Almost Cooperstown
We're a father & son who love to talk and argue about baseball! Baseball is the professional sport that has the longest history so there is a lot to talk about. We launched Almost Cooperstown noting that baseball contains a long history of players that, for whatever reasons, have been shunned by the electors of the Hall of Fame. Consequently here are many 'Almost' players still waiting their turn for induction. With less than 1.5% of the now more than 23,000 players in the HOF, we feel there should be more players included. In these podcasts we also discuss current seasons & trends. Please send any messages to almostcooperstown@gmail.com.
Baseball articles can be found here: https://almostcooperstown.substack.com/publish/posts
Episodes
362 episodes
Will MLB Avoid a 2027 Lockout? History Says There’s Hope
With roughly 40 games remaining in the 2026 MLB regular season, the postseason picture is beginning to take shape—but there’s still plenty of time for everything to change.The Boston Red Sox have come roaring back into the American Leagu...
Can Anyone Beat the Dodgers? 2026 MLB Trade Deadline Winners, Losers & the Salary Cap Debate
Episode 719 - With the 2026 MLB Trade Deadline complete, Mark and Gordon break down every major move and ask the biggest question in baseball:Did any contender actually improve enough to beat the Dodgers?The discussi...
2026 Baseball Hall of Fame: Carlos Beltrán, Jeff Kent & Andruw Jones + MLB Trade Deadline Preview
Carlos Beltrán, Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones are the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In Episode 718 of Almost Cooperstown, Mark and Gordon discuss the 2026 Hall of Fame class, what each player accomplished during his career, and why ...
Post All Star Game thoughts & how to get through the 2nd half if your team stinks. Ep. 717 7.20.26
We didn't watch the ASG or the Home Run Derby. And we're ok with that. In this episode we look at the teams that have surprised positively and negatively. Only 60 games to go and yet we talk about this being the beginning of the 2nd half ...
Being thrown out of 2 straight games is a rare feat - Ep. 716 - 7.6.26
One of our stories of the week is that #redsox Willson Contreras did something last week that only 35 players have done in MLB history. He got tossed from back to back games vs. #Nationals. Another is about the baseball flying further in ...
MLB owners make a dumb offer & bunting is back. This week in Baseball Ep. 715 - 6.29.26
College baseball may become even more important if MLB owners get their way. Changing draft rules is a big part of the first offer from the owners. The players (MLBPA) laughed it off as they should have. We talk about what it means and wh...
We Talk with Tim Brown - Author of a Great New Book About Nolan Ryan - Ep. 714
Tim Brown is the author of three baseball books and his latest book "Nolan" The Singular Life of an American Original" goes deeper with the HOF legend than any other. Tim spent time in Alvin, TX, which is Nolan Ryan's home town. There are so ma...
Ground balls kill hitters & the 17 highest Pitcher Game Scores in MLB history - Ep. 713 - 6.15.26
Shohei Ohtani is on his way to his 5th MVP (in six seasons). He has the lowest ERA and highest OPS+ in the NL - not even HOFer Babe Ruth did that in the same season! We talk about the rash of injuries to stars including Jose Ramirez...
Aaron Judge - is he injury prone? How about compared to Mike Trout? Ep. 712 6.8.2
It's hard to believe that both Mike Trout and Aaron Judge are 34. How can that be? It seems like Trout has been around much longer - and that's actually the case. We talk about this in our stories of the week along with the latest injury report...
Run differential in MLB tells the story of which teams are good & which are not - Ep. 711 06.01.26
We look at run differentials that reveal the good teams (Braves, Dodgers, Yankees, Brewers), and all the other teams. The AL is weaker this season and that's no surprise. Should #brewers trade for Tarik Skubal? Mark and Gordon don't see e...
Which players on track for a star-like 5 WAR season? Ep. 710 5 26 26
Our top stories of the week are revealed as are the prospects for players and @MLB teams after 1/3 of 2026 season has been played. Shohei of course leads the pack g...
Top stories OT week - 3 true outcomes & MLB better not mess this up! Ep. 709 5.18.26
#Brewers Jacob Misiorowski is tied for the MLB lead w 80 strikeouts. #dodgers Blake Snell is injured. Again. #Rays continue to excel. #guardians still the only AL Central team over .500 as well as the #athletics. Baseball is soaring high and we...
