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  • Welcome to Barbecast 111. This is the last Barbecast. As you may or may not know by now, we are transitioning to Tha BBQ Part II, aka the part where we work for MLB Advanced Media. You can read all about that by clicking here. But this is our last hurrah, the final victory lap for this audio adventure we've been on for nearly four years. As is only right, this episode features arguably the three most important guests of Barbecast lore, but we began with a large pile of fantastic e-mails from you wonderful listeners, including questions about Kelly vs. Avril, Napoleon Bookbindery, baseballers on rollerskates, and of course, a beautiful final story from OBP himself. Thank you all so much for all the kind words. Our first special guest (at 42:10) is Craig Goldstein, our inaugural guest and one of our favorite people. We talked about Craig stuff. Our second special guest (at 52:40) was the most frequent guest in Barbecast history and we like her even more than we like Craig. It's Lana Berry! Lana recently had a tweet get over 100,000 likes. We talked about that and then said goodbye forever. Our third and final special guest (at 1:05:40) is Kieran Lovegrove, right-handed pitcher in the Cleveland Indians organization and the OFFICIAL minor leaguer of the Cespedes Family BBQ. Kieran is a Lynchburg Hillcat now, so we checked in on how his season is going and how he likes his new logo. We concluded (at 1:18:15) with some details about our new job, and some final hearty thanks for all of your support. For one final time (on here): thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 110! And yes, you read the title right...it's the second-to-last Barbecast as you know it. Why? We still can't really tell you. Anyway, our special guest this week (at 22:15) is Brace Hemmelgarn, official team photographer of the Minnesota Twins. We asked Brace about how he went from D-III baseball player to MLB photographer almost instantly, the major league photography community, why everyone on the Twins calls him Bruce, and his favorite players to shoot on the job. After Brace (at 51:45), another B-Ref Battle ensued featuring the fourth Moose in Barbecast history and a guy who once struck out Babe Ruth and bragged about it. We conclude (at 59:00) with Jake's Professional Baseball Update about how his independent league tryout went, and some vague allusions to our professional futures. Thanks for listening

