Matthew and Toby return after an extended All Star Break, catch up on a bit of what’s transpired in the interim, and go around the horn on Chris Christie’s adventures at the ballpark, the Cubs being Cub again, the Girls Travel Baseball team taking tournaments by storm, and the most credible candidate yet for The Next Trevor.
Kate Stayman-London joins the program for the inaugural edition of Battery Mates at the Movies to discuss the 1988 film Bull Durham.
Matthew and Toby go around the horn to discuss Tim Tebow’s big—and hard-earned—promotion, the return of Jonathan Lucroy to the city he rejected, what baseball fields (or lack thereof) on Cuban military bases told the intelligence community during the Cold War, and Toronto closer Roberto Osuna speaking out publicly about issues with anxiety.
Lifelong Baltimore fan Andy Oare joins for a Half-Hearted Attempt at Empathy thanks to the Orioles recently tying a 93-year MLB record of 20 consecutive games allowing 5+ runs. He sticks around to explain to Matthew the historical reasons why O’s fans vandalize the national anthem.
Matthew and Toby commemorate Father’s Day throughout baseball and go around the horn on several topics: (1) evidence that baseballs might be juiced (and the impact it might be having on the rising HR rate), (2) Dusty Baker’s kid Darren, (3) the upcoming debut of “Players Weekend,” and (4) the continuing calamity that is the Nationals’ bullpen.
CNN contributor Doug Heye, a Yankees fan who served as deputy chief of staff for former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, becomes the first official GOP operative on the program. He joins the show to discuss this year's poignant Congressional Baseball Game and why he hopes it's the first of many bipartisan efforts to get some of the hatred out of politics.
It’s the “Houston’s 117-Win Season” souvenir edition of Battery Mates!
Matthew and Toby go around the horn on the league-wide home run surge, the brawl Matthew requested in San Francisco, Cleveland’s championship status, and John McCain’s excuse for his recent incoherence. The show's Chief British Elections Correspondent weighs in with live results from across the pond, and the boys welcome Houston fan Ross Morales Rocketto, co-founder of Run for Something, to discuss the team’s historic season.
It’s a very special Memorial Day episode of Battery Mates. Matthew and Toby go around the horn on Bryce Harper’s future, Cleveland's new statue honoring Frank Robinson, fake news involving the Mets and dinosaurs, and an update on how pace-of-play rules are failing miserably — especially if you’re a Rays fan, which, lol.
Brent Colburn, former assistant to the Secretary of Defense for public affairs and OG Nats fan, is on hand to talk about growing up in a military family, watching a lot of minor league teams like the Hawaii Islanders and the Lansing Lugnuts, and the role that sports play in the lives of the men and women deployed overseas.
The boys take a look at what the MLB standings look like at Memorial Day, and Matthew gives Battery Mates Nation a rundown of his first viewing of A League of Their Own.
Going around the horn, Toby updates Battery Mates Nation on efforts to get rid of Chief Wahoo and calls out a potentially Cub gesture made by Anthony Rizzo to help families pay for health care, now that the House GOP has decided against it. Matthew accidentally refers to Jeremy Guthrie as “Jeff” (guess that’s what happens when you have a 135.00 ERA), and calls into question Orioles fans yelling “O” during the “Star Spangled Banner."
For the main event, the boys dive deep into what the hell is going on with the New York Metropolitans, featuring an esteemed roundtable of Seth Reznik, Peter Bondi, Kate Stayman-London, and Dave Duberstein.
Matthew and Toby take a spin through the league one month into the season, check in on how teams are faring, and bemoan the fact that the end of the 2017 campaign is already getting too close for comfort.
Three Up, Three Down makes its big return: Battery Mates Nation gets an update on Matthew's fantasy team and the brand-new 10-day DL; Matthew proposes the "intentional hurt," and complains about MLB.tv; and the boys discuss the recent goings-on in Boston.
Matthew returns to the states for a very special *food* episode of Battery Mates. He and Toby go around the horn on C.B. (Stevie) Bucknor, Curt Schilling’s fall from political grace, the Nationals’ dominance over the Atlanta baseball club, and bullshit surrounding the “unwritten rules” of baseball.
Sonia Chopra, managing editor at Eater, joins the show to talk about Eater's Stadium Dining Guide and does an excellent job of making Battery Mates Nation very, very hungry. The whole thing is followed by a light dessert of #engagement and another brief foray into British slang.
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.)
Matthew and Toby welcome in a new season of Major League Baseball by once again turning the show over to Battery Mates Nation to find out what's going to happen and which teams look "tasty" in the coming year.
[Ed. note: THANK YOU to everyone who sent in predictions. Good luck to all your teams in the coming campaign.]
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.