Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast: Recent Episodes
Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast
Hosts Jed Rigney and Jon Sumple take an offbeat look at the world of baseball. Jon is a veteran writer currently involved in a love affair with the English language. Jed is an award-winning filmmaker who fancies himself a baseball writer.
Episode 14 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast opens up with a discussion about Jed Rigney's first experience with an almost-blizzard named Stella and Jon Sumple's friends and family who were blanketed by the storm that avoided Jed and New York City. Good times. The guys discuss the World Baseball Classic and how it has a long way to go before it feels world-worthy like the Word Cup, Pedro Alvarez and his minor-league deal (what's going on with big bats these days?) and how the Rockies could have used Alvarez a few days later when Ian Desmond broke his hand, Kris Bryant setting the record for a second-year service contract (and a tangent about football and baseball player contracts), the Phillies trading for ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte and what it might happen when he faces a switch-hitter, Yankees' prospect Clint Frazier and his haircut (because "Yankees"), Manny Ramirez and the sushi clause in his Japan contract, and Jose Reyes' ongoing woes as a horrible father and husband. This week's "Starting Nine" is a salute to the WBC with players names that sound like or could be associated with geographical places (it's good), followed by a deep dive into the NL East Projections and why the Nationals should breeze, the Mets could fall, the Marlins recovery from Jose Fernandez and the Braves and Phillies rising from the ashes. The show ends with an accelerated "Extra Innings" on March Madness, Brock Osweiler's banishment to Cleveland, the Kyle Busch- Joey Logano dustup and why it's good for NASCAR, and the budding romance between Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez.
Episode 14 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast kicks off with the bit about not having a bit, which may become a standing bit for times when co-host Jed Rigney has no bit prepared for the big segment. Jed's counterpart, Jon Sumple, struggles through his second cold in seven weeks as the two banter about David Price and his lucky elbow, which appears to magically heal itself; Rob Manfred's crazy notion that reducing commercial breaks might actually fly; MLB approving the use of on-field biometric monitoring; MLB leveraging its success with Star Wars themed nights at the ballpark by having Game of Thrones nights in 2017; chemically treated balls and their effect on one's grip; and David Ross's retirement party continuing as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.
Jed turns the new Republican healthcare plan into the best Starting Nine yet featuring players with names that resemble body parts -- yes, it's a stretch and worth listening to how he arrived there. This week's preseason preview focuses on the AL East -- or AL Most, in Jed's opinion -- and there is much pontificating about who will rise to the top and who will fall to the bottom and who will be middling, but the Red Sox are the team to beat.
In Extra Innings, we take a look outside of the baseball world and talk about Tony Romo; Khabib Nurmagomedov (go ahead and try to pronounce that correctly -- thanks, Jed!); Adele's pending nuptials and her most successful album yet to come: The Divorce Album; and last but not least the importance of having a day to celebrate international women. Enjoy!
On episode 13 of Foul Territory: A Baseball Podcast, Jed and Jon talk spring training baseball, brought to you by our sponsor "Spring Training Baseball." We also dive into the Yankees spat between Randy Levine and Dellin Betances, discuss the retirement of 4 umpires that nobody know unless you know them for the wrong reasons, the celebrity of Tim Tebow and his spring training debut, former NFL Chiefs player Sanders Commings signing with the Braves (and why he and Ryan Goins should have podcast called "Commings & Goins"), the Cubs announcing Kyle Schwarber as their lead-off hitter, and Facebook's streaming of MLB games. Jed shares his "Starting Nine" players with movie star names in honor of the Oscars followed by an NL West Preview, complete with banter about teams in the NL West. As usual, this week's episode ends with "Extra Innings," a look outside the world of baseball, featuring discussions on the Daytona 500 and the appeal of pileups, Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles coming to an NFL team near you, Oscars big fail, Rapper Fat Joe losing 100 pounds and whether he'll change his name to Hungry Joe, and, finally, magician Daryl Easton being found dead at Hollywood's Magic Castle.