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  • Welcome to Barbecast 109! No guest or B-Ref (or really even e-mails) this week, we just wanted to check in and let you guys know how things are not that are college days are officially behind us and the terrifying prospect of adulthood is staring us right in the face. First, we tried to catch up on the division standings since we have not been paying super close attention to real baseball lately. Then we do one final Varsity Baseball Update about the end of Jake's collegiate career before transitioning into Jake's Professional Baseball Update (?!?!?!?!) with a fairly exciting announcement about where Jake will be for the next week. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 108! We've got two special guests this week. First up (at 24:30) is Tom Hackimer, professional side-armer in the Minnesota Twins organization. Tom is both a) our kind of guy; and b) almost everything Jake aspires to be as a poo-slinging reliever. We talked about how he went from a walk-on at St. John's to dominating for four years while also majoring in physics, getting drafted by his not-actual-favorite time, the one home run he is ever allowed, and a bunch of nerdy side-arm related stuff that Jake was understandably curious about. After Tom, (at 1:06:15), we brought on Jamal Collier, who covers the Nationals for MLB.com, to discuss the team's outrageously hot start (particularly on offense), Ryan Zimmerman's resurrection, Tanner Roark, and the wonderful mess that is their bullpen. We concluded (at 1:39:15) with a Varsity Baseball Update that actually is more of a Professional Baseball Update (?!?!?!) about Jake's Frontier League tryout, before some brief general D-III baseball talk. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 107! We have two special guests this week. First up (at 17:25) is Steve Gerken, Average Dude from Austin, Texas. Who the hell is Steve Gerken? Good question! Steve sent us an e-mail for Barbecast 106 in which he explained that he basically has never played baseball (in any form!) despite being a totally normal 21-year-old guy. We asked him to defend himself. After Steve (at 29:20), we brought on J.B. Bukauskas, junior right-handed pitcher at the University of North Carolina. While J.B.'s ERA (1.40) is nearly double Jake's (0.72), J.B. has a significantly higher chance of being drafted in the first round of the 2017 Draft. We talked about growing up playing baseball in the DC area, being on campus when UNC won March Madness, and the best players he's faced during his time in Chapel Hill. After J.B. (at 53:00), we participated in a wonderful B-Ref Battle featuring an obscure record-holder, and one of our favorite players in the history of the segment, thanks to his outrageously strange and convoluted background. We will never get tired of this. We concluded (at 1:10:00) with a brief discussion on Our New Overlord Eric Thames and provide a Varsity Baseball Update about Jake's brief stint ATOP a real actual leader board. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 106! A lot has happened since the last Barbecast, so we decided to take this episode to reflect on all that has gone on over the past 6 weeks or so -- mainly, baseball is back, and Jake Mintz is suddenly really good at it. No special guests, just us being excited that the 2017 season is finally here. We began by answering several e-mails on topics such as the Red Sox flu crisis, 17 players being ejected from the same team in the same game, our favorite minor league experiences, and perfect sitters. After e-mails (at 34:43), we took some time to draw some major conclusions about the playoff race after one week of play, and mentally prepare ourselves for a Twins-Diamondbacks World Series. Next (at 43:00), we participated in *another* B-Ref Battle of extraordinary old-timey baseball names. We concluded (at 49:40) with perhaps the most exciting Varsity Baseball Update in the history of the Barbecast: Jake is good now. We discussed some of the highlights of the first half of the WashU Bears season, including Jake unknowingly blowing a no-hitter, sweeping Emory, and how in the world he currently has a 0.44 ERA (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!). Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 105! Two special guests this week, as has become fairly customary. First up (at 23:30) is Anthony Castrovince of MLB dot com and Sports On Earth. Anthony is one of our favorite writers and we knew he would be a good candidate to participate in a fun Barbecast game with us, so we invited him on to draft Weird Spring Training Things (AKA Silly Spring Stuff) with us. We each selected three particularly odd Spring Training things that we especially enjoy. After Anthony, we brought on arguably the most important guest in Barbecast history (at 1:00:15), Chattahoochee Valley Community College first baseman, Fuzzy Furr. Yeah, that Fuzzy Furr. We talked to Fuzzy about how he got the name Fuzzy at such a young age, and the blessings and curses of living with such a glorious name. After Fuzzy (at 1:18:00), we did a rapid fire B-Ref battle that was relatively short but still great (albeit less impressive in an episode that features a guy named Fuzzy Furr). We concluded (1:23:00) with a discussion about Blake Swihart's yips, a mild hot take on the proposed extra innings rules, Jake's Varsity Baseball Update, and an ode to the glorious Magic iPod. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 104! Two special guests again this week, one repeat and one podcast rookie. First up (at 20:00) is Mariners pitching prospect Andrew Moore, making his third Barbecast appearance in three years. We've watched Andrew grow from a wee-little Pac-12 Friday starter to a mildly impressive professional rookie to a dude that just dominated Double-A for most of a season. We are so proud. We talked about Andrew's full-season debut, how much he's looking forward to hitting in the big leagues, and how he's spending his offseason now that he's no longer a JV basketball coach. After Andrew (at 47:00), we brought on Rob Arthur, one of our favorite writers and also the guy whose clenched fist is in all of those memes (I think?). We talked to Rob about how he got from master's degree in genetics to baseball writing, the strange experience of covering the 2016 as a longtime Cubs fan, his thoughts on the proposed extra-inning rule, and the reason for his unusual Twitter handle. After Rob (at 1:16:00), we participate in another B-Ref Battle featuring two more extraordinary names from yesteryear. We conclude (at 1:23:00) with a mildly exciting varsity baseball update, and a quick discussion on Russell Westbrook because Jake loves him very much. