Two Strike Noise - A Baseball History Podcast

Tony Mullane hurt his right arm in a distