CubsPS+ #117 - Brooke Knows Ball: Smuggling the ‘80s Back Into Baseball

Every once in a while the algorithm gets it right. For me, that was stumbling onto Brooke Knows Ball — a page that looks like it’s all advanced metrics until you realize what’s really going on underneath. Brooke Lazinski and Joel LaFlamme are using the language of modern analytics to make a case for the game we used to love: small ball, balls in play, weird batting stances and players who didn’t all look the same. I sit down with the partnership behind Brooke Knows Ball for a wide-ranging conversation about what baseball has gained, what it’s quietly lost and whether the numbers can help us get some of it back. In this episode: • Why their stats are built to quantify the feel of ’80s and ’90s baseball • How WAR can shortchange a whole generation — the Kenny Lofton steroid-era problem • Three true outcome baseball, the boom-or-bust Yankees and why it falls apart in October • Where Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner fit into the contact-vs-power debate • Their documentary work in the Dominican Republic — sandlot culture, the buscones, the dark side of the pipeline and a week with Dale Murphy • The Greg Maddux–Andre Dawson story, and the TV series they’re building around moments like it Plus: a mic that quit on me, a cameo from some butterflies and a latte well-earned. Find Brooke Knows Ball: @brookeknowsball on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube CubsPS+ is part of the Bleacher Bunch on the Fans First Sports Network. Support the show ad-free at patreon.com/bleacherbunch. Find me @CubsPSPlus on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, BlueSky and YouTube. Theme music: “Prospect Park West” by Jerry McHoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices