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#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 are appealing to baseball club owners and players to reach a deal in the new CBA before the 2027 season

We discuss the league leading hitters and pitchers with about 1/3 of the 2026 season to be played by Memorial Day!

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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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 Japanese Ballpark" which is a series of vignettes covering aspects of what goes on during a NPB game. From players, to managers, to umpires, owners, fans, even beer girls, Fitts has a great feel for how to tell the story and explain Japanese baseball to fans outside of Japan.

It's a great and engaging read and you can pick up your copy wherever you buy your books!

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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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 have played about a quarter of the season. Does that mean Aaron Judge will hit 60 homers as he has 15 already? Not necessarily but you wouldn't be surprised would you?

Framber Valdez did another crazy Framber thing. The bad teams aren't as bad as usual and the good teams not quite as good as they can be after 40 games.

Our next episode features author Rob Fitts who wrote a great book about Japanese baseball. Look for it Monday the 18th.

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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#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 pitches 7 innings for the win. We talk about those stories along with our feature topic - the 7 catchers who finished their careers batting .300. 5 are Hall-of-Famers, one will be, the other will never be. How many can you name?

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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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 surgery and will miss at least half the season.

Yordan Alvarez leads #MLB with 10 HRs and #Yankees Aaron Judge is right behind with 9. Who are the players with the highest bat speed in baseball? Which is more important to OPS - on-base average or slugging? We answer all in this fast-paced quick hitting episode!

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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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 have made much noise aside from the #dodgers. #pirates rookie Konnor Griffin got paid inking a 9-year $130M contract. #yankees are succeeding despite getting less than expected from reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge as well as being swept by the #Rats.

Do you know who invented the split-fingered fastball? It's made a resurgence and we talk about the history of the pitch, why it fell out of favor, and why it's back better than ever!

Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

www.almostcooperstown.com

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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 of the week will be 10% in the rear view mirror! Can 162 games go by quickly? We discuss Jo Adell's amazing virtuoso defensive performance on April 4th. Any surprises in where teams are in the standings? We talk about that too!

The topic of the week is WRC+ - Weighted Runs Created Plus. It's cooler than it looks we promise!

Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

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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 first three games of the 2026 season - rookies have been front and center!

Shout out to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music. Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music!

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you can give us 4 or 5 star rating that means a lot. And if you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com. You can also follow us on X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel. And please tell your friends to check us out!

www.almostcooperstown.com