Like or not, gambling and baseball are forever tied. Episode 9 takes a look at that relationship.

First, I talk to gambler and author Joe Peta about his book Trading Bases, in which he chronicles his life change from Wall Street trader to baseball bettor.

Then contributor Sam Dingman tells how his gambling ties in with his love for the Baltimore Orioles, and terrible puns.

And I make yet another case for Pete Rose, with the MVP of My Heart.

Music:

Aviary, Ian MacNeil Brown
Lullaby, Ian MacNeil Brown
Mind Soaked, Dan Semotan
Shadows, DBS-6

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The games within the games — the card games, the simulations, and fantasy — are all highlighted in Episode 8 of Stealing Home.

We start off by talking to some old friends of mine and how they spent a summer trading off responsibilities for making a fictional Cardinals (or maybe Royals) team a World Series Champion in Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball.

Then I talk with Brad Cook, who’s in charge of marketing and PR for Out of the Park Developments. They are the makers of Out of the Park Baseball, possibly the most addicting sports game around.

And writer Carson Cistulli conducts an interview with a fictitious player from his simulation team.

Astros manager Bo Porter, for taking so much on the chin already this season, is the MVP of My Heart.

Music:

Issues, Wizebeats
Fastest, Arthur Blair

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Books are one of the best ways to immerse yourself in baseball, and in Episode 7, we’ll discuss many of the best baseball books around.

After the news with Chris Cwik, author Tim Brown talks to me about co-authoring Imperfect with Jim Abbott, a book about the pitcher’s amazing rise to prominence in baseball.

Then, some of my best baseball friends recommend some of their favorite books.
Liz Roscher: The Rotation
Patrick Dubuque: The Long Season
Bill Parker: Opening Day
Robert J Baumann: Baseball
Mike Bates: The Fox Steals Home

And Jean Segura’s efforts to change the definitions of good and bad in baseball makes him the MVP of my heart.

Music:

Mind Soaked, Dean Semotan
Summer Dream, Benedictus
Crash It In, Hollowgram
Melodias de Areia, TQuintino

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In this episode of Stealing Home, the subjects of art and baseball intersect.

After the news with Mike Bates, artist Craig Robinson talks to us about his baseball artwork at FlipFlopFlyBall.

And illustrator Gary Cieradkowski shares the thoughts and themes behind his terrific site Infinite Baseball Card Set.

Then, we get a little help from probably the best show ever, The Wire, to search for the MVP of My Heart.

Music:

For the Club, eugenkiss
Forskellige Verdener, DJ Junks
Intro, Jazz Entsha
Passeando por Let it Be, TQuintino

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In this episode of Stealing Home we take a peak at the uglier side of baseball, specifically violence.

After the news with Chris Cwik, Zach Bowers takes us back to a scary night in Cleveland.

Then contributor Michael Clair expounds on how Robin Ventura found that when you mess with the proverbial bull, you get the proverbial horns.

And Tom Gamboa is the MVP of My Heart.

Music:

For the Club, eugenkiss
Forskellige Verdener, DJ Junks
Intro, Jazz Entsha
Passeando por Let it Be, TQuintino

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I apologize for not posting as scheduled last Monday. I was at Spring Training in AZ, looking to create a really nice episode, but things just didn’t work out. I chose to not post one at all rather than post one with a quality lower than you or I expect. We’ll have a new one this coming Monday. Thanks for your support and understanding.

Take care,
David

In episode 4 of Stealing Home, we look at different fields of science, and how they intersect with baseball.

After the news with Bill Parker, we chat with Dr. Alan Nathan to discuss some of his findings while researching the physics of baseball.

We then talk with Ben Collin of BleacherWeather.com, whose doing some interesting fact-finding and presentation of weather and how it relates to baseball.

Then, injury writer Will Carroll comes on to talk about how he views the current state of injuries in MLB.

And Dock Ellis, for his accidental scientific breakthrough, is the MVP of my Heart.

Music:

Issues, Wizebeats
Fastest, Arthur Blair
Love to Pieces, FilmScorer8
Storyline, Mayi

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For episode 3, we go international, and look at baseball in different countries of the world.

After the news with Aaron Gleeman, we chat with writer Jonah Keri about baseball in his hometown of Montreal.

Afterwords, we talk to Tom Fee. Tom is an organist and writer for the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League, and he tells us about his ascension into baseball fandom and Australian baseball in general.

Filmmaker John Fitzgerald joins us to talk about his work to bring an honest-to-goodness baseball field to a European country.

And we go outside the box a little with the MVP of My Heart, and look at a film that exposes some perhaps-unknown truths of baseball in the Dominican Republic.

Music:

Note Drop, Broke for Free
Siesta, Jahzzar
Portofino, Teen Girl Fantasy

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Just wanted to pass along a note from listener @mighty_flynn, as a follow-up to our music episode. It’s a great piece by Phillip Bimstein about a former beer vendor St. Louis, Robert Logan. It’s a terrific piece, so I thought I’d share it with you. Enjoy!

In this episode, we explore baseball’s long and storied relationship with music.

First, we look at the history of the game’s oldest song, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, then discuss the news with Liz Roscher.

Then, writer Paul Swydan helps us discover references to baseball in contemporary music. (Get Paul’s full list here.)

You’ve heard the music at the ballpark, but have you ever wondered who is charge of it? Chuck Morgan, who does the PA announcing and runs the music for the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, talks to us about his job now, and how its changed over the years.

We then talk to composer, conductor, and educator Jack Stamp, who wrote Pastime (A Salute to Baseball), one of the only pieces of classical music written about baseball.

Michael Clair then talks about his … unique personal baseball playlist.

And finally, we hear from Bert Blyleven, the MVP of My Heart.

Music:

Jahzzar - Siesta
BOPD - 2205
Teen Girl Fantasy - Portofino
James Pants - Cha Cha Demo
Sam Johnson - Under the Sun

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In the inaugural episode of Stealing Home, we look at a topic near and dear to every baseball fan’s heart, the numbers. We learn them, we memorize them, we obsess over them, we compare them. They are the glue that holds baseball together throughout the years.

At the top of the show, we look at the incredible chase for the 1910 AL batting title between Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie, then talk some news with writer Mike Bates.

We start off talking to Sean Forman, founder of the best tool on the Internet, Baseball Reference, about how the site got started, how far it’s come, and where he sees it going in the future.

Regular stats are all well and good, but what about all that other stuff? Who’s keeping an eye on those outlying numbers? Well, Larry Granillo and Paul Lukas are, and we talk to both of them.

The ushering in of the new era of advanced statistics shouldn’t come as news to any baseball fan. Entire web sites are devoted to them, and baseball front offices are incorporating them like never before. Carson Cistulli, a writer and editor for stats-centric web site FanGraphs, talks a little about his history with this field, and how it links to his very prestigious degree.

For the last segment, the MVP of My Heart, Scott Sheldon reminds us all that sometimes, to something cool, you need a little help.

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Full interviews can be found on SoundCloud.

Music:
Note Drop, Broke for Free

If, Broke for Free

Smile, Michael Veazey

Talk to Me, Jahzzar

Hello All,

I am very excited to announce a new radio show/podcast, Stealing Home. This show will cover a little bit of everything in the baseball world, from news to history, as well as feature work from some of the best writers around.

I have big plans for this, so stay tuned. Our first episode should be posted by next week.