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PODCAST

Almost Cooperstown

Gordon Kolier & Mark Kolier

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

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All Episodes

34:51

All Star weekend changes, Baseball betting woes -This...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/06/10

Yankees-Dodgers series, Phillies go across the pond vs. the Mets. And betting on baseball is out of control. What was your big moment last week? We cover a bunch of things in a quick hitting episode. All-Star game voting is in full force but there are also changes in All-Star weekend this year at Globe Life Field in Arlington. The futures games on Saturday will be followed by a new and bizarre event showcasing skills of players that may or may not ever play MLB. Intro &a...

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17:34

Baseball should go back to a 154-game season - Ep. 522

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/06/06

The argument that team owners would be unwilling to give up the revenue from the 8 additional games between 154 and 162 is weaker than ever. The additional playoff games would more than make up for the incremental loss of gate and TV revenue. Players could have a bit more rest and maybe we would not need to start the MLB season in late March and carry it through early October. Does the World Series need to end in early November? The addition of Negro League stats to MLB is ...

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30:13

Acuna Jr, injury, Angel Hernandez retires, Negro...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/06/03

Angel Hernandez umpired 33 years of MLB. He stepped down this week and received no demand that he continue. His time was over. Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. went down with an awful ACL injury (again), and will miss the rest of the 2024 season. The last time Acuna Jr. had a season-ending injury the Braves won the World Series. Josh Gibson is now the player with the highest all-time batting average in MLB. His .372 career BA beat Ty Cobb by 5 or 6 points depending on how you look at the...

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29:08

MLB's banning the infield shift has not worked so...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/30

The infield shift has been banned for about 1 1/2 seasons and the results are that left handed hitters have had some benefit mostly at the expense of right handed hitters. Baseball batting averages are still among the lowest in MLB history. Watching teams struggle to get hits and score runs can be a chore. Pitcher injuries continue to blossom. Can anything be done about it? We discuss some weird but intriguing considerations to help create more offense in baseball. ...

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26:15

Guardians & Mets going in different directions - This...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/27

Happy Memorial day to all of our listeners and their families. A memorial service could be held for a few #MLB teams including the #Mets and #Rockies. But the #Guardians and #Phillies keep flying high. The #Royals won 9 out of 10 but gained no ground in the AL Central. #Orioles have starting pitcher health issues. #Astros are playing better but are relying heavily on Justin Verlander. The #White Sox lost to the #Orioles this week on a bizarre game ending double play. Ba...

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22:09

Having fun w Statcast's new batting stats - Ep. 518

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/23

Blasts and swords will become terms baseball nerds will use to describe batter's strengths and weaknesses. Squared-up contact too. We took a look at the new nomenclature put out by Statcast/Baseball Savant and it interesting and amusing. We talk about what is the actual description of the bat's 'sweet spot' and how that figures into some of the news stats. As would be expected the best hitters are near or at the top of many of the stats. But not all of them since hitters succeed and...

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24:38

Shota showing the way, Ranger Suarez 8-0, Hot Judge...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/20

Like Lazerus, the #Astros are finally rising from the ashes, while the #Guardians continue to surprise, #Yankees and #Orioles are the class of the AL East. The #Phillies are better than we thought w/the #Braves looking up at them for a change. #Cubs Shota Imanaga is the early Cy Young candidate along with Ranger Suarez and Chris Sale. Is it too early to talk about Wild Card races? We don't think so! Once again our Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury ...

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22:37

Why do we care about the winning pitcher? - Ep. 516

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/16

HOFer Cy Young's record 511 wins are safe in the record books as ones that truly will never be broken. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak has a better chance of being broken. 20-game winners are also going by the wayside with only Spencer Strider last season, Kyle Wright the year before and Julio Urias in 2021. None of those pitchers are currently pitching, all for very different reasons. Assigning a 'win' to a pitcher is a bit strange in the first place since baseball is a team spot...

