Clear the Field Podcast

Paul Jackson and Ted Walker
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Sports
  • Updated Biweekly

Clear the Field is a baseball history podcast about when the game goes sideways. From the sepia-toned malarky of the 19th century game to the psychedelic mayhem of the swingin’ 70s, these true stories of baseball’s forfeits, mad scientists, and general mayhem are brought to you by two writers, history nuts, and lifelong fans. www.project-318.com

  1. 2d ago

    Slap Hits: Week of September 15, 2026

    This Week’s Lineup: - Champagne problems in the locker room - Project Runway: Minor League Baseball - Tristan Peters’ 18-pitch at-bat and the White Sox’ “dumb stuff” - The Immaculate Inning and the Abhorrent Inning - Crochet ramping up; Needlepoint shut down for season - Building the lore of the new Women’s Pro Baseball League What’s This? Every few weeks in “Slap Hits,” Ted and I cover whatever has delighted us from present-day baseball (or sometimes things even further afield) in a lightning round. There will be news (of a kind), opinion, banter when we agree, and arguing when we don’t. We’re looking at items big and small, obscure or viral, we’re going quick, and we’re not stopping to fact-check. Got a Slap Hit? Send us an amusing, baseball adjacent item (interpretation is up to you) you’d like us to mention, bonus points for weird and obscure. Listen to a few episodes of “Slap Hits” and you’ll get the sense of what we like to cover, and it’s often things that don’t get covered elsewhere that delight us the most. If we use it, we’ll credit you for the submission during the show! Email tips and suggestions to clearthefieldpod@gmail.com or leave a comment on Substack or YouTube. Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

  2. Sep 9

    Slap Hits: Week of September 8, 2026

    This Week’s Lineup: - Why they sell a Cubs-themed parrot at Wrigley Field - Broadcast shenanigans in Houston - Recapping Pope Hat Night and tipping our mitres to the supreme homer - Brand-new old gloves - Travis Bazzana brings cricket into baseball—succeeds Support Us If you’re a fan of the podcast, nothing says it like becoming a paid subscriber at Project 3.18. Paid subscribers receive some special newsletter perks and help us build on what we’re doing with Clear the Field. You can also follow the show for free on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts Spotify RSS Give a Rating, Like, or Restack If you enjoyed an episode on a platform like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, can you give it a quick rating and let folks know? A 5-Star rating helps our podcast appear as suggested and helps people find us. Here on Substack, restacking an episode is one click that really helps us, so if you had fun, please click that button up there on the far right of the episode that has two circling arrows on it. Email If you have comments or details that add to our stories or ideas for future installments, send us an email at clearthefieldpod@gmail.com. Gentle corrections are also welcome. Warning: If a comment is particularly enlightening and/or funny, we might read it during a future episode. On Social Media Paul: Substack Instagram Facebook Ted: Substack Original Research and Writing: Paul Jackson Production and Music: Ted Walker Design: Ketaki Kulkarni Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

  3. Sep 3

    The Wrath of Philadelphia’s “Wolves”

    In the conclusion of our deep-dive into a rare baseball forfeit in 1949, an outraged crowd unleashes a veritable grocery store on three stoic umpires. Here’s the first part of the story, in case you need it: Episode Highlights: - The fiercest wolves in baseball - The difference between cute projectiles and ugly projectiles - One fan, one hundred glass bottles thrown - Ted gives this week’s baseball poetry reading - A forfeit swaps one kind of Phillies loss for another - The unsportsmanship of the malletheads - A mysterious orange mixture and ballpark concessions in the late 1940s Support Us If you’re a fan of the podcast, nothing says it like becoming a paid subscriber at Project 3.18. Paid subscribers receive some special newsletter perks and help us build on what we’re doing with Clear the Field. You can also follow the show for free on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts Spotify RSS Give a Rating, Like, or Restack If you enjoyed an episode on a platform like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, can you give it a quick rating and let folks know? A 5-Star rating helps our podcast appear as suggested and helps people find us. Here on Substack, restacking an episode is one click that really helps us, so if you had fun, please click that button up there on the far right of the episode that has two circling arrows on it. Email If you have comments or details that add to our stories or ideas for future installments, send us an email at clearthefieldpod@gmail.com. Gentle corrections are also welcome. Warning: If a comment is particularly enlightening and/or funny, we might read it during a future episode. On Social Media Paul: Substack Instagram Facebook Ted: Substack Original Research and Writing: Paul Jackson Production and Music: Ted Walker Design: Ketaki Kulkarni Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