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 103! We have two special guests this week. Hope that's cool with you. Our first special guest (at 25:15) is Cody Ponce, one of the top pitching prospects in the Milwaukee Brewers system, as well as a general enthusiast of nonsense. That is why he is on the Barbecast. We talked to Cody about the origins of his devastating lactose intolerance, his insistence that PITCHERS ARE ATHLETES, how he stayed entertained in the dugouts of the Florida State League, being best friends with fellow Damien High School alumnus Mark McGwire (they are not best friends at all) and more. After Cody (at 54:05), we brought on Baseball America's JJ Cooper with the hope of discussing some of our favorite prospects. That did not happen. Instead, since we are huge D-III baseball dorks with an obvious bias, we talked to JJ about the process of preparing the Small College Preview for Baseball America, and how JJ goes about even attempting to cover the lower levels of college baseball when there are such an outrageous number of teams and the competition level is all over the place. We found it super fascinating. After JJ (at 1:33:00), we competed in our customary B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference, featuring one blatantly silly name and one guy who had to retire from baseball so he could milk cows full time. What a world. We concluded (at 1:43:00) with a brief discussion on Bad and Boujee, Joel Embiid, and of course, Jake's Varsity Baseball Update. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 102! We have two special guests this week -- two very different ones. First up (at 27:15) is Phillies prospect Rhys Hoskins, who we first met over the summer when he was mashing dingers with the Double-A Reading Fightin' Phils, the winningest team in the minors. Rhys talked about what it was like to play for such a fun team that won all the time, competing with his teammate Dylan Cozens for the minor league home run title, that time he went 0-0 with 5 walks, and his beloved Oakland Raiders' chances in the playoffs. After Rhys (at 1:01:00), we brought on Lincoln Mitchell, author of "Will Big League Baseball Survival?: Globalization, the End of Television, Youth Sports, and the Future of Major League Baseball." We attempted to tackle a modicum of the big questions posed in Lincoln's book, and discussed where baseball has been, and the challenges/advantages it has today, particularly in relation to the other major American sports. Then we talked about the former Soviet country of Georgia, which is Lincoln's other area of immense expertise. Next, (at 1:37:20) the B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference returned with one strictly silly name and one guy with one of the more illustrious careers in the segment's history. We concluded (at 1:46:50) with a brief homage to Sam Miller and Effectively Wild, as well as our additional podcast inspiration, Up and In. Then we said goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 101! After returning for our centurial extravaganza, we took another lengthy break to finish our fall semester strong. Now home for winter break and have more time than we know what to do with, another Barbecast is here. Our special guest this week (at 15:50) is Lucas Giolito, former Barbecast guest, newest sock, and one of the three young pitchers traded from the Nationals for Adam Eaton. Lucas took some time from his rigorous Rocket League schedule to talk to us about how the trade has truly ROCKED HIS WORLD (it hasn't really that much), and what he's looking forward to in his new organization and new city. We also challenged him with a patently absurd would-you-rather type scenario courtesy of the one and only Wes Yee. After Lucas (at 53:50), the B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference returned from its Episode 100 hiatus with two players of varying skill levels, one who was pretty bad, and one who once won the National League batting title. We concluded (at 1:02:35) with an exciting Jake's Last Hurrah Varsity Baseball Update, and a brief discussion on Hanukkah. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 100! Wait, 100??? Yeah, 100. Only a few months late, we finally managed to find some time to record our centurial podcast. We assembled an all-star cast of past Barbecast friends/guests to help create this inordinately long show to make up for the weeks of neglect. We began with our customary e-mail segment, except this time (at 13:00), we brought on a VERY special guest to offer us some insight into the mind of a Barbecast e-mail legend. It was fantastic. Our real special guest (at 31:30) and the only Barbecast rookie this week is Rob Zastryzny, left-handed pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Though not on the World Series roster, Rob was with the team when they, ya know, won the World Series. So he walked us through the madness -- everything from Heyward's legendary speech to getting on the wrong bus at the parade. Next (at 1:08:45), we brought on Kendall Guillemette, the secret third member of the BBQ, to talk about his memories from the early Barbecasts and his new project, Savage Baseball (details below). After Kendall (at 1:16:40), we welcomed back the official minor leaguer of CFBBQ, Kieran Lovegrove for the first time since Episode 62, to recap his first year in full-season ball and the wonders of the Midwest League. Next (at 1:34:55), we brought our mothers onto the show to share their favorite memories from the Barbecast and explain why they are still letting us do it. Then (at 1:46:20), a historic rendition of Tales from Logdog with Lana Berry takes place as we try and remember what it was like to have her on the podcast every week. Finally (at 1:57:00), we brought it alllllllllll the way back and brought on our good friend and FIRST EVER BARBECAST GUEST Craig Goldstein to tell us how much he's changed since the inaugural pod and also tell us about #PieNight. We concluded (at 2:11:30) with a genuine thank you to all who have ever listened to this silly thing that we do, and toast to another 100 podcasts. Thank you!