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24:40

Judge & Soto keep the Yankees close, Phillies...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/13

Aaron Judge and Juan Soto for the Yankees are keeping them close to the first place Orioles. The AL playoffs are a long way away but teams can play their way out of the wild card if they're not careful. Pirates Paul Skenes finally made his #MLB debut vs. the Cubs and topped 100 MPH 17 times striking out 7 and got the win in a bizarre finish. Tigers Tarik Skubal is having a Cy Young-type season and looks almost unhittable. Divisions are settled in with just a few surprises. Injuries ...

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39:46

On being an A's fan - Author of 'Lose Yourself' Vince...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/09

We love baseball books and Vince Wetzel's 'Lose Yourself' is a fun read. Fictional Oakland A's OF Brett Austen is trying to join the great Ted Williams as the newest member of the .400 batting average for a season club. A's fans don't have much to cheer about despite this year's decent start for the undermanned team. Since the A's are slated to move to Las Vegas in 2028, (something we are not 100% sure will happen), and there is not-yet-sufficient MLB park in Vegas, the A's ...

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32:54

Summer Sausage fortifies the Twins - TWIB - 5.6.24 -...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/06

The Twins won 12 in a row with a little help from a bizarre packaged summer sausage that the Twins kept in their dugout. Whatever the impact the Twins are squarely back in the hunt in the AL Central which is still led by the Guardians. The Dodgers had an interesting week highlighted by a zero strikeout game by the offense on Tuesday vs. the Diamondbacks in an 8-4 win. Mookie Betts leads the NL in batting average with Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani right behind. Freddie Freeman ...

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26:23

Bad treatment for should-be HOF 2nd Basemen - Ep. 512

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/05/02

2nd baseman Ryne Sandberg is deservedly in the Hall of Fame. So is Roberto Alomar. On the other hand, Bobby Grich, Lou Whitaker, and Jeff Kent are not, and it's unlikely that Robinson Cano will ever make it for off-the-field reasons. Chase Utley has a chance, and Jose Altuve is on track. We compared all of these players stats and careers and it's amazing how much alike their careers were or have been so far. Only 20 2B have ever been elected to the HOF. Gordon mak...

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29:33

Fried throws a Maddux, Shohei is Mr. Double TWIB -...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/29

Braves Max Fried had gotten off to a spotty start to his season but his 92 pitch shutout in an hour and 54 minutes vs. the Marlins announced he's just fine. Shohei Othani has 17 doubles already which is on pace for an all-time record. How about Elly De La Cruz? 1.7 bWAR in a month. If he keeps up what he's done in April he will have a bWAR more than 10 and 100+ stolen bases. The Guardians and Brewers continue to surprise, the Braves and Dodgers not so much. The Astros are facing a...

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31:43

The Many One Team Hall of Famers - Ep. 510

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/25

58 of the 273 (21%) players elected to the Hall of Fame played only for one franchise. As Gordon pointed out, before baseball had free agency players did not move around nearly as much not because they didn't want to but because they were not allowed to! We talk about the only set of teammates that were elected to the HOF in the same year. There are 9 teams that lack a one team Hall of Famer. That number will drop to 8 once #Twins Joe Mauer is inducted this July. There are plenty. of Ha...

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25:21

TWIB 4.22.24 - Will the Astros wake up? White Sox...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/22

The Angels were 9-9 for a moment this week with Mike Trout leading the way. Could they possibly make the playoffs? Then they proceeded to lose 3 straight. Same old. AL West is a dogfight even with the Astros still mired in last place. The Twins have been having trouble scoring. They could use a good week coming up as the Guardians are sailing even without Shane Bieber and can that last? Royals hanging tough but the Tigers are treading water. Yankees without Gerri...

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23:13

Will Tony Clark be booted out as MLBPA President? -...

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/18

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29:50

TWIB 4.15.24 - Ep. 507

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/15

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28:24

Pitchers chasing velocity is the big problem - Ep. 506

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/11

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24:07

TWIB 4.8.24 - Ep. 505

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/08

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22:15

Baseball Pranksters have disappeared - Ep. 504

Almost Cooperstown ·

2024/04/04

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