Episode 042: Something Numerological Is Happening

Guest host Kate Stayman-London joins Toby to discuss numerology, trying to follow the Mets game while at a singles mixer, the Lady Jeffs, and the commissioner's efforts to retire Cleveland’s logo. 

Matthew sends in a dispatch from the field where he (and Lily) spoke with the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Kathryn Lasdow about the Jackie Robinson exhibit on display right now to mark the 70th anniversary of Robinson's debut.

Kate explains character introduction theory in screenwriting and reviews the show "Pitch." And Battery Mates Nation sends in their walk-up songs in a top-quality #engagement segment. (Jeff says this was his idea. He's so vain he probably thinks this walk-up song is about him.)

Episode 040: One in 131,204

Matthew and Toby kick off Season Two by going around the horn—touching on Yoan Moncada’s diet of up to 85 Twinkies a week, Baby McG's first baseball game (!) featuring the LIU Blackbirds against the Manhattan Jaspers, Mariano Rivera’s closers summit with Donald Trump, and the breaking news that the President is too much of a scaredy cat to throw out a first pitch on Opening Day.  

Steve Krupin—Sports Illustrated’s "unluckiest fan in America” and former speechwriter for Harry Reid, John Kerry, and Barack Obama—joins in for the new season’s first Half-Hearted Attempt at Empathy.

Don't forget to get your 2017 season predictions in by the end of March (local time) so they're part of the big Opening Day special. (It's easy—here are the Instructions.)

(Special announcement) - It's time for your 2017 predictions!

Opening Day is almost here, which means it's almost time for Battery Mates' annual Opening Day predictions show. Here's how to be part of it: 

Use "Voice Memo” or another sound recording app on your phone to answer these six questions:

1. Who are you?
2. Who's your team?
3. How many games will your team win in 2017?
4. How far will they go?
5. Which teams play in the World Series? 
6. Who wins the World Series?

Then, send the voice file to thebatterymates@gmail.com before the end of March (that's the end of the day on Friday) to make sure it's included in the Opening Day episode. 

Episode 039: The Greek Salad Situation

Matthew and Toby debut a “new” segment called Around the Horn to discuss the Team Rubio phenomenon (which is probably not a reference to everyone’s favorite junior senator from Florida) and the final updates on Tim Tebow from spring training. On-location World Baseball Classic correspondent James Lynch joins the program to talk about the atmosphere at those final games, the future of the tournament, and why white masculinity means that no one can show they’re having fun playing baseball.

Episode 038: The Most Famous Buttocks in All of Baseball

Matthew and Toby check in on the World Baseball Classic, why Adrian Gonzalez is mad, the waiver wire, a seemingly nonstop spring training injury train, and a controversial new stem cell treatment for UCL injuries. The boys dive into a little bit of history with a chat about Nisei baseball in Japanese internment camps, and John Hagner joins the show for the debut of Benches Clear, in which Battery Mates covers a controversial topic with heated, dugout-emptying debate. This week’s topic is whether MLB should keep tinkering with the rules to shorten the game—and no one came to make friends.

Episode 037: Burgled vs. Burglarized vs. Burglarised

Matthew and Toby are back for a second week in a row! In a quick Three Up, Three Down segment, the boys cover Jose Abreu’s eaten fake passport, Yasiel Puig’s three stolen Rolexes (Rolexi?), the Padres’ experiment with turning a catcher into a pitcher, Tim Tebow’s adventurous debut playing alongside big leaguers, and a plea for help from Battery Mates Nation on what it’s like to bring a baby to a baseball game. Senior World Baseball Classic Correspondent Paul Bugala (not *that* one) joins for a very polished deep dive into, you guessed it, the World Baseball Classic.

