PODCAST · sports
Burger Bites
by Rance Burger
Meet the stars of the most unique baseball league in the heart of America, the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League. Rance Burger introduces you to players who work all week in order to perform for stadium crowds on weekends. The insurance adjusters, teachers, pilots and plumbers become Ozark Mountain Ducks, Nixa Suckers and Moon City Mavericks for a precious few days each year. They share their life lessons through baseball and spread the true meaning of America's pastime.Founded by Tony Lewis, the GRBL is based out of U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, Missouri, a suburb of Springfield, Missouri. 417.
Episodes
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Burger Bites Ep. 78 - Josh Engler part 2
Josh Engler will enter the 2022 Grip 'N Rip Baseball League season with a 2.91 career earned run average across 68 innings pitched. He's allowed 47 hits, and struck out 97 batters in two seasons. If all goes well, he'll become just the third pitcher in seven years of GRBL baseball to strike out…
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Burger Bites Ep. 77 - MVP Award winner Josh Engler part 1
It's the M-V-Podcast. Josh Engler is the 2021 Most Valuable Player of the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League. He struck out a single season record 69 batters in nine games with the Republic Locos, and he also got 12 hits. Josh Engler is from Mount Vernon, Missouri, but now resides in Aurora with his…
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Burger Bites Ep. 76 - Trey Watson
Lefty Trey Watson pitched for a team named in his honor in 2018, the Trey Watson Realty Closers. After growing up in Springfield, Missouri, and playing for the legendary coach Howard Bell's Glendale Falcons, Watson went on to play two years at Crowder College and then two years at Columbus State...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 75 Justin Skinner
Justin Skinner approaches entrepreneurship like he approached the baseball career that put him in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2020 — he's not afraid to try everything. April 5, 2022, Justin Skinner will release a book, "Professional Failure: Using the Gift of Failures to Better Not Only...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 74 Future Faces II
There's a baseball league in Ozark, Missouri, and sometimes, it gets characterized as a league for old men. Some of the people who play in the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League self-identify as old men. Zach Ralph, Cole Haselhorst, Trevyn Batey, Chandler Maples and Kyle Carpenter are among the…
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Burger Bites Ep. 73 - GRBL's Future Faces part 1
Here come the young lions. In a baseball league where some of the players self-identify as old men, these five guys are lowering the median age and raising the level of competition. Nixa Suckers pitcher Kyle Carpenter, Springfield Mets outfielder Chandler Maples, Ozark Mountain Ducks catcher…
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Burger Bites Ep. 72 - Jared Braschler on baseball and walkup music
With 40 hits, Jared Braschler ranks third all time in the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League. Now a resident of Ozark, Missouri, he lived out a modest dream of playing ball for the hometown team in 2021, when he started in center field for the Ozark Mountain Ducks. Unfortunately for the full time...
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Burger Bites Ep. 71 - Commercial airline pilot Jared Braschler
Ozark Mountain Ducks center fielder Jared Braschler ranks third all time in base hits across six seasons of Grip 'N Rip Baseball. When he isn't tracking fly balls and driving doubles, Braschler is flying airplanes. The commercial pilot takes us through an aviation career that began with humble...
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Burger Bites Ep. 70 - Former Lambert's Cafe roll thrower Brandon Freeman
Moon City Mavericks third baseman Brandon Freeman takes us back to the buttersoaked glory of yesteryear, his days as a professional roll thrower at Lambert's Cafe in Ozark, Missouri. Their motto is "Come Hungry, Leave Full, and Maybe Have a Laugh or Two," and the sign proudly designates it as the...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 69 Brandon Freeman part 1
"Man, what is Freeman doing?" is a phrase I have heard more than once on the playing field and in the press box at U.S. Baseball Park. In five years of Grip 'N Rip Baseball, professional civil engineer Brandon Freeman has proven himself to be knowledgeable, versatile and valuable to any team he...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 68 Evan Meagher, part 4
Evan Meagher walked away for surefire employment and salary in the financial sector to pursue some unfinished business... baseball. He put down his economics degree from Stanford and decided that maybe, if he trained hard enough, he could make it in Europe as a baseball ringer. BUY "Have Bat…
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Burger Bites Ep. 67 "Have Bat, Will Travel" author Evan Meagher
Evan Meagher is the author of "Have Bat, Will Travel: My Year in French Baseball." The book is available in hard copy and on the Amazon Kindle here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0971QHXCZ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 You might remember Evan Meagher the author, French baseball…
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Burger Bites - Ep. 66 Caleb Cole, hall of famer, part 2
It's been an uphill run for Caleb Cole, who battled through back, hamstring and ankle problems to put it all together in his 2021 Gold Glove Award-winning season with the Ozark Mountain Ducks. Caleb Cole became the first person inducted into the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League Hall of Fame on Oct.…
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Burger Bites - Ep. 65 Caleb Cole part 1
Caleb Cole collects awards wherever he goes. In the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League, he's a two-time Gold Glove Award winning shortstop, the 2017 MVP, a 2019 Howard Bell Trophy championship winner, a multi-time all-star and the first player ever voted into the newly-established GRBL Hall of Fame, and...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 64 Dayne Shoff, Father Time has still forgotten
Dayne Shoff is not actually ageless. He's 60. He's a baseball player. He's also a fire captain in his hometown of Lamar, Missouri, an engineering and safety consultant, a bus driver, a coach, an advisor, a caring father, a loving husband, a public address announcer, a radio broadcaster, and...
