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Baseball is the perfect sport for conversation, and no one can converse about it better than the Baseball Rabbi, one of the world's greatest experts on advanced statistics, sabermetrics, and baseball history. Join Pesach Wolicki and Scott Kahn as they apply advanced metrics to the Major Leagues, reevaluate historical assumptions, and discover new baseball trends and theories that will leave you questioning everything you assumed you knew about the National Pastime.
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Max Scherzer struck out victim number 3000 (he's the 19th guy to do it), pitched an immaculate inning, and had a perfect game into the eighth inning... and if you wanted to find out more while this was going on, you needed to scroll down on ESPN's website. Yes, baseball continues to lose popularity, and the Baseball Rabbi identifies the Rays as exe…
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The San Francisco Giants have been the surprise of the baseball season; they could lose every game until the end of the season and still end up with a record significantly better than we anticipated back in April. How, exactly, are they doing it? That's where the questions start, but not where they end; there's something weird happening by the Bay,…
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Two months ago, the NL MVP was clearly Jacob deGrom or - if you insisted on voting for a position player - Fernando Tatis, Jr. Well, things change fast in baseball, and the race is both wide open and fascinating. Pesach and Scott offer their insights as to where it's going, and discuss whether Zack Wheeler can be the MVP (after all, he's got the hi…
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This might have been the most exciting trade deadline in years - or ever?- and MLB deserves kudos for actually doing something right for a change. And while most contenders worked to improve their chances at making the postseason or going on a deep playoff run, that doesn't mean that any given team is necessarily better off today than it was last w…
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(113) The Historic Brewers Defense, the Collapse of the Cubs, the Resurgence of the Reds: Narratives from the NL Central
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The National League Central is so different from the chaotic NL East: each team's actual record is close to where advanced analytics says that the team should be. But the division is full of storylines, and the Baseball Rabbi offers them to you on a silver platter. The Brewers are actually really good, but in ways you might have missed. The Reds ar…
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The Baseball Rabbi made lists of the five most memorable seasons for each position, but listing significant catcher seasons poses a unique challenge. What makes catcher different from every other position? How can we compare modern catchers with catchers from before 2008? (Answer: We can't.) Join Pesach and Scott for a deep dive into catchers, star…
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It's been one hundred years, and finally baseball has a Shohei Ohtani... but his uniqueness transcends his ability to be two different players. Pesach and Scott look at what he's doing, why it matters, and what his future might hold. Elsewhere in the American League West, the Houston Astros have a historically good offense, though their ability to …
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Baseball Rabbi Classic: The Third Baseman Who Made the Dodgers Leave Brooklyn... Or Something Like That
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Pesach and Scott had similar lists of their favorite seasons by shortstops, first basemen, and second basemen, but their lists diverge when it comes to third base. Brett or Brooks? Eddie Mathews or Adrian Beltre? One Mike Schmidt season or two (or three or four or five)? It's all about the strange nature of third base, and how it has changed drasti…
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(111) The Mets' Rotten Position Player WAR is Good News for New York Fans: Analyzing the NL East
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As the season passes game 70, Pesach and Scott look carefully at what may be MLB's most fascinating division, the National League East. Jacob deGrom may be having the greatest pitching season in history and can lead a strong starting staff to the Promised Land... if only the team could actually hit. (Although Pesach says that the Mets' terrible hit…
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What teams are the most disappointing of all time? Which teams should have been more memorable, or won more rings, than they actually did? Pesach and Scott each provide a list of the top (or bottom) five non-dynasties of all time (with only one team making both lists). After last week's addition of the current Yankees to the list - this time with m…
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(110) The Yankees Dynasty that Didn't Happen (Yet), Two Wild and Surprising Charts, and Sticky Fingered Cheating Pitchers
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Yankee fans often complain about their team's inability to go all the way (2009 was a looong time ago), but that's only part of the story; the bigger issue is that since their last pennant, the Yankees have won more games than any other team, and have watched 13 other teams play in the World Series while they've stayed home. Is it time to change th…
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Baseball Rabbi Classic: The Scandal of the Red Sox Scandal, and Old Men Who Actually Played Well
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So the Red Sox were basically innocent, right? Not so fast: die hard Sox fan Scott thinks that Manfred's punishment was a joke and that this is a BIG deal and a bit of a cover-up, whereas Pesach isn't so sure that the commissioner got it wrong. And as a sequel to our presentation of great teenage baseball players, the Baseball Rabbi offers the grea…
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(109) The Surging Yankees, The Resilient Red Sox, the Expectedly Surprising Rays, and More AL East Narratives
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The American League East is becoming the most interesting division in baseball, not to mention the most talented, and Pesach and Scott are ready to uncover the storylines and narratives you need to be an educated baseball consumer. What flaws do the Yankees (baseball's best team for the past month) need to fix? What is the secret of the Red Sox suc…
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Baseball Rabbi Classic: The Greatness of Al Kaline, and the Greatest Teenage Seasons in MLB History
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LISTEN TO THIS CLASSIC EPISODE OF THE BASEBALL RABBI PODCAST! Al Kaline's bWAR was close to 93, making him one of the greatest right fielders in history. But when you look at his career stats, it's a little bit difficult to figure out how his WAR got that high. How can we explain his greatness? And in honor of Kaline's great play as a young Tiger (…
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Most people who watch baseball realize that something is wrong, but how can we fix the game in a way that won't ruin what makes it unique? Can traditionalists ever make peace with rule changes? And are the problems even solvable? Join Pesach and Scott as they analyze Theo Epstein's recent appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast, where he asked a key…
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When Pesach purchased Bud Selig's memoir, he was ready to spend 336 pages rolling his eyes. Imagine his surprise when he actually (gulp) liked it, thereby completely destroying his own self identity. But that's OK, and he tells Scott that it's actually essential reading for any baseball scholar. They also discuss the increasingly important reality …
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With about an eighth of the season behind us, some trends are becoming apparent, like the fact that no one can hit anymore and actually getting on base without hitting a home run is a relic of the past. That may be a small exaggeration, but baseball is changing and the Baseball Rabbi is here to explain what's happening today, and where we may be go…
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(105) The Baseball Rabbi Interviews Dan Szymborski
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1:19:52
Pesach and Scott (with an assist from Moshe Schorr) have a terrific conversation with noted Fangraphs scribe Dan Szymborski about projections (remember, he created ZiPS), the upcoming CBA negotiations, rule changes, narratives for the upcoming season, how he got his job (we know, every listener is probably jealous), the differences between fWAR and…
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(104) Bullpen-Rich Yankees, Rising Red Sox, Time is NOW Toronto, and Not Even Close Orioles: Storylines in the AL East
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Is the American League East the same old story? Contrary to popular belief, there actually is no such thing; the division changes all the time - and the Baseball Rabbi is here to tell you all about it. The Yankees' pitching is great as usual, but there's a consistent flaw that might - might - be related to their inability to win a pennant. The Red …
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(103) The Nats' Ted Williams, a Mets-Braves-Phillies Fight to the Death, and the Wet Dishrag Marlins : Storylines in the NL East
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The National League East looks like baseball's best division; four teams are among baseball's top thirteen, and its worst team may be better than the worst team in any other division. There are plenty of storylines to go around, including a discussion of the stars-and-scrubs Nationals, the pitching-rich Mets (and they can hit, too), the hitting-ric…
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Baseball Rabbi Classic: "I Don't Think People Rise Above; I Think People Fall Down": Talking with Bob Tewksbury
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(Because of Passover, Pesach and Scott are off this week; they'll be back with the Baseball Rabbi preview of the National League East next week. In the meantime, enjoy this rerelease of the Baseball Rabbi interview with the great Bob Tewksbury.) Bob Tewksbury had a fascinating career, pitching for six teams and becoming the greatest pitcher at prev…
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(102) The Cleveland Pirates, Ascending White Sox, Good (but Kinda Stuck) Twins and More: Previewing the AL Central
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The AL Central is on the rise! The division is becoming one of baseball's most fascinating, and Pesach and Scott are here to tell you exactly what to look for as the 2021 season inches closer and closer. The White Sox might be a notch below the Twins according to projections, but don't be fooled; Chicago is the real team to watch here. Not that the…
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(101) Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here; or, A Fair and Balanced Analysis of The NL Central
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Well, the good news is that someone has to come in first place! When Pesach and Scott look at the National League Central, they see the worst team in baseball, plus four more that would likely come in fourth or fifth place in some of MLB's other divisions. That doesn't mean there aren't storylines and narratives, of course, and the Baseball Rabbi i…
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(100) Don't Say "If" there are Injuries, say "WHEN" there are Injuries: Analyzing the AL West
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Pesach says that every Major League Baseball season is like a Russian novel, with heroes, villains, storylines, twists, surprises, and the Karamazov brothers (or at least Joe Maddon); and one of the main plotlines will probably take place in the American League West. Will the Angels waste Mike Trout's 30s in the same way they did his 20s, or do the…
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After the long offseason break, the Baseball Rabbi is back and grumpier than ever about MLB's strange desire to destroy itself. But before that happens irreversibly, Pesach and Scott joyfully celebrate the National League West and offer storylines and projections - NOT predictions, mind you! - so that you will be an informed baseball consumer. Do t…
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