The Pirates proved themselves the best team in baseball in 1971, winning the NL East, the pennant, and the World Series against the Orioles. But they are celebrated these days for another accomplishment, fielding the first all-black and brown lineup in baseball history 55 years ago this week against the Phillies. It was an accidental accomplishment, the result not of social engineering, but of good scouting and good organizational philosophy, and was one of the reasons this team was so great. Mike and Bill look back on this charismatic club, their championship season, and the game that should not overshadow just how incredible they were. Plus, happy birthday to William Bell and Johnny Lindell! And farewell to Phil Regan and Gil Blanco.

Editor's Note: Bill's audio goes crazy about two-thirds of the way into this episode. We have cleaned it up as much as we're able and apologize in advance. When Tom Yawkey signed his name to the MacPhail Report, delivered 80 years ago this week to new Commissioner Happy Chandler and which argued against integration, he cemented his reputation as one of baseball's hardline racists and helped direct the Red Sox down the path toward a decade and a half of mediocrity and an eternity of shame as the final team to roster a black ballplayer. On this disappointing anniversary, Mike and Bill look back at the history of Red Sox ownership and examine how Yawkey went from being the franchise's savior to one of its biggest liabilities, and the other characters who thought owning a team in Beantown would be a good idea. Plus, happy birthday to Lonnie Frey and Tim Salmon! And farewell to Al Holland and Darrell Jackson.

Mike is still on vacation this week, so Bill talks to two of our friends who also presented really interesting information at the most recent SABR convention: Adam Daroski, on his quest to identify members of the elusive 400-win club, and Dan Cichalski, on Bruce Springsteen and whether or not you can call a fastball a "speedball" and still know ball (you can). 

With Mike away, cruising around the Pacific Northwest, the podcast is on the briefest of hiatuses. But all of baseball was on hiatus until this week, 45 years ago, when the owners and the players finally agreed to resume the 1981 season after missing almost 40 percent of the regular season. Mike and Bill look at the reasons behind the strike, who was at fault, how it got resolved, what effect it had on a deeply weird season, and the uncanny parallels to 2020, when they originally recorded this episode. Plus, happy birthday to Tommie Agee and Bill Monbouquette!  

Today, you can follow baseball on the radio, tv, laptops and phones. But that wasn't the case until 105 years ago this week, when the Pirates and Phillies game was sent out over the airwaves to the greater Pittsburgh area. It was the start of a surprisingly slow process that brought us to where we are today due to the owners' intransigence. In honor of this anniversary, Mike and Bill look back at the various ways that baseball broadcasting has changed over the years, from the telegraph to streaming. Plus, happy birthday to Dolf Luque and Red Ames! And farewell to Al Closter, Al Worthington, Ossie Blanco and Derrell Griffith.

With Mike and Bill at the 2026 SABR convention this week, they're reaching into the past to pull out one of their favorite SABR memories, when they got to speak to the great Mike Veeck, with their good friend, Mike Duncan. This was a special epsiode. Mike Veeck is, of course, the son of Bill Veeck, owner of the St. Paul Saints and Charleston River Dogs, business doer, book writer, fun haver, and family man. And there is a fantastic documentary about him and his family on Netflix, The Saint of Second Chances. But, before you watch that, listen to him here as he talks about his amazing life and career in baseball.

Though not talked about much today, there was a time when Joe Medwick seemed like he might become an inner circle Hall of Famer. And never more than 90 years ago this week, when he collected 10 straight hits over the course of three games. Mike and Bill look back at the man they called Ducky (very much against his wishes), and are surprised by his rapid decline after turning himself into one of the most dominant players in the game's history. Plus, happy birthday to Bob Meusel and Denis Menke! And farewell to Eddie Haas and Bob Lacey.

Beat writers and ballplayers have all the best stories, but it's the writers who tell them best. Mike and Bill are reminded of that this week when they talk with legendary Rangers beat writer T.R. Sullivan about his fantastic new memoir, The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer's Thirty-Two Years in Arlington about his time covering the ballclub from 1989 through the 2020. T.R.'s candid and funny and his memory for details is incredible almost four decades after getting his start. You're gonna love this. Plus, happy birthday to Johnny Wyrostek! And farewell to Charlie Moore and Mark Bailey.

With Bill still on the mend this week, we're happy to revisit the crazily still relevent story of how and why Arky Vaughn walked away from baseball for three years. Vaughan was one of the most underappreciated superstars in history until his reputation was restored by Bill James. His disappearance has always been linked with an attempted players' strike with the Dodgers in 1943 that occurred 83 years ago this week. But that's not the whole story, as Mike and Bill discovered in talking to Steven Goldman, of Baseball Prospectus and The Infinite Inning. Plus, happy birthday to Tim Teufel and Willie Wilson!

Some stories are just to strange to be fiction, and that was the case 100 years ago LAST week when Sister Aimee McPherson held an impromptu rivival at the ballpark in Douglas, Arizona, days after her miraculous reappearance following six weeks of...something. Was she kidnapped? Did she run away? Was she just really, really lost? With Bill out recovering from surgery, our buddy Jacob Pomrenke joins us this week to talk about his recent article about McPherson's disappearance and reemergence, and how Hal Chase and the Black Sox of all people wound up wrapped up in the scandal. Plus, happy birthday to Chris Speier! And farewell to Buzz Capra and Mike Johnson.