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Burger Bites - Moon City Mavericks part 2
Roundtable discussion with five members of the 2021 Moon City Mavericks continues. Guests Daniel England, Tyler Jones, Clay Murphy, Matt Spangler and Devin Braswell share some highlights from Moon City's 8-1 run to the Howard Bell Trophy championship of the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League. Jerry…
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Burger Bites - Moon City Mavericks
The 2021 Moon City Mavericks celebrated a championship with a record of eight wins against a single defeat. They were the first team to ever win eight games in a single Grip 'N Rip Baseball League season, and they posted two shutouts along the way. Moon City Mavericks roster: Clay Murphy, Cole...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 61 Dayne Shoff, the Man Father Time Forgot
Dayne Shoff is 60 years old, and he still plays high-level baseball. To just talk about Dayne Shoff's age and the fact that he still plays baseball grossly undersells who Shoff is as a person. He's a firefighter, an assistant coach, a substitute teacher, a bus driver, an engineering and safety...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 60 Chris Meza: How I see Life
Chris Meza survived his childhood in a Chicago barrio and made it onto a junior college baseball team. His injury-riddled career at the College of DuPage left him feeling like it was time to hang up the glove and the spikes for good, but baseball had other plans. He ended up moving to…
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Burger Bites - Ep. 59 Chris Meza: From the Barrio
Chris Meza grew up on the south side of Chicago in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood. He grew up with two loving parents with the added bonus of his grandparents and aunts living in the same place. Like many Hispanic kids in Chicago, Chris was just as much raised by the barrio as he was by his...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 58 Chris Matlock part 2
Pitcher Chris Matlock talks us through his progression as an unheralded kid from Springfield, Missouri to becoming the 21st round draft pick for the Texas Rangers in 2009. He went from the junior college ranks to the University of Central Missouri, where Matlock shoved his way to NCAA…
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Burger Bites - Ep. 57 NCAA All-American Chris Matlock
Chris Matlock came within one out of winning MVP of the 2020 Grip 'N Rip Baseball League championship game, which would have put his name on the Howard Bell Trophy a second time. The 2009 21st round draft pick of the Texas Rangers jumped into an offseason full of career moves, travel and...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 56 The Catching Hope Tour with Ethan Bryan
Ethan Bryan played catch for 366 consecutive days in 2018, and then he wrote the book on it. In 2021, he's encouraging other people to play catch, and if they don't have baseball gloves, Ethan is going on the road to bring baseball to them. Starting Father's Day 2021, Ethan Bryan takes off across...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 55 Kevin Robertson, COO of the GRBL
Announcement after announcement after announcement. Grip 'N Rip Baseball League Chief Operations Officer Kevin "K-Rob" Robertson drops some serious information on Season VI of the GRBL, which gets going with tryouts and the draft Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021. It all starts with something for the players....
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Burger Bites - Ep. 54 Clay Murphy part 2
Long before he ever made a baseball comeback, won a Grip 'N Rip League championship with the Ozark Mountain Ducks, and won the 2020 league MVP Award, Clay Murphy had to bounce back from having Tommy John surgery on his right throwing elbow. We look back at Murph's most formidable years with...
