Almost Cooperstown Gordon Kolier & Mark Kolier

2nd baseman Ryne Sandberg is deservedly in the Hall of Fame. So is Roberto Alomar.  On the other hand, Bobby Grich, Lou Whitaker, and Jeff Kent are not, and it's unlikely that Robinson Cano will ever make it for off-the-field reasons.  Chase Utley has a chance, and Jose Altuve is on track. 

We compared all of these players stats and careers and it's amazing how much alike their careers were or have been so far.  Only 20 2B have ever been elected to the HOF.  

Gordon makes a great point that the historical HOF era committees should vote more regularly than every few years. 

Chase Utley did not play his entire career with the Phillies as he played four different seasons for the Dodgers.  

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!  And please tell your friends. 
 
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Braves Max Fried had gotten off to a spotty start to his season but his 92 pitch shutout in an hour and 54 minutes vs. the Marlins announced he's just fine.  Shohei Othani has 17 doubles already which is on pace for an all-time record.

How about Elly De La Cruz?  1.7 bWAR in a month. If he keeps up what he's done in April he will have a bWAR more than 10 and 100+ stolen bases.

The Guardians and Brewers continue to surprise, the Braves and Dodgers not so much. The Astros are facing a critical upcoming week vs. Cleveland and 1st place Seattle.

Watch this episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/NE5G28PYIls

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!  And please tell your friends. 



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58 of the 273 (21%) players elected to the Hall of Fame played only for one franchise.  As Gordon pointed out, before baseball had free agency players did not move around nearly as much not because they didn't want to but because they were not allowed to!

We talk about the only set of teammates that were elected to the HOF in the same year. There are 9 teams that lack a one team Hall of Famer. That number will drop to 8 once #Twins Joe Mauer is inducted this July.

There are plenty. of Hall of Famers who didn't quite make the one team idea. Players like Ron Santo who played his entire career with the Cubs until he went crosstown for his last season to play for the rival White Sox.

Pie Traynor has 2,416 career hits not more than 3,400. 

Watch this episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/snUQMLsQS1I

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!  And please tell your friends. 
www.almostcooperstown.com

The Angels were 9-9 for a moment this week with Mike Trout leading the way.  Could they possibly make the playoffs? Then they proceeded to lose 3 straight.  Same old.  AL West is a dogfight even with the Astros still mired in last place.

The Twins have been having trouble scoring. They could use a good week coming up as the Guardians are sailing even without Shane Bieber and can that last?  Royals hanging tough but the Tigers are treading water.  Yankees without Gerritt Cole are neck and neck with the Orioles in a tight division that has all 5 teams over .500.  32-year old Cam Booser (pictured) made his MLB debut for the Red Sox and it's quite a story. 

The Mets have won a lot lately but have gained no ground on the Braves and Phillies who've been equally as good.  The Nationals are better than the Marlins which we did not expect. Brewers and Cubs at the top of the NL Central and this could get interesting. Pirates sliding back a bit and the Reds have steadied and are poised. The Cardinals are bumping along but are not far behind. 

Is there anything wrong with the Dodgers?  Watching the top three hitters Betts, Ohtani, and. Freeman is a treat. Even Will Smith is a force. But the rest of the lineup has been bad to awful. The Diamondbacks, Padres, and Giants are all close in talent as well as the standings. The Rockies are happy the Marlins play in the NL since some of the negative attention is deflected to Miami.
 
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FEO3JOeMyyM

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!
www.almostcooperstown.com

Having a discussion around MLB player union issues can easily make your eyes roll. So we sprinkled in a little Scott Boras since he's one guy everyone loves to hate.  Except for his clients of course.  When MLB brought in the MiLB players into the union 2 years ago it went kind of quietly but it's no small deal. 

Rumors of mutiny within the MLBPA have come around Harry Marino who's been termed an 'insurgent lawyer' looking to rankle players into thinking about what Tony Clark and his office has done for them. Or not done. Is it time for a change? 

We talk a little about the history of baseball player unionization which goes back as far as 1885 and Hall of Famer, John Montgomery Ward.  They even discussed salary caps in 1885. 

Watch this episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/yYFZ-qm4yvo

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!


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Are the Pirates and Royals for real? Both teams have gotten off to great starts but we've seen it before.  We're at nearly 10% of the 2024 season has been played and there are a bunch of things that are happening as predicted. But not everything!

Shohei Ohtani is great as is Juan Soto. The Dodgers are good. So are the Yankees and Braves.  But those teams have issues as all teams do.  Just think in 3 weeks we will be 25% through the season and perhaps by then the surprise teams will have shown they might hang around and not be the 2023 Pirates.

Injuries continue to play a big part and there's no sign that an increase in injured arms for pitchers are going away.  Games have been a little slower, hitting is down and strangely steals are too,  But it's SO early. 

George Springer will turn 35 this season.

Watch this episode on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/jkUTc8tqEsg

Intro & Outro music this season courtesy of Mercury Maid! Check them out on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Please subscribe to our podcast and thanks for listening! If you have a suggestion for an episode please drop us a line via email at Almostcooperstown@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter/X @almostcoop or visit the Almost Cooperstown Facebook page or YouTube channel.  If you can please give the podcast 4 or 5 star rating!


www.almostcooperstown.com