Episode 036: Obviously a Trout is a Freshwater Fish

Matthew and Toby wonder where February went and dive headfirst into a very hearty edition of Three Up, Three Down. Among the topics discussed: why Dexter Fowler got yelled at by stupid Cardinals fans; whether Trump will throw out a first pitch on Opening Day; the awful Marlins owner who might be the next U.S. ambassador to France; Mitt Romney’s potential entree into baseball ownership; the Twins' favorite barfer; and much, much more. The boys give a quick preview of the World Baseball classic, and then have to make a very difficult, emotional decision about the upcoming season.

Episode 035: It's Very Difficult

Matthew and Toby jump right in by discussing the jarring new reality under this new administration, and Battery Mates Senior Immigration Correspondent Matthew McGregor gets a chance to sound off on the latest executive order horror show. Baseball is also mentioned here and there. 

More happily, the offseason interview series continues with Amalie Benjamin, writer at NHL.com and former Boston Globe reporter on the Red Sox beat. She joins the program to discuss her time covering baseball, her Hall of Fame ballot, and what it’s like to have one of the hands-down best jobs in the world. (Red Sox fans shouldn't miss this one.)

Episode 034: That's What Interns Are For

Matthew and Toby catch up after the holidays, and Matthew has very little to say. The offseason continues, as the boys interview Nick Conger, player-captain of the Frozen Ropes, an amateur-but-highly-competitive softball team in D.C. He shares a bit about what goes into building a team, the logistics of playing games on the National Mall, and that one time a MLB superstar interrupted a game to take a few cuts. 

Episode 033: A Chef in Every Clubhouse

Matthew and Toby have a lot of catching up to do, after three momentous weeks in baseball and in life. Battery Mates Nation (now at least one tiny person larger) is treated to healthy portions of: the details surrounding MLB’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement; the biggest player transactions from last week's Winter Meetings; and a fascinating conversation with Alex Freedman, the voice of the Oklahoma City Dodgers. And the boys briefly forget Drake LaRoche’s name. 

Episode 032: Matthew Goes to the Met

It's the very first offseason special! For the occasion, Matthew took a field trip out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a conversation with Allison Rudnick, assistant curator in the Drawing and Prints Department, on the Met's current baseball cards exhibit. They talk about how baseball cards came to be such a phenomenon in American culture, as well as the man whose prodigious collection of baseball cards and "other ephemera" is on display. If you ever collected baseball cards, this one's for you. 

Episode 031: Rain Delay of Our Hearts

Matthew and Toby don’t really know what to say. The boys pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and spend some time looking back on the last three momentous weeks. There’s a recap of the World Series through the eyes of a Cleveland fan (that’s Toby), a look back on the season as a whole, and a preview of what’s to come from the program in the offseason. Hold tight, Battery Mates Nation: Just 93 days till pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Episode 030: Holy Cats, It's the World Series

It's a very, very special episode of Battery Mates, now that Toby's Cleveland baseball club is headed to the World Series to face the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs. No one can believe it. Toby finally gets Matthew to talk baseball again in a review of the championship series, and the boys are joined by a very special guest for a half-hearted attempt at empathy.

But... REPEAT: THE TWO TEAMS PLAYING IN THIS WORLD SERIES ARE CLEVELAND AND THE CUBS. Protect your children. The end is near. 

Episode 029: It's Like There's No Tomorrow (Special Division Series Review)

Matthew and Toby record a live episode from Union Grounds in Brooklyn during Game 5 of the NLDS between the Nationals and Dodgers. Join your hosts on an emotional journey through the winner-take-all classic, and take or leave their thoughts on each of the four division series and the championship series coming up. Please forgive the factual errors about the Rangers-Jays series, as well as the sound quality throughout the episode -- the regular sound engineer had the night off.

Episode 028: I Didn't Want to Bite My Toilet

Matthew and Toby are back for the final episode of the regular season, to Battery Mates Nation’s preseason predictions, give a shout-out to some of the best and worst prognosticators, and look ahead at the playoff series on the immediate horizon. Three Up, Three Down topics include the amount of alcohol being sprayed during divisional championship celebrations, the showdown aspect of Game 162, updates on Cleveland’s Yan Gomes and Trevor Bauer, and the World Baseball Classic qualifying round in Brooklyn last month. Your hosts also take time at the start of the program to talk about the sudden, heartbreaking death of Jose Fernandez.