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New manager of the Branson Showmen
#TheGRBL's Branson Showmen will be under new management in 2021. Who is their skipper? Rance Burger welcomes Grip 'N Rip Baseball League Commissioner and former Showmen manager Tony Lewis--and a mystery guest--for a press conference to give you the lowdown on a big coaching move. Registration for...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 52 Clay Murphy part 1
Clay Murphy entered a new world when he went from tiny Wolf Lake, Illinois, to the starting lineup for the NCAA Division-I Missouri State Bears. The first pitch he threw got sent on a ride out of the yard, but he got better after that. Eight years after Clay Murphy's last college baseball game,...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 51 Rance Burger part 2
Republic Locos manager Chris Meza is back in the host's chair. Rance Burger is a guest on his own show. The guys revisit some key moments from the broadcast booth at U.S. Baseball Park, starting with Rance's audition for the GRBL and concluding in the 2020 playoffs. In between, Chris and Rance...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 50 Rance Burger
Rance celebrates the 50th episode of Burger Bites by interviewing himself. Well, not exactly. One of his Grip 'N Rip Baseball League broadcast partners, the manager of the Republic Locos, and a dear friend Chris Meza invited Rance to the home studio for The Press Box...
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Burger Bites - Ep. 49 Recruit-Me.com CEO Brent Hanks
Brent Hanks made the jump from selling Chevrolets to helping families navigate the landscape of college sports recruiting. As the owner and CEO of Recruit-Me.com, Hanks works with athletes across an array of sports and skill levels to help them make the most of their opportunities. He says it's…
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Burger Bites - Ep. 48 Nick Bacon part 3
This episode involves discussion of sensitive topics, may contain triggers for some persons and may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. The 2019 baseball season with the Henry's Towing High Rollers was wonderful for Nick Bacon. Finally, he was living out his boyhood...
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Burger Bites - Nick Bacon, The Pork Knight Rises
From the "Burger Bites" cutting room floor, Rance rescues some almost-lost audio of Nick Bacon living out his boyhood dream of owning and wearing authentic costumes from Gotham. "Burger Bites" is written, produced and edited by Rance Burger. Photo of Nick Bacon is his "bat cave" by Rance Burger,...
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Burger Bites Ep. 46 - The Endless Summer lead singer Nick Bacon
Nick Bacon electrified our car speakers and stole all of our girlfriends as the lead singer of The Endless Summer. The band made albums, toured, rocked concerts and rocked the internet. "Satellites" became a moderate hit in Japan. What are the guys from The Endless Summer doing in 2021? We don't...
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Burger Bites Ep. 45 - Nixa Suckers manager Courtney Spitz part 2
The Nixa Suckers debuted in 2020 and reached the semifinals of the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League playoffs. Named for the fish that populates the James River, fries up deliciously and gives the Nixa Sucker Days festival its name, the Nixa Suckers are a serious baseball team with a funny name. Spitz...
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Burger Bites Ep. 44 - Courtney Spitz part 1
Courtney Spitz is the head coach of the Springfield Catholic Fightin' Irish in Springfield, Missouri, where the high school baseball scene and the game have changed greatly since his playing days at Kickapoo High. Spitz opens up on coaching high school players with big time aspirations at the…
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Burger Bites Ep. 43 - Harrison Waters part 2
Harrison Waters hit a solo home run still regarded as one of the most important hits in 14 years of Drury University baseball. His solo shot to right field in Sauget, Illinois came in the tenth inning of the 2007 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship game, giving Drury a 2-1 win over the...
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Burger Bites Ep. 42 - Harrison Waters part 1
Harrison Waters loves to be in the batter's box or on the business end of a video camera. He made the unforgettable "welcome" video fans and players watched before every game in the fifth season of the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League, and then he played left field for the 2020 champion Ozark Mountain...
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Burger Bites Ep. 41 - Evan Meagher part 2
Evan Meagher is working with an agent and shopping the book, "Have Bat, Will Travel," chronicling his adventures as an American playing pro baseball in France. Meagher returned to the United States and settled in San Francisco, where he found an old school version of his favorite sport, vintage...
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Burger Bites Ep. 40 - Evan Meagher, author, entrepreneur, ballplayer
Writer, investment banker, entrepreneur and ballplayer Evan Meagher walked away from his salary for one more chance at professional baseball dreams. With an internet connection, an intense workout regimen and the power of persuasion, he made it to the pros... in France. He chronicled his story on…
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Burger Bites Ep. 39 - Pirates prospect Brad Case part 2
Brad Case is a rapidly rising prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system. He survived the Gulf Coast League to go on and shove for the Greensboro Grasshoppers and the Bradenton Marauders. When COVID-19 derailed what should have been a promotion to Double-A, Case launched "The Minor...
