Baseball from Casual Diehard

Colleen and Chrystal finish the Billy Martin story with the part of his career that people are most familiar with, the managerial years. But don't worry, there's plenty you haven't heard before, because when it came to Billy Martin, there was always another story, and all the stories are good. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colleen and Chrystal bring you the next installment of their exploration of iconic baseball character Billy Martin, this time exploring more of the 1950s Yankees and Martin’s departure, the end of his playing days with seven teams from 1957-61, and Martin’s entry to the world of scouting and coaching and the birth of Billyball.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colleen and Chrystal bring you the next installment of their exploration of iconic baseball character Billy Martin, getting into his playing days, starting with the Idaho Falls Russets in the Pioneer League, going up through the tear gas-soaked minors, and continuing to New York with the Yankees in their 1950s glory days and his bawdy friendship with Mickey Mantle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colleen and Chrystal bring you the story of Billy Martin, a story with so many layers, twists, and turns that this is just Part 1, covering his early years — and that means really early, starting with the tale of his birth at home in 1928, and how he found out his actual name, Alfred Manuel Martin Jr., and his colorful Northern California youth. Once he got into baseball, Martin became one of the game’s most interesting characters. What shaped him into the player and manager he became? Find out as we journey from a kitchen table circumcision to a slaughterhouse job to his first pro contract.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chrystal and Colleen bring you the story of Big Sexy, the one and only Bartolo Colón! From Cleveland to Montreal to Chicago to Anaheim to Boston to New York to Oakland to Atlanta to Minnesota to Texas, one of the era’s biggest arms, bodies, and personalities made a name for himself wherever he went. Signed for $3,000 as a Dominican teenager, Colón went from throwing at soup cans to winning a Cy Youg Award and spending more than than two decades in the major leagues, leaving his mark as a cult hero even after his prime years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colleen and Chrystal welcome documentary filmmaker and New Yorker Heather Quinlan to talk about the last team to bring a World Series championship to Queens, one of the most colorful squads of all time, the 1986 Mets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colleen and Chrystal are back to wade through the swamp of Washington, D.C., and its history of mostly failed attempts to make it in the major leagues, culminating with today's cellar dwellers of the National League East, the team that came as a result of MLB's shenanigans with Montreal (as heard in Dugout of History 14). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chrystal and Colleen bring you the story of the Montreal Expos, from their beginnings as Canada's first MLB team in the 1969 expansion wave to their demise 20 years ago after a series of unfortunate events including having their best seasons in the shadows of labor disputes, a dream ballpark that never materialized, and some of the worst ownership the sport has ever seen, all with an assist from one of the worst owners in baseball today. No one is free from Jerry's anti-Midas touch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They're not playing baseball in Paris, but the diamond and the Olympic rings have a rich history. Colleen and Chrystal are here to talk about it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chrystal and Colleen go back to 1973, when Yankees pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich announced a one-of-a-kind trade in baseball history: their wives. Unlike the deals at the trade deadline, no advanced analytics are necessary to figure out whether Susanne or Marilyn wound up with the better deal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colleen and Chrystal look back at Marge Schott, who made history by becoming the first woman to buy a major league team (Joan Whitney Payson inherited the Mets), then made more history by being an absolute scoundrel, and costing herself control of the team. Infamous enough for smoking that she appeared with a cigarette on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and for her dog who loved pooping on the field at Riverfront Stadium, her true vice – and the source of her downfall – was racism. Schott’s praise for Hitler and use of the N-word are why her legacy remains toxic today, making her the benchmark for terrible sports owners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chrystal and Colleen bring you tales of the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association, the "Boys of Winter" who played in Florida from 1989-90 with such teams as the Orlando Juice, Bradenton Explorers, and Fort Myers Sun Sox. The even had a baseball card set, but the league for pros over the age of 35 (and slightly younger catchers) didn't catch on. It was a fun idea, so why didn't it catch on? Well, that's why we're here... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colleen and Chrystal dive into the trials and tribulations of the Chicago Cubs, from the collapse of 1969 after a black cat ran on the field at Shea Stadium, to the 1945 billy goat incident, to the foul ball in 2003 that changed one man's life, "helped" along by national broadcasters playing into the decades of Cubs failure lore that only dissipated thanks to a freak rainstorm in Cleveland in 2016. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy Pride! Chrystal and Colleen bring you the queer side of baseball history, with plenty of stories and more to check out once you listen: catch the trailer for A Secret Love, learn about The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, read Outsports, watch The TJ House story, and always, always, always stay Proud To Be In Baseball! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fifty years ago this month, Cleveland had a promotion that simply couldn't fail, until it did, spectacularly and utterly predictably. The result of Ten Cent Beer Night was a victory for the Texas Rangers, and only for the Texas Rangers, as it was one of five Major League Baseball games to be forfeited in the expansion era, and half a century later, brings Colleen and Chrystal back together after their spring vacations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Casual Diehard 59 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chrystal and Colleen bring you the tale of Moe Berg, and plenty of source material to dive into after hearing them tell it...Books:“The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg” - Nicholas Dawidoff“The Bastards Brigade” - Sam KeanArticles:Who Was Moe Berg? A Spy, a Big-League Catcher, and an Enigma (NYT)Moe Berg: Catcher and Spy (ESPN)Moe Berg, Class of 1923: Baseball Player, World War II Spy (Princeton University)The Baseball Player Turned Spy Who Went Undercover To Assassinate The Nazis' Top Nuclear Scientist (Smithsonian)Moe Berg's Life In Baseball (Baseball Hall of Fame) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Casual Diehard 53 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s never a good thing when Pete Rose is back in the news, and he has been lately because of the alleged theft of $4.5 million from Shohei Ohtani to cover gambling debts. That story has yet to fully unfold. Rose’s has, to the point where the Washington Post ran not one, but two big stories looking back at it… 10 years ago. This year is the 35th anniversary of the death of then-commissioner Bart Giamatti, who banned Rose, even though so much of what happened feels so recent. Nope, it was 1989. It’s just that Rose, who agreed to his own lifetime ban, has never once shut up about it, and he probably never will. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Addy, Britt, and Jesse spent the week between F1 races diving into the start of baseball season, which has gone for the Mets about the way we usually expect things to go for Ferrari. But remember how the last F1 race was won by... Ferrari? Wild. Ferrari won the last F1 race. That is a thing that happened. This is a mixed racing/baseball episode, as we've got NASCAR highlights from Richmond to discuss. Addy also wrote about the Mets to go with this episode, you can find that on our website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Addy, Britt, Chrystal, and Jesse are caught up in the Shohei of it all, and the scandal-embroiled superstar isn't a clubhouse cancer, but a clubhouse Cancer. That's his zodiac sign. And we are talking astrology in a big way, too, because Jesse made a full fantasy baseball league on ESPN (it's publicly viewable) where the teams are divided by the stars. Who's got the best roster? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the premiere of Dugout of History, Colleen and Chrystal go deep into history for the story of Merkle's Boner, a dramatic turn of events in 1908 that to most folks now is just a funny name for an incident more than a century ago. There's so much more to it than just the boner.From Wikipedia:Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base-running mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 23, 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a game-winning hit led instead to a force play at second and a tied game. The Cubs later won the makeup game, which proved decisive as they beat the Giants by one game to win the National League (NL) pennant for 1908. It has been described as "the most controversial game in baseball history" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're the kind of person who would like to ponder a world where Logan Sargeant never drove a racecar, and instead was in spring training with the defending American League East champions, you're not alone. That's not a thing that specifically happens on this episode with Addy, Britt, Jesse, and Lily, but it's kind of the vibe. It's a baseball episode. It's a racing episode. It's an astrology episode. It's a little bit of everything and that's why we love to do this. (If you're a single-sport fan, it's mostly baseball up front and then racing.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will the 2024 Yankees fare better than the 2023 Yankees? They'll at least be more interesting with Juan Soto, whose arrival changes the lineup and the vibes in the Bronx. Plus, remembering which Steinbrenner is alive and running the team, Spencer Jones is neat, and the Yankees definitely do have a bullpen with pitchers in it. Ace, Ana, Britt, and Jesse are your panel for this one! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Which is looking worse going into the 2024 season, Major League Baseball's new pants or the Chicago White Sox? Chrystal, Colleen, Janice, and Jesse have a whole lot to discuss as they get together for the first time this spring. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(This episode originally aired January 31, 2024)Ana, Britt, Chrystal, Jesse, and The Suzie Hunter are here for this baseball episode of Casual Diehard, featuring hoarders, bobbleheads, Vanessa Hudgens as the would-be Taylor Swift of the Colorado Rockies, the sociological implications of smoking 400 packs of Marlboros per season for the better part of three decades managing baseball teams, and so very much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(This episode originally aired January 12, 2024)Parker Molloy from The Present Age joins Addy and Jesse for the first Casual Diehard of 2024, and they’re wondering who non-alcoholic White Claw is even for. Also on tap: Stephen A. Smith vaporizes Jason Whitlock, football’s coaching carousel in overdrive with the retirements of Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, godspeed to Yankees fans with the Marcus Stroman experience, and instant reaction to the Cubs’ latest disappointing offseason move that happened during the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.