"In the Japanese Ballpark" author Rob Fitts - Ep. 708 5.11.26
Rob Fitts loves Japanese baseball and has been writing about it for years. His 10 books on baseball in Japan cover many aspects of the sport in the Land of the Rising Sun. Dr. Fitts joined Gordon and Mark to talk about his 2025 book "In the Jap...
Pitchers continue to drop like flies as the 2026 MLB season is nearly 25% over - Ep. 707 5.7.26
We had intended to drop this episode on Monday the 11th after taking a week off due to some travel. But we recorded Wednesday night the 6th and so here's the latest episode as we want things to be timely! The teams as of the weekend will ...
7 Catchers had .300 career average. How many can you name? Ep. 706 04.27.26
#Redsox fired Alex Cora in what has to be the story of the week. #Mets Carlos Mendoza may be next. #Padres Mason Miller continues his unreal season and they also signed Lucas Giolito. #Braves rookie gives up homer on first #MLB pitch then...
Elite bat speed leaders & how Mets are cratering - Ep. 705 - 4.21.26
A day later than usual because we were traveling and distraught from watching the #Mets lose their 11th straight. News of the week includes the sudden passing of #Angels great Garret Anderson - so sad. #Dodgers Edwin Diaz to undergo surge...
MLB injuries are piling up early & why the splitter has made a huge comeback! Ep. 704 - 4.13.26
Pitcher injuries are mounting especially if you wear an Astros uniform. We didn't mention the passing of Davey Lopes which was our mistake. Lopes stole 552 bases and was a member of the Dodgers infield for 10 years. No teams h...
News flash - MLB players are shrinking & 2026 season is already 5% over - Ep. 703 - 4.6.26
When #MLB started measuring players in order to more fairly deploy the ABS Challenge system, MLB players who had not been measured for years came up tinier! Why are they shrinking? The season is already 5% gone and by the end ...
Our MLB playoffs predictions & award winners - Ep. 702 3.30.26
We forgot to include our playoff picks last week when we picked the order of finish for each #MLB division. So we do that as well as pick the major award winners - Cy Young, MVP, Rookie-of-the-Year and Manager of the Year. We also cover the fir...
Almost Cooperstown 7th season debut - Season preview for all 30 teams - Ep. 701
We kick off our 7th season of baseball podcasts with this season seven premiere! 342 episodes in the can is something we never expected to do. As we do at the beginning of every MLB season we review all 30 teams and their chances in the 2...
Team USA is in the WBC final & they're gonna win - but then they didn't - Ep. 652 - 3.17.26
We recorded this episode just before Team Venezuela was about to play Team Italy. Team Italy is really a bunch of Americans masquerading as Italians with a real Italian or two on the roster. While the Italians beat the USA 8-6 in pool play, the...
World Baseball Classic highlights & HOFers playing right now - Ep. 651 - 3.9.26
Late game pitching in the WBC is the issue and most teams don't have enough. The best teams can be held down for awhile but eventually the cream rises to the top. USA, Dominican Republic, and Japan all have the firepower to exhaust the bu...
Automatic Balls & Strikes review so far in Spring Training & World Baseball Classic Preview - Ep. 650 - 3.2.26
There will not be any Automatic Balls and Strikes called in the World Baseball Classic that begins this week at four sites around the globe. 16 teams are vying for the title currently held by two-time defending champ Japan. ABS is ...
MLB's daily recap writer Tom Stone tells how he delivers 30 teams recaps every single day - Ep. 649
Newspapers have long since stopped publishing MLB box scores and stories about each game in MLB on the prior day. Tom Stone took on a crazy project in 2025 - he put out a daily newsletter recapping not only the results of all of the prior...
3 MLB stars have a bone to fix that you've never heard about - Ep. 648 - 2.16.26
First it was #Mets Francisco Lindor who came up with the 'hamate' bone problem on his left (glove) hand. It bothers players when swinging the bat as the bone rests on the knob of the bat. Lindor had surgery last week as did Jackson Hollid...