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Burger Bites Ep. 38 - Pirates prospect Brad Case
Pitcher Brad Case has been on a steady climb through minor league baseball since the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the 2018 MLB Draft. The right-hander from New York was with the High-A Bradenton Marauders and had a shot to crack into Double-A with the Altoona Curve when COVID-19 derailed…
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Burger Bites Ep. 37 - Todd Tolbert part 2
Todd Tolbert got the best of Oil Can Boyd twice in an MSBL senior baseball tournament in Arizona. In a surprisingly emotional moment, the Toddfather shares what it means to have his Dad see him play. When he was just a middle schooler in Fair Grove, he got life advice from now-hall-of-famer Steve...
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Burger Bites Ep. 36 - Todd Tolbert part 1
Todd Tolbert owns the consensus No. 1 nickname in the Grip N Rip Baseball League. The Toddfather joined as an original member of the first class of 60 players in 2016. He was 45. Tolbert just wanted a second chance at baseball, and took the chance competing against 20-somethings who were…
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Burger Bites Ep. 35 - GRBL Commissioner Announcements
Grip 'N Rip Baseball League Commissioner Tony Lewis runs through a series of league announcements for the 2021 season. We talk stadium facility use agreements with U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, GRBL merchandise, important dates players and fans need to know for the upcoming season and the founder...
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Burger Bites Ep. 34 - Daniel England part 2
At the baseball-young age of 40, Daniel England showed up to a baseball tryout at a refurbished minor league stadium in Ozark, Missouri. He showed up dressed for a laid back day at the river, and wondered just what exactly he had wandered into. He went on to play for four championship-winning…
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Burger Bites Ep. 33 - Daniel England part 1
He's alive! Moon City Mavericks manager Daniel England goes with the amateur baseball scene in southwest Missouri like ice cream goes with apple pie. He's the only man on the planet to have played for Howard Bell trophy-winning teams four times in the five years of the Grip 'N Rip Baseball…
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Burger Bites Ep. 32 - Skyler Henson part 2
Pitcher Skyler Henson finished his 2020 season with the Ozark Mountain Ducks with 115 strikeouts in 115 innings for his career. He's the all-time leader in the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League in both categories. Most importantly, Henson got to pop champagne and ring the Howard Bell championship…
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Burger Bites Ep. 31 - Skyler Henson part 1
Skyler Henson caught a tremendous baseball break at the age of 14, when he signed on with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals... to be the bat boy. Still, those days and nights in the Texas League inspired "the Marionville Comet" to embark on a baseball quest that took him from the Queen City of...
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Burger Bites Ep. 30 - Reese Taylor part 2
Direct from Nashville... actually West Plains, Reese Taylor takes a look back at his time playing guitar for country music artists Preston Ary and Jacob Hackworth. We revisit a best-buddies pitching battle from the 2019 Howard Bell Trophy game in the GRBL between Reese Taylor and Justice Boldin....
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Burger Bites Ep. 29 - Reese Taylor part 1
Tommy John and Merle Haggard. UCLs and guitar strings. Reese Taylor has been from West Plains, Missouri to Nashville, Tennessee and back again. The owner of one of the fastest fastballs in the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League sat down at Rance's kitchen table to talk baseball, country music and how it...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Meet the stars of the most unique baseball league in the heart of America, the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League. Rance Burger introduces you to players who work all week in order to perform for stadium crowds on weekends. The insurance adjusters, teachers, pilots and plumbers become Ozark Mountain Ducks, Nixa Suckers and Moon City Mavericks for a precious few days each year. They share their life lessons through baseball and spread the true meaning of America's pastime.Founded by Tony Lewis, the GRBL is based out of U.S. Baseball Park in Ozark, Missouri, a suburb of Springfield, Missouri. 417.
HOSTED BY
Rance Burger
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Burger Bites have?
Burger Bites currently has 78 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Burger Bites about?
Meet the stars of the most unique baseball league in the heart of America, the Grip 'N Rip Baseball League. Rance Burger introduces you to players who work all week in order to perform for stadium crowds on weekends. The insurance adjusters, teachers, pilots and plumbers become Ozark Mountain...
How often does Burger Bites release new episodes?
Burger Bites has 78 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Burger Bites?
You can listen to Burger Bites on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Burger Bites?
Burger Bites is created and hosted by Rance Burger.
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