Jonathan Aranda has exceptional qHAR as well as winning the most improved vs the Evil Empire award. Chase’s walk up gets customized, and he has an exceptional birthday. We bid farewell to Kyle, Caleb (who gets a stern talking to), Spencer and Drake, both of the sad puppy dog eyes. José’s golf swing scores a clutch homer, and Sal learns from Yeli. Spectator interference rears its ugly head via yet another Yankee fan, 30 years after the Jeffrey Maier incident, but this time we have the technology. Winter ball is getting started and may take on a new look this year if the expected lock-out happens in early December. For now, the LVBP (Venezuela’s league) gets going with lots of formers on the roster. MLB brought some significant proposed changes to the structure of both the regular and post-season, tying these money-makers to player health and fan enjoyment while requiring a salary cap. In addition to noting players can play elsewhere during a lockout, the memo to owners notes team staff can attend player weddings as long as they don’t talk about baseball. We stand in solidarity with Mr. Splash.

We say, ”The Junior is the younger of the multi-Victor industrial complex,” “stress-crocheting,” and “still gross, but legal.” Fight the man, go see some live sports, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Roofs over ballparks, retractable or not, are in play this postseason, and ‘in play’ enough that they may change the course of a game. Weird that the AmFam Field ground rules have us complimenting the Trop on something, but here we are. Adley’s team is out and Pottymouth has a lot to say about how they lost. We have good things to say about Kyle Teel even though he is playing against Patti’s hometown team right now, and good things to say about Spencer Jones even though he is a NYY. Patti wishes Cam Smith could be in the postseason even though she is just fine that his team is not. Pottymouth is all in for Jonathan Aranda, and Yeli has a C on his jersey and the blessing of a legend. Congrats to Team Italy for winning the WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup. Check out the rules here! Grand Teton National Park is no longer in play as a potential MLB game site and the spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association could not possibly add more baseball metaphors into their official statement. Next weekend is the SABR Women in Baseball Conference, which is all virtual so you can watch too. Pottymouth is off to Boston, and Patti is off to attach more pompoms to hats for schoolkids.

We say, “The frickin’ fans start with the ‘we’re proud to be racist’ song,” “I did what a responsible fan should do and that’s change the f*ck out of my clothes,” and “I want to see John Henry dance merengue.” Fight the man, go see some live sports, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Let’s tick them off: We reframed the whole Grand Tetons situation into how ‘bout you just play baseball in existing ballparks where you can see a national park from your seats? WAS, KC. etc.? In honor of her incredible performance in Game 5 of the WPBL finals, we’ve named pitching a complete seven inning game shutout in 75 or fewer pitches a “Sato.” We’ve redirected the NFL to pay attention to actual “offensive demonstrations” instead of imaginary ones. And we’ve agreed on supporting Adley’s team together until CLE enters the picture. Next stop, world peace. Dibs on Genevieve Verlander as baseball girlfriend when she hits the WPBL. We’d like Carter Jensen in the ROY conversation, please. Nasim hit 49, next year we’re looking for 80. The Petes land on top of a lot of stats, incredible WAR for PCA, prolific bat for the Polar Bear. One is already the most valuable locally, will the other take the big one? Sal’s got perfect attendance and big numbers, will that be enough? Yeli joins Salvy as the only current MLB players wearing a C on their jerseys. Pedro brings his philanthropy close to home. Abbey shoots a first pitch. And the WPBL has all the Queens.

We say, “We’ll trade you the purse,” “I’ve got the teacher hat on,” and “not because I finished it, but because I don’t want to run out of it.” Fight the man, go see some live baseball, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

The postseason bracket is coming into focus but we needed to shed some light on another race – the voting for the Roberto Clemente Award. Please vote as it is important to recognize the whole person, the community outreach, the giving back, and the character of our favorite players. Pay attention though, to that whole person. Caring for kids is admirable, but if at the same time you treat other people as less than, using religion as an excuse or not, you are not Clemente material. Yay for Naseem, our only current BF on a ballot full of formers. We look at the NL ROY race, absolutely coming down to Sal or JJ depending on what stats you find meaningful. We celebrate Pete’s 300th along with Mike, Chris, and Nick. Jac punches a wall and regrets it. The WPBL finals go to game 5, and we’re sending good vibes to Maybelle. Five major sports leagues and their unions unite against betting-related threats and harassment, and leave out all the women. Congrats to LMB champs Toros de Tijuana, and the adorable Turner family. And even though we recently crossed the border between Kentucky and Ohio, a lot of math had to happen to figure out where Elly’s homer landed.

We say, “Narcissistic in a self-effacing way,” “I think you do have the jinx power,” and “Maybe you can help me with this Jesus thing.” Fight the man, go see some live baseball, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Patti and Pottymouth are back in the studio at last. Pottymouth is batting clean up on her fantasy team – when did all these changes happen? Patti shows personal growth regarding Adley on that other team. Your hosts’ bfs Sal and Kaz share a pretty cool rookie stat but is Kaz really a rookie? MIL and TBR are the first to clinch, and MIL does it in a way that makes us nostalgic for two weeks ago. The Hunters are the first team to get eliminated in the WPBL playoffs but there’s still more to go, and this piece in the Athletic captures the vibe. The stage is set for next summer’s Women’s World Cup in Rockford, with every team a previous medal-winner. The Police Blotter brings you a scout whose words finally caught up with him, the likelihood of a less awkward Christmas at the Bohm house, and a very strategic Yasiel Puig. We crosstrain with math, because it is back to school time, for almost everyone, and Pottymouth is off to find a Tabasco jersey with Beer.

