Bat Flips And Nerds

Episode 64 - Listener Questions and the Street Furniture Draft

John and Tom are back, this time they answer all your burning questions.
They start by looking at the Red Sox and their recent moves, tackle the Rays teardown/rebuild/who knows, they speculate free agent training camp, they draft street furniture (feel free to skip this) and finally end by discussing their favourite baseball website and apps.

Episode 63 - C. Trent Rosecrans Joins the Show

John and Darius are joined by The Athletic's new Reds correspondent C. Trent Rosecrans to discuss the team's 2018 vintage, and his own podcast 'Great American Dream', which follows Minor League prospect Shed Long through his 2017 season. They also learn about Ken Griffey Jr's secret passion, and ask loads of questions about Joey Votto, obviously...

Episode 61 - Ed Miliband Joins the Show

Former Labour leader and current MP for Doncaster North, Ed Miliband, joins John to discuss his love of the Boston Red Sox and the crossover between baseball and politics.
Ed also has his own brilliant podcast, Reasons to be Cheerful, which he presents with the inimitable Geoff Lloyd. It covers the big social issues of the day with an optimistic and wry outlook. You can find them on Twitter @cheerfulpodcast

Episode 60 - Baseball Book Draft

Host of the Baseball by the Book podcast Justin McGuire joins the guys to share some of his favourite guests and take part in a 'draft' of our favourite, and less celebrated, baseball books.
A full list of choices can be found here: http://batflipsandnerds.com/2018/01/09/baseball-book-draft-podcast-reading-list/

Episode 59 - Josh Tols, Melbourne Aces & Niigata Albirex

Joey Mellows has an interview with Melbourne Aces stud pitcher Josh Tols covering his development in Australia, transferring to the States for college and his time in pro ball in Indy Ball's Pecos League and American Association and in Japan with the Niigata Albirex. Thanks to Joey for such an awesome interview, and to Josh for his time.
 
 
 

Episode 58 - Dan Vaughan, Perth Heat & Kansas City T-Bones

John is joined for an in-depth chat by Dan Vaughan, the voice of ABL's Perth Heat and the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association. Dan shares tales of his path to the commentary booth and how a native Texan comes to call Western Australia, and the ABL, his home from home.

Episode 56 - Travis Blackley, Brisbane Bandits

For the second in our previews for this year's Australian Baseball League, John is joined by the Brisbane Bandits' Travis Blackley. Travis talks about his fast track to the Majors in Seattle, his Playoff year on both sides of the Bay Area and his life as a globetrotting gun for hire.
 
Thanks again to Cam McHarg for helping sort the interview

Episode 55 - Tony Harris, Sydney Blue Sox & Pittsburgh Pirates

In the first of two podcasts to preview this year's Australian Baseball League, John talks to new Sydney Blue Sox manager and long-time Baseball Australia stalwart Tony Harris. They cover Tony's early days in baseball, his time as a coach in the Dodgers system and his current role as a Pirates scout before diving in on Sydney's chances in this year's ABL.
 

Episode 46 - Shall We Sing A Song For You?

John, Ben and Tom talk Dodgers and Indians and Ben's trip to MLB HQ before getting creative with listener questions. There are some terrible puns, include perhaps the best/worst Yu Darvish pun of all time, and a bit of a sing song...
The Dodgers article the guys mention is here: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-dodgers-look-beyond-terrible-right-now/

Episode 45 - Carlos Pena Pops In

 
MLB UK Ambassador, 2007 Comeback Player of the Year, 2009 All Star and home run leader - all these things describe this week's guest Carlos Pena. In a taster for a more in-depth chat soon, baseball's answer to Peter Ustinov takes a break from his MLB Network to talk to John about his family's time in Europe this summer and his hopes and plans to grow the game of baseball on this side of the pond.