The end of the regular season also brings with it an announcement of who won Battery Mates’ contest for a David Axelrod-signed baseball. (Now, if only they'd please identify themselves.)

Programming Note: The plan is to feature playoff update episodes between each set of series -- expect the next after the Division Series wraps up. Godspeed to all you fans of the Orioles, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Rangers, Mets, Giants, and Dodgers. An early, but also overdue congratulations to fans of the Cubs for your inevitable billy goat-busting World Series championship. And a tip o' the cap to Cleveland and Washington fans for being on the right side of history. 

Episode 027: The Mission Statement Includes Some Stretch Targets

Matthew and Toby dive right into this one with a discussion of Adam Jones’ powerful comments on race and protest in baseball. Toby reports on the dramatic fallout from a Cleveland beat writer’s hot take. (You’ll be happy to know that Trevor Bauer plays a prominent role in that one.) Other topics covered include the national treasure that is Harry Reid, how awful national broadcasters are to teams that aren’t the Yankees or Red Sox, A.J. Preller’s 30-game suspension, and David Axelrod’s great piece on the Cubs in the New Yorker (which he previewed thoroughly back in Episode 016). The program welcomes Tigers fan Tim Skoczek for a half-hearted attempt at empathy, which is more than most Tigers fans deserve. Finally, here’s your reminder to go review Battery Mates on iTunes to be entered for a ball signed by David Axelrod himself. The last day to enter is October 1st.

Episode 026: Magic Numbers

Matthew and Toby discuss scoreboard watching with three weeks to go, the epic social media reaction to the Mets signing Tebow, Trevor Bauer's new video on his day-after-pitching routine, the emergence of way too many late-season medical issues, David Ortiz’s hot-fire interview with USA Today, and a few Nationals bat flips that topped the charts this week. James Lynch, Oakland Athletics fan and policy director for Kamala Harris, joins in for a half-hearted attempt at empathy and provides an overdue oppo dump on Mitt Romney’s baseball fandom.

Episode 025: We Hold Grudges for Life

Matthew and Toby make fun of the 28 professional baseball teams (including their own) who scouted Tim Tebow, and chat about a terrifying pitching injury in an Angels-Mariners game, another unbelievable walk-off, and behind the scenes in the world of Mets clubhouse music. There are updates in ongoing discussions of baseball’s tragic bants shortage and Cleveland’s innovative bullpen usage—and a half-hearted attempt at empathy with Kate Stayman-London, a Mets fan and writer for the Clinton campaign. Matthew breaks some yuuuge personal news and announces a one-of-a-kind chance for someone in Battery Mates Nation to win a baseball autographed by THE David Axelrod. Just go review our program on iTunes, and you’re automatically entered in the drawing to be held “live” on the final episode of the regular season. It doesn't even have to be a good review. (Or does it?) Just make sure you email the program at thebatterymates@gmail.com if your user name doesn’t obviously indicate who you are.

Episode 024: Our Fred

Toby and Matthew are back for a special pennant race preview episode. For 3 up, 3 down, the boys discuss one of the greatest moments in recent Indians baseball history, Katie Ledecky’s ceremonial first pitch, the triumphant end to the Little League World Series, the economic plight of minor league players, a preview of the last World Baseball Classic qualifying rounds, and what in god’s name everyone should call the White Sox stadium. MLB Commissioner Rod Mandrebb's proposed rule changes get sent through the gauntlet, and each division goes under the microscope with five weeks to go in the season. Finally, a tip o' the cap for some clutch assists from Battery Mates Nation’s Alex Wall, Kelly Kreft, Peter Bondi, James Hupp, Patrick Stevenson, Dan Carson, and Jeff Gabriel.