We say, “Maybe take your bad decisions and go home,” “6pm Tabasco time,” and, “If I need to pull out the Free Kevin Brown shirt, I will.” Fight the man, go see some live baseball, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

Patti and Pottymouth are back from our Epic Baseball Road Trip and are unpacking and remembering how to go to work or learning how to be retired, respectively. While we take a minute, we thought we'd share with you the inspiration for the adventure. Back in January, we had the honor of interviewing Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. As soon as we finished, we both thought "We need to go there, we need Bob to show us his museum in person." And why just fly to KC when you can over-complicate things, drive a 2013 Subaru almost 2800 miles, sleep in 10 different places, and see a whole lot of live baseball? Patti drew a map, Pottymouth made a schedule, and the multi-tabbed, color-coded Googlesheet was born. Here again is our interview with Bob Kendrick. For those of you who've been with us, we hope you enjoy a second listen to this interview. For the new friends we made a long the way, here's how it started.

Bob says, “I grew up in the country, I don’t know if we had gravitas,” “Every time I was with Mr. Aaron I was reduced to that 12 year old kid,” and “You played it with high skill, you played it with passion, but you also played it with a little swag.” Fight the man, go see some live baseball, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

That’s our big thank you wish for all the fun and support on the Epic Baseball Road Trip. 8 ballparks, 10 beds, 2799 miles, a handful of breweries, wineries, and distilleries, one amazing day with Bob at the NLBM, one Scottish play, one evening of Mozart and Frank Zappa, more cheese than should be legal, and the kindest, friendliest baseball fans and staff we could hope to meet. Today’s show brings you the St. Louis and Louisville leg of the trip. At Busch Stadium we had our best seats of the trip, and then effectively free seats the second night to watch the Os win 2 over the Cards. We taught grown ups about how to read the scoreboard and a kid how rally caps work. We learned that our adopted brewery was legally and effectively one pint away from the ballpark. We saw bfs Ivan and JJ in action. Pottymouth came this close to a Blaze on Blaze situation. We saw Matt in the stands watching Jackson, and fans wearing both of their #7s, In Louisville we took in an unplanned bonus game – CIN AAA team the Louisville Bats were hosting ATL’s Gwinnett Stripers and we could not say no to Thrifty Thursday tickets. We got to see some former bfs at work (José Azocar, Kyle Farmer, and Will Benson), and a preteen giving Pottymouth a withering look for her PG-13 joy in seeing Michael Chavis in the lineup. We saw how the bats get made and fangirled over getting to hold Frank Robinson and Carl Yazstremski’s bats, and oh yeah, Babe Ruth’s too, at the Louisville Slugger museum and factory. And then we switched to distilleries. There’s some financial scandal, or at least hard questions, happening over at the WPBL. Cheers to Kinley Rasmus and Carsynn Meyer creating still more firsts for girls in the LLWS.

We say, “Do you mean the temperature, or the heat of your spicy margarita?” “You had an Iced Tragedy and I had a Hot Fitzgerald,” and “I love Little Blue.” Fight the man, go see some live baseball, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.

We are over 1700 miles in to our approximately 2500 mile road trip. Today’s show covers the crazy game in MIL, our two game visit to Springfield to see the WPBL in action, and two games in Kansas City. MIL gave us an historic shut out, a tornado warning, and a “throwing error” for the ages. On the way to Springfield we paid our respects to Rockford, the home of the Peaches, and future home of the IWBC. At the WPBL home base we saw Kelsie and Danae hit homers, Maybelle the mascot shaking her groove thing, and the very first manager ejection – Jemile Weeks of the Boston Hunters. Not sure what was slower, the umpires walk to the dugout to toss him, or his walk along the third base line out of the park. On to Kansas City for two games vs the Tigers where we learned the video board is stuck in 1992 (really? The kiss cam?), the scoreboard and fountains are glorious, the current ballpark is in the middle of nothing, and Pottymouth’s boyfriends can really hit some homers. Even though we could not see the Players Weekend bats and cleats, we were in the same ballpark as Carter Jensen’s cleats designed by kids staying at Children’s Mercy in KC, a hospital for pediatric cancer care.

The City Council just approved a public funding package for a new well-placed ballpark and we catch you up on the good, bad, and the ticked off voters. The reason for, and the highlight of our trip was a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, where Bob Kendrick, the very kind and immensely engaging president, gave us a tour for the ages. We cannot recommend the museum enough. Lastly, there’s a quick note of JJ’s cycle, and FIFA punishments of the Argentinian World Cup team.

We say, “You look glorious because you are wearing sparkles,” “the highway, two hotels, and a gas station,” and “Floofy? Froofy? It was just bad.” Fight the man, go see some live baseball, send your game balls to Meredith, and find us on Bluesky @ncibpodcast, on Facebook @nocryinginbball, Instagram @nocryinginbball and on the Interweb at nocryinginbball.com. Please take a moment to subscribe to the show, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to NCiB. Become a supporter at Patreon to help us keep doing what we do. We now have episode transcripts available! They are available for free at our Patreon site. Say goodnight, Pottymouth.