    While we did not do our usual battle of extraordinary old baseball names this week, the B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

    Click here for the B-Ref Battle Name Database!

    Kendall is giving away a free Savage Baseball to 4 lucky Barbecast listeners. Enter for a chance to win at savagebaseball.net/bbq!

    Please rate and review us on iTunes! We'd really appreciate it!

  • Welcome to Barbecast 99! Our special guest this week (at 17:00) is Ben Lindbergh, of the world famous Effectively Wild podcast and The Ringer. Ben's Barbecast debut is long overdue, but we wanted to squeeze him into the first 100 episodes at the very least. In the few baseball-less hours we had before the Wild Card games, we drafted the World Series match-ups we most want to see at the end of October, and give our very loose explanations for why we want to see them. After Ben (at 1:02:45), another B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference went down, featuring two of the better names we've had in a while and a heated discussion over the pronunciation of the world "coupon". That was really exciting stuff. We concluded (at 1:13:40) with a Varsity Baseball Update on the end of Jake's fall ball season, and a brief life update from both of us regarding our current and potential future whereabouts during the postseason (EYES EMOJI). Thanks for listening

  • Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez passed away on Sunday morning. He was one of our favorite people in baseball, let alone one of our favorite players. We had a lot of thoughts, so we did our best to share them in a somewhat coherent manner. Rest in peace, Jose. You will be missed by many.

    If you have any thoughts/stories/feelings about Jose that you want to share, you can send them to [email protected].

  • Welcome to Barbecast 98! After a month-long hiatus for Barbecasting due to our busy transition into our senior years of college, we shook off the rust and churned out a podcast for the listening masses (our moms). Our special guest this week (at 10:15) is the top pitching prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, Brent Honeywell. Brent's minor league season ended recently, so he had nothing else to do besides come on our silly show. Topics include:

    why Brent chooses to never lift anything ever going to the same high school as Ty Cobb being one of the only screwballers left on this Earth his outrageously dominant professional debut in the Appalachian League his mound mentality that allows him to stop professional hitters from scoring runs against him the last time he ran out of gas an unfortunate toe injury Vienna sausage (?!?!?!?!) Waffle House ...and more!

    After Brent (at 47:15), the B-Ref Battle brought to you by Baseball-Reference returned featuring one of the most ridiculous background stories in this segment's history. We concluded (at 56:25) with an exciting Varsity Baseball Update about Jake (America's ROOGY) potentially being a starter for his triumphant senior season. Then we talk briefly about Jake's school hosting an upcoming presidential debate. Then we say goodbye. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 97! Our special guest this week (at 15:50) is Evan Drellich, the Red Sox beat writer for the Boston Herald. Evan is one of our favorite beat writers, so it's unclear how it took this long to have him on the podcast but hey, here we are! The Red Sox have been at the center of an argument Jake and I have been having all season, so Evan seemed like a good person to have on to moderate a discussion on said argument. Topics include:

    Which AL East team scares you the most? Does David Price start the wild card game? How is Mookie this ridiculous? Mookie or Xander? What is a Sandy Leon? ...and more!