  4. Aug 28

    The Pop Bottle Forfeit

    In 1949, a team of showboating umpires tangled with the last group of fans still being served (non-alcoholic) drinks in glass bottles. It didn’t end well. Episode Highlights: - The Philadelphia Phillies’ mid-life identity crisis - Three performative umpires - Ted tries to make “Pafko” happen - Shibe Park: No booze, but projectiles welcome - History repeats itself and Richie Ashburn lights a fire under the toughest crowd in sports We’ll be back next week with the conclusion, when the worked-up crowd causes enough chaos to drive at least one umpire into retirement and prompts some much-needed changes to beverage distribution procedures at Shibe Park. Support Us If you’re a fan of the podcast, nothing says it like becoming a paid subscriber at Project 3.18. Paid subscribers receive some special newsletter perks and help us build on what we’re doing with Clear the Field. You can also follow the show for free on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts Spotify RSS Give a Rating, Like, or Restack If you enjoyed an episode on a platform like YouTube or Apple Podcasts, follow/subscribe to the show, and if you really want to support our work, can you give it a quick rating and let folks know? A 5-Star rating helps our podcast appear as suggested and helps people find us. Email If you have comments or details that add to our stories or ideas for future installments, send us an email at clearthefieldpod@gmail.com. Gentle corrections are also welcome. Warning: If a comment is particularly enlightening and/or funny, we might read it during a future episode. On Social Media Paul: Substack Instagram Facebook Ted: Substack Original Research and Writing: Paul Jackson Production and Music: Ted Walker Design: Ketaki Kulkarni Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

  5. Aug 19

    Slap Hits: Week of August 18, 2026

    This Week’s Lineup: - A visit to the National Ballpark Museum in Denver - Keeping tabs on author Eric Nusbaum - Wrigley Field needs an F-16 rule - Cal Raleigh and Hack Wilson (Here’s an outstanding write-up of Hack Wilson, the good and the ugly, by writer Jacob Bielecki) - Shifts in starting pitching milestones. Who’s the next pitcher to throw 2,000 innings? Will anyone? - The Altoona Curve and a rabbit hole of train history - Old-school check-in featuring Jefry Yan, Davis Martin, and Sal Stewart What’s This? Every few weeks in “Slap Hits,” Ted and I cover whatever has delighted us from present-day baseball (or sometimes things even further afield) in a lightning round. There will be news (of a kind), opinion, banter when we agree, and arguing when we don’t. We’re looking at items big and small, obscure or viral, we’re going quick, and we’re not stopping to fact-check. Got a Slap Hit? Send us an amusing, baseball adjacent item (interpretation is up to you) you’d like us to mention, bonus points for weird and obscure. Listen to a few episodes of “Slap Hits” and you’ll get the sense of what we like to cover, and it’s often things that don’t get covered elsewhere that delight us the most. If we use it, we’ll credit you for the submission during the show! Email tips and suggestions to clearthefieldpod@gmail.com or leave a comment here on the episode. Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

