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Longtime friend of the podcast, fellow baseball fan extraordinaire, and "Baseball Twitter" personality Cullen Chapron @CChapro832 discusses baseball, the "NEPTA dashboard", and many other interesting baseball topics with Russell. A must-listen episode!  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Attorney and baseball fan  extraordinaire Russell Christian breaks down the 2026 Baseball Writers Association of America Ballot which elected 2 members to the Hall of Fame - Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones! How did the other players on the ballot fare? What does next year's ballot look like? Listen for details! Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Critically acclaimed singer songwriter, painter, novelist, and fellow baseball fan extraordinaire Dan Bern returns to the podcast to discuss the 2026 BBWAA Ballot with Russell!  Dan’s songs have appeared in numerous films (“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” “Get Him to the Greek” “The Bubble” “Zero Effect”) and TV shows (Amazon Prime’s award-winning kids program “The Stinky & Dirty Show”).  An avid baseball fan, Dan has released numerous songs about baseball including his albums "Doubleheader", "Rivalry", and his collection "Songs for Mr. Tony".  For more information go to: https://danbern.bandcamp.com and https://danbern.com Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Russell breaks down the 2026 Baseball Writer's Association of America Ballot, giving his "yes/no" votes on EVERY player and predicting who he thinks will be enshrined into Cooperstown this year.  If you're a voting member of the BBWAA you don't want to miss this episode, and if you're a fan of the Baseball Hall of Fame listen for your enjoyment! Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Russell recaps the 2025 Contemporary Era Ballot vote and discusses what the future brings for the fan movement to induct Dale Murphy into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

The 2025 Contemporary Era Ballot includes 8 players: -Barry Bonds -Roger Clemens -Carlos Delgado -Jeff Kent -Don Mattingly -Dale Murphy -Gary Sheffield -Fernando Valenzuela Russell makes the case for all 8 players and discusses "The Faces of 1980's Baseball". Will this FINALLY be the year Dale Murphy makes the Hall of Fame?  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

During his prime years of 1992-1999 Kenny Lofton was one of the top leadoff hitters and defensive centerfielders in baseball. The speedster retired in 2007 after 17 MLB seasons with a 68.4 bWAR, 1528 runs and 622 stolen bases.  Does Kenny Lofton deserve a spot in Cooperstown?   Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Ted Knorr has been a member of SABR since 1979, has attended over 60 SABR conferences, and started Negro League Commemorative Nights in Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York, Pennsylvania. In 1997 he founded SABR’s Negro League Conference, now called the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference. A lifelong trivia fan he chased the SABR Conferences team trivia title starting in 1984 and finally won the title in 2022. He also won the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference title in 2009, the only person in SABR to have won both! Ted recently attended this year’s Jerry Malloy Conference, his 25th such conference. Ted discuss the HOF case for Rap Dixon, who started his career with the Harrisburg Giants in 1924 and played for 12 years, retiring with a career .336 batting average and .969 OPS. His best season was 1928 with the Baltimore Black Sox when he led the league in WAR, Games played, hits, triples, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, walks, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases.  Rap is one of many players from the Negro Leagues who deserve a plaque in Cooperstown!  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