    After Evan (at 36:20), we held a slightly different type of B-Ref Battle (presented by baseball-reference) in which we appreciated some of the most interesting Jewish major leaguers of all time. We concluded (at 56:20) with a brief look ahead to our senior years of college (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!) and an even briefer look ahead to Barbecast 100. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 96! Our special guest this week (at 22:00) is Adam McCalvy, Brewers beat writer for MLB dot com. The Brewers made some interesting moves at the deadline and are at an odd place as an organization, so we checked in on their psyche with a guy that knows them well. It was mostly just us fawning over David Stearns for 25 minutes, but whatever. After Adam (at 49:45), we participated in another fierce B-Ref Battle presented by Baseball-Reference. Baseball names are funny, in case you hadn't heard. We concluded (at 1:00:45) with a recap of Jake's Men's League championship victory and then we said goodbye. Simple as that. Thanks for listening

  • Welcome to Barbecast 95! After last week's guestless Carbecast on which we reminisced about the favorite parts of our roadtrip, we're back this week with two special guests. First up (at 17:55) is The Athletic Chicago's Sahadev Sharma, former Barbecast guest and relative expert on all things Aroldis Chapman trade and all things Chris Sale jersey-slicing saga. So we talked about those two things because both of them made us go "WOW!" for totally different reasons. After Sahadev (at 57:10), we brought on this year's #1 overall pick, Mickey Moniak, to discuss his first month or so of professional baseball in the glamorous Gulf Coast League, his favorite Disney shows growing up, and what his backup plan was if baseball didn't work out. Next, the B-Ref Battle of super old baseball names returned with a vengeance, celebrating two more heroes of baseball's yesteryears. We concluded with a preview of the biggest start of Jake's Men's League season, before saying goodbye until next week. Thanks for listening

  • Oh golly. A wild barbecast appeared! No, we're not playing Pokemon Go, but we did manage to scrounge up a podcast for you fine folks.

    For those of you that don't know we've been on the road writing for MLB.com for the last 3 weeks or so. Our trip is nearing its conclusion we thought that we'd kill some time driving thru Kansas (holy crap Kansas is enormous and flat) reminiscing about the best moments of the trip thus far. We each drafted five of our favorite moments from our time on the road, but we discussed some other stuff beyond that as well. Some of what we talked about has been posted/tweeted about, while some of the other draft picks can definitely be classified as #EXCLUSIVECONTENT.

    Hear us talk about...

    -Interviewing Dansby Swanson

    -The Ty Cobb Museum

    -Getting dunked on by Jeff Hoffman

    -Yoan Moncada in a virtual reality headset

    -AND MUCH MUCH MORE!!

    You can find all of our trip entries on Cut4 right here: http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2016/06/24/185916752/the-cut4-minor-league-road-trip-your-day-to-day-guide

    The B-Ref Battle (which we actually didn't do this time) is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

  • Welcome to Barbecast 93! This is not a normal Barbecast -- it's shorter, there are no e-mails or B-Ref Battle, and OH MY GOD LANA BERRY IS BACK?!?! We wanted to record a quick podcast this week for two reasons: First, it's been a while. And second, we leave this week for our fourth annual insane baseball summer roadtrip. This time we'll be documenting our adventures for the good people over at MLB's Cut4 site. We spent the first part of the show discussing our trip. You can read about it and see our itinerary by clicking here. After roadtrip talk, we brought back on our good friend Lana Berry, 10 episodes and several months after mercilessly killing her off the show for no good reason. We checked in with her about her two favorite baseball teams, her LeBron hot takes, and her general life status. Yay Lana! We concluded the show with an exciting update from Jake about his recent dominance on the mound in his summer Men's League. Like, he's actually pitching really well. Then we say goodbye!

    The B-Ref Battle is brought to you by Baseball-Reference. Use the coupon code “bbq” for $6 off a one-year subscription to the Play Index, the essential tool for statistical baseball research. Click here to order your Play Index now!

    Please rate and review us on iTunes! We’d really appreciate it!