  6. Jul 30

    Dave Winfield and the Ring-Billed Gull

    In 1983, Dave Winfield thought the bird would clear the field. It didn’t. Episode Highlights: - What’s a gull? Canada edition - Exhibition Stadium, scene of the crime (?) - Dave Winfield throws and a life is “pffft” out, but what really happened? - A Canadian Inspector Javert and his pinstriped Valjean - The Toronto justice system wakes up with a bevy of regrets - A forensic examination turns the case upside-down - Winfield makes amends and Toronto comes around on bird population control Support Us If you’re a fan of the podcast, nothing says it like becoming a paid subscriber at Project 3.18. Paid subscribers receive some special newsletter perks and help us build on what we’re doing with Clear the Field. You can also follow the show for free on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts Spotify RSS Give a Rating, Like, or Restack If you enjoyed an episode on a platform like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, can you give it a quick rating and let folks know? A 5-Star rating helps our podcast appear as suggested and helps people find us. Here on Substack, restacking an episode is one click that really helps us, so if you had fun, please click that button up there on the far right of the episode that has two circling arrows on it. Email If you have comments or details that add to our stories or ideas for future installments, send us an email at clearthefieldpod@gmail.com. Gentle corrections are also welcome. Warning: If a comment is particularly enlightening and/or funny, we might read it during a future episode. On Social Media Paul: Substack Instagram Facebook Ted: Substack Original Research and Writing: Paul Jackson Production and Music: Ted Walker Design: Ketaki Kulkarni Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 22

    Slap Hits: Week of July 21, 2026

    This Week’s Lineup: - Pete Crow-Amstrong’s Interview Range - Walker on Walker at the Home Run Derby - Muncy v. Muncy and a story of the time Connie Mack made his own pair of Socks - Chase DeLauter, mountain mama? - Marlins say “no-no” to Eury Perez’s perfecto What’s This? Every few weeks in “Slap Hits,” Ted and I cover whatever has delighted us from present-day baseball (or sometimes things even further afield) in a lightning round. There will be news (of a kind), opinion, banter when we agree, and arguing when we don’t. We’re looking at items big and small, obscure or viral, we’re going quick, and we’re not stopping to fact-check. Got a Slap Hit? Send us an amusing, baseball adjacent item (interpretation is up to you) you’d like us to mention, bonus points for weird and obscure. Listen to a few episodes of “Slap Hits” and you’ll get the sense of what we like to cover, and it’s often things that don’t get covered elsewhere that delight us the most. If we use it, we’ll credit you for the submission during the show! Email tips and suggestions to clearthefieldpod@gmail.com or leave a comment here on the episode. Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

  8. Jul 16

    Blackout Baseball

    In 1977, the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets were caught up in a catastrophic power outage that sent Fun City back to the Stone Age. Highlights: - A blowout at Indian Point plunges Shea Stadium (and New York) into darkness - Camaraderie lights up the town and the ballpark - Jane Jarvis’ musical comedy soothes the sweating masses - Ten minutes of phantom ball in the headlights - The Cubs’ weirdest night at the Waldorf - Scenes from New York’s darkest night - Sorry, America, no sports news today One More Thing: On the show, I told Ted that former New York mayor Abraham Beame would fit right in on The Simpsons, and I stand by it: Support Us If you’re a fan of the podcast, nothing says it like becoming a paid subscriber at Project 3.18. Paid subscribers receive some special newsletter perks and help us build on what we’re doing with Clear the Field. You can also follow the show for free on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts Spotify RSS Give a Rating, Like, or Restack If you enjoyed an episode on a platform like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, can you give it a quick rating and let folks know? A 5-Star rating helps our podcast appear as suggested and helps people find us. Here on Substack, restacking an episode is one click that really helps us, so if you had fun, please click that button up there on the far right of the episode that has two circling arrows on it. Email If you have comments or details that add to our stories or ideas for future installments, send us an email at clearthefieldpod@gmail.com. Gentle corrections are also welcome. Warning: If a comment is particularly enlightening and/or funny, we might read it during a future episode. On Social Media Paul: Substack Instagram Facebook Ted: Substack Original Research and Writing: Paul Jackson Production and Music: Ted Walker Design: Ketaki Kulkarni Get full access to Project 3.18 at www.project-318.com/subscribe

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5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Clear the Field is a baseball history podcast about when the game goes sideways. From the sepia-toned malarky of the 19th century game to the psychedelic mayhem of the swingin’ 70s, these true stories of baseball’s forfeits, mad scientists, and general mayhem are brought to you by two writers, history nuts, and lifelong fans. www.project-318.com

Information

  • Creator
    Paul Jackson and Ted Walker
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Paul Jackson
  • Show Website
    Clear the Field Podcast

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