star BallotingOutsports MLB Pride CoverageKen Rosenthal on Scott BorasKeith hates Cotton CandySportsmanship in the KBONolan HugButthurt AZ Central story about Torey Lovullo and analyticsCollection of SUPER gross/racist/anti-LGBT Trevor Bauer tweets from @kellyawallaceFangraphs Draft coverage from Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDanielThe Ringer's piece on Andrew VaughnExtremely cute/sad video of Eric Sogard's daughterVince McMahon's rules for announcers (long and VERY weird) Links: Leadoff Grand Slam on Twitter Leadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website (Recorded 6/9/19)

Content Warning: Please note that we briefly discuss Odubel Herrera’s arrest on suspicion of domestic violence. Click here to donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.This week, the thing Dave, Jordan, and Nick love about baseball is weird baseball injuries! We also ponder whether the Twins will stay as good as they’ve been, we delight in Oklahoma University softball player Samantha Show’s one-of-a-kind bat flip, and we pull out our goddamn hair about why, especially in the wake of the Albert Almora Jr. incident, the MLB hasn’t put up netting up to the foul poles.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is A Pod of Their Own, a Mets-centric podcast that, among other things, tries to boost and celebrate female voices in the world of sports broadcasting. It’s hosted by Allison McCague, Maggie Wiggin, and Linda Surovich. Subscribe to the Amazin’ Avenue stream to get A Pod of Their Own. Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork. Stuff we talked about:Jennie Finch strikes out Albert PujolsSamantha Show’s bat flipJessica Mendoza’s statsNick Francona’s interview with Uni WatchThe Ringer on the TwinsUniform On (From The Lonely Island’s Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience on Netflix)The steampunk hat display at Love’s truck stops Links: Leadoff Grand Slam on Twitter Leadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website (Recorded 5/31/19)

This week, the thing Nick, Jordan, and Dave love about baseball is home run lingo! We also talk Daniel Desclaso's [sic] little league home run, whether Sean Doolittle's toe tap/graze/mound reiki constitutes a balk, and when it's time to finally give up on a player (I will never abandon you, Jason Heyward).The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is Resting Pitchface, the Nats podcast hosted by Kay, Laura, and Syd.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:Trine University softball team’s hidden ball trick (Cut 4)Dinosaur Jr. - Been There All The TimeBuilt to Spill Mike Jones LeakLinks:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 5/23/19)

This week, the thing Nick, Jordan, and Dave love about baseball is hecklers! We talk Carlos Zambrano the Designated Hitter, Edwin Jackson making it to his 15th team, and Enemy of the Pod Gerardo Parra on this week's Love/Hate/Meh. We also do mostly entirely subjective NBA to MLB comparisons, and we give the mic over to Nick for a Mets rant so epic it makes us wonder if we shouldn't have just been a Mets podcast.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is The Ravine Report, the brand-new Dodgers podcast hosted by comedian Amanda Smith and Dodgers Lowdown writer Kevin Peréz-Allen. (They use "Still D.R.E." as their intro music, which should be an endorsement in and of itself.)Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Stuff we talked about:News story about how the guy from The Prodigy is a swell dudeAudioslave - Show Me How to Live (because we hate our listeners)Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 5/17/19)

This week, the thing Nick, Jordan, and Dave love about baseball is grand slams - though you probably already knew that. We also discuss whether Joey Gallo is a stud or scrub, the time BEES interrupted a Giants Reds game, and we have our first ever interview with Ang, the creator of both the cover art for Leadoff Grand Slam and the mind behind the marvelous Acceptably Drawn Baseball Twitter account (@drawawalk).The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is The Infinite Inning, the absurdist literary baseball podcast hosted by former Baseball Prospectus editor in chief Steven Goldman.Stuff we talked about:Our favorite Acceptably Drawn Baseball drawingsClassical music kidBTS - Boy with Luv (Feat. Halsey)Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 5/10/19)

Content Warning: We discuss domestic violence during this week's pod. Discretion advised. This week, the thing Nick, Jordan, and Dave love about baseball is complete games! We also discuss why the Rays are so good - spoiler alert: it's not just because the Red Sox suck and the Yankees are injured - Addison Russell's return to baseball and why that sucks major ass for anyone who cares about the rights of abuse victims, we field the All “About to Declare their Candidacy for 2020” Team, and we witness the debut...of Coach Dave.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is Away Games, the Cubs podcast hosted by comedians Kevin McCaffrey and Adam Mamawala.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 5/4/19)

This week, the thing Dave, Jordan, and Nick love about baseball is call ups! We exult in the arrival of our dreadlocked lord and savior, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., dream on the infinite potential of call ups for young prospects - and the noble chance for an old timer to get one more major league hit - and try to decide who has the worst walkup music. We also field the All Dads team - two teams actually, old dads and young cool dads.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is the Purple Dinosaur Podcast, the Rockies podcast hosted by Tyler Maun and Anthony Masterson, the low-voiced charmer who the three of us went to college with!Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 4/26/19)

This week, the thing Nick, Jordan, and Dave love about baseball is ejections! We talk about Tim Anderson and Brad Keller's ejections - bulls**t and a different kind of bulls**t, respectively - whether the Red Sox are actually bad, if the White Sox are cool - and what even makes a team cool? We also wonder whether Pete Alonso is a Large Adult Son® and ask Dave what made Manny Machado's bare-handed play at third so great because Dave was a real-life baseball player. We also wonder whether the age-old tradition of third basemen shaving broadcasters has any place in our modern world.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is Shea Anything, the Mets podcast hosted by Doug Williams and Andy Martino.Thanks as always to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded 4/19/19)

Our first episode! Well actually our second, we recorded a test episode with like iPhone headphones to confirm that we actually wanted to do a podcast - *narrator voice* they did - and then we had to rename THAT episode episode 0, and it was a whole thing. ANYWAY.For their inaugural episode, the thing Jordan, Nick, and Dave love about baseball is the first week of baseball season! We dream on what would happen if the playoffs were tomorrow, we do our first All-Team with the All-Heels and All-Faces team - inspired by Wrestlemania - and Jordan waxes rhapsodic about Randy Newman and Raimel Tapia - collab mixtape coming this fall.The other baseball podcast we shout out this week is Effectively Wild, the preeminent baseball podcast for stat heads and lovers of banter. Hosted by Meg Rowley, Sam Miller, and Ben Lindbergh.Thanks to the great @drawawalk for our artwork.Links:Leadoff Grand Slam on TwitterLeadoff Grand Slam on Apple PodcastsLeadoff Grand Slam's Website(Recorded on 4/11/19)

Jordan Ryan Pedersen is a freak who got into baseball at the age of 31 and lives for Sabermetrics, Dave played third base all the way into college and is a hyper-traditionalist, and Nick Lerangis is a perpetually disappointed Mets fan who's somewhere in between. And they want to tell you all the things they love about baseball, in a time when people are oh-so-eager to tell you why baseball sucks. This is Leadoff Grand Slam.