George Van Haltren played between 1887 and 1903, retiring with a .316 batting average, 1642 runs, 2544 hits, and 583 stolen bases. He is is 1 of only 5 players with 1600+ runs, 550+ steals and a career .300+ avg. The other 4 are HOFers Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, and Billy Hamilton.   Additionally, "Rip" (as he was known) was perhaps the original dual threat player, and retired with a pitching record of 40-31 with a 4.05 ERA and 281 strikeouts.  He had what can be considered two successful "two-way" seasons long before Shohei Ohtani made it seem so easy. In 1888 Rip went 13-13 with a 3.52 ERA and 139 K’s while batting .283 with 14 triples and 21 stolen bases. In 1890 he went 15-10 with a 4.28 ERA, 48 K's, and batted .335 with 84 runs, 9 triples, 54 RBI and 35 stolen bases.  Rip had 11 seasons with 100+ runs tied for 4th best all-time. At the time of his retirement he was in the top 10 all-time in hits, stolen bases, runs, and walks. But the first Hall of Fame class was not until 1936 and Rip's career has been lost in the sands of time. Will he ever make a HOF ballot and have his long overdue induction day in the July Cooperstown sun?  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Attorney and baseball fan Paul Lesko aka "The Hobby Lawyer" has litigated intellectual property and class action lawsuits for over 25 years. With a background in the biochemical sciences, Paul is no stranger to litigating cases involving complex technologies. Also known as “The Hobby Litigator”, he's taken on IP issues involving athletes, artists, sports teams, memorabilia, and even trading cards. Paul is also frequently quoted in the press not only on his cases, but for legal issues in the sports memorabilia and trading card industry. Paul and Russell talk the law, baseball, intellectual property and so much more! Fore more information go to: https://leskolawllc.com/ Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Pitcher Darren O'Day spent 15 years in Major League Baseball, mostly in a bullpen role. As such Darren doesn't have the necessary Wins and/or Saves totals that most Hall of Fame candidates possess. Nevertheless, Darren put together a very impressive career! In 609 innings Darren struck out 637 batters, allowed 458 hits and only 175 runs for a 2.59 ERA and a 167 ERA+.  Although a small sample size, (Baseball Reference does not "count" pitchers with less than 1000 innings pitched on all-time leaderboards for various stats) Darren's career ERA of 2.59 is still better than many Hall of Famers including Cy Young himself. If Darren's adjusted ERA+ of 167 were to remain through 1000 innings it would the second best all-time behind Mariano Rivera.  Is this enough to warrant induction into Cooperstown? Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Russell reflects on the life and legacy of Dave "The Cobra" Parker  (June 9, 1951 – June 28, 2025).  A member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 Dave is 1 of only 5 players in MLB history with 2700+ hits, 300+ home runs, 150+ stolen bases, 75+ triples, and a career BA of .290 or higher. During his career 7 time All-Star Parker won the 1978 NL MVP, the 1979 All-Star Game MVP, the 1979 and 1989 World Series, 3 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers, and 2 batting titles.  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Graig Kreindler is "The Painter of the National Pastime" whose baseball paintings have been featured in numerous museums and news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, Fox News, and the New York Times.  Rap icon Chuck D (himself an accomplished painter) says that Graig is "a time machine" who "puts you right there with the Cracker Jack and Beer".  Graig's paintings bring to life bygone eras of baseball including the 19th century, the deadball era, the Negro Leagues and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.  Graig and Russell discuss his paintings, baseball history, and much more! For more information or to commission a painting go to www.graigkreindler.com.  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and "baseball’s troubadour poet laureate” Chuck Brodsky joins Russell to talk about his baseball songs. Larry Groce of NPR called Chuck “one of the finest singer-songwriters in America” and the New York Times said that Chuck’s music “will appeal to everyone who likes their music with a side of thought”. Chuck is himself an inductee into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and 18 of his songs have been enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s sound recording library.  Chuck and Russell discuss many of Chuck's songs including "Letters in the Dirt" about 2025 HOF inductee Dick Allen. For more info on Chuck Brodsky visit www.chuckbrodsky.com  Text me your thoughts on this episode!

Jesse Orosco pitched 24 years in Major League Baseball and is the all-time career leader in games played for a pitcher with 1252. A hero of the 1986 Jesse earned 3 wins in 4 games during the 1986 NLCS and 2 saves in the 1986 World Series, including the iconic final out for the World Champion New York Mets.  Jesse and Omar Vizquel (SS) are the only two players to hold the career games played mark for their positions who are NOT in the HOF. Jesse also has some (but not other) career stats that compare favorably with the greatest reliever of all-time Mariano Rivera.  Are Jesse's career stats, hardware, and fame fame factor enough to warrant induction in Cooperstown? Listen to Russell as he makes the case! Text me your thoughts on this episode!