Episode 084: The September Glide Towards Doom

Matthew and Toby catch up on three weeks of baseball and discuss what’s saddest about the impending end of the season. Matthew gets very upset about postseason nomenclature, Toby gets very nervous about his hats, and both reflect on the glory days of mid-August. The boys go around the horn on MLB’s announcement about PEDs in sexual enhancement pills, Jomboy’s delightful success, Curt Schilling’s threat to run for Congress, and Pete Buttigieg’s controversial stance against the DH.

Episode 083: Only Daddy Likes Baseball

Matthew and Toby record a new episode during a particularly stressful Sunday afternoon, going around the horn on the beauty of baseball crowds (with internet assists from past guests Peter Bondi and Kelly Kreft), Puig Fever in Cleveland, and avoiding sweeps. And the boys finally get the technology to cooperate to have Joe Rospars, CEO of Blue State Digital and advisor to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, on for a Half-Hearted Attempt at Empathy.

Episode 081: My British Pants

Matthew and Toby keep the streak going because not recording on a weekly basis could displease the baseball gods. The boys go around the horn about their teams’ recent performance and other ridiculous heat waves, Boston playing under protest, Trea Turner hitting for the cycle (again), and major heel turns by the Yankees and Twins pitching staffs. This one wraps with some fairly mild wish lists for the trade deadline.

Next time, Battery Mates will discuss their baseball bucket lists. What do you want to see in person before you’re banned from baseball?

Episode 078: Sans the Hat

Matthew and Toby talk baseball for the second time in a week and go around the horn about Toby’s decision to switch hats, Matthew’s trips to D.C. for live baseball during the Nats’ recent turnaround, the latest bonkers thing Max Scherzer did, the New York Times coverage of Trevor Bauer and his new marketing company, and the ridiculous proposal being floated to have the Tampa Bay franchise split time in Montreal.

The boys wrap the show with a deeper dive on Dock Ellis, whose known mostly for throwing a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD. For more, listeners should definitely check out No-No: A Dockumentary.

Episode 077: It's Called Home Schooling, Not Clubhouse Schooling

Matthew and Toby are live from Boston’s Fenway Park—well, at least to start the episode. Audio issues forced a scrapping of the bulk of the recording. (Imagine a conference call with people in a wind storm. It’s like that, except instead of wind, it’s Boston fans yelling and two people who don’t really know how to use their travel recorder.) Luckily, for Battery Mates Nation, the boys picked the ball up two weeks later to finish the episode: recapping the Fenway visit, discussing the state of their teams, and providing an exciting/bizarre update in the exciting/bizarre saga of Drake LaRoche.

Lastly, a research project for everyone: Which team does each presidential candidate root for? Sure, policies matter, and the debates are important. But this a fundamental measure of character.

Episode 076: A T-Ball Team from Westchester

Matthew and Toby go around the horn for the first time since the season started. After checking in on the Nats and Clevelands, Matthew fills Battery Mates Nation in on why he’s getting emotional about sports these days. The boys chit-chat about the new rules MLB announced for this season before a Half-Hearted Attempt at Empathy with Rob Flaherty, a fan of the reigning champion (and currently 4th place) Boston Red Sox. Among other things, Rob dishes about what it’s like to go to a Norwich City football game with Matthew.