Baseball Zealot Radio

Hosts: Tom and Tedd

Summary: This is Tedd’s third podcast from Spring Training in Florida. He calls in and reports to us what he’s seen at Dunedin and Clearwater. A lot of Phillies and Blue Jays material including Gustavo Chacin, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino and Chris Roberson not to mention a Dallas Green sighting.

This is our last report from the Grapefruit League but we will be switching gears soon and will be getting on-the-spot reports from Tedd and others from Arizona and the Cactus League! Stay tuned!

Time: 17:33

Date Recorded: 3/9/07

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Hosts: Tom, Chuck and Tedd

Summary: Tedd reports back from Spring Training in Florida again after seeing a few more games. Chuck is on board with this discussion and as it is when we start talking baseball, we hit a lot of topics.

Stay tuned as Tedd plans to call in one more time from Florida to report from Spring Training.

Time: 50:21

Date Recorded: 3/4/7

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Hosts: Tom

Summary: My special guest is Nathan Baliva, broadcaster and media manager for the Peoria Chiefs. The Chiefs are a single-A affiliate for the Chicago Cubs.

Nathan tells us who to watch for in the Cubs’ farm system and talks up the Peoria Chiefs upcoming season.

Oh yeah, we get around to talking about their rookie manager, Ryne Sandberg.

This one’s definitely worth a listen.

Here is a link to the Peoria Chiefs web page.

Time: 23:22

Date Recorded: 2/27/07

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Hosts: Tom and Tedd

Summary: Tedd is in Florida catching some Spring Training games this week. He calls in and reports on the games he’s seen and the people he’s met.

Stay tuned as Tedd plans to call in every couple days to report back.

Check out Tedd’s articles about his trip to Spring Training on The Baseball Zealot blog.

Time: 22:19

Date Recorded: 3/2/07

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Hosts: Tom

Summary: I interview Chris Robinson who is now down in Arizona for Spring Training with the Chicago Cubs. Robinson, a catcher and a University of Illinois product, talks about his 2006 season in the minors, getting traded to the Cubs, and what 2007 holds for him.

Time: 13:18

Date Recorded: 2/27/07

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Hosts: Tom and Chuck

Summary: We catch up on the latest Cubs and White Sox news as well as tidbits from the opening days of Spring Training, injuries and all.

We also get our last words in before the HOF announcement from the Veterans Committee on Tuesday.

A first, we manage to get through a show without mentioning the s-word. Coincidentally, we didn’t talk about Barry Bonds either. Hmm…

Time: 57:00

Date Recorded: 2/25/07

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Hosts: Tom and Chuck

Summary: We start our podcast off a little off-topic by chatting with Tyler Davis who attended the Super Bowl. Tyler gives his impressions of the game and why the Bears lost. To keep things relevant, Tyler and I do get around to talking about the Cubs, though.

Chuck and I pay our respects to the baseball people who have passed on recently as well as discuss the prospects of some the near-dead who are trying to make a comeback this year this year in the MLB.

Anybody out there buy ARod’s children’s book, yet? We try to decide if it’s worth a look.

Time: 1:00

Date Recorded: 2/11/07

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Hosts: Tom

Summary: Coach Dan Hartleb from the University of Illinois baseball team took some time out from his busy schedule to talk with me. We talk a bit about his first year with the Illini, how they stack up against the Big Ten this year and the future of the team.

During the show, Hartleb talks up the Hot Stove Banquet which is happening in Champaign, IL on Feb 17. You can find out more info and get tickets from the Fighting Illini website.

Time: 27:56

Date Recorded: 1/31/07

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Hosts: Tom, Todd and Chuck

Summary: Tom gives a report from last weekend’s Cubs Convention in Chicago. The JD Drew Watch is over as Drew has signed with Boston. Pirate fan Todd has something to be happy about with the LaRoche/Gonzalez deal. Chuck helps us make sense of the White Sox signing of Darin Erstad signing.

It couldn’t last forever. The love affair is over. Chuck and Todd have finally found something to disagree about. The two of them discuss the role of MLB umpires and whether they are pushing the envelope and becoming more part of the scene during player/umpire conflicts. Todd, a registered umpire, has his say.

Related Links:

Photos and write-ups from Tom’s trip to the 2007 Cubs Convention

Chuck mentions minor league manager Joe Mikulik’s tantrum during a game. Here’s is a link to the video to it. It’s something else.

Time: 57:19

Date Recorded: 1/28/07

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Most die-hard baseball fans and stat geeks know about the Baseball Reference web site. In fact, many of us rely on it. In this week’s episode, Todd and Tom interview Sean Forman, the person behind one of the most definitive baseball stat sites around.

Sean Forman created Baseball Reference almost seven years ago and continues to add features and enhancements to it. During our interview, he talks about his background, the latest features he’s implemented, and what it takes to run such an endeavor.

Here’s the link to Baseball Reference: http://www.baseball-reference.com

Time: 26:01

Date Recorded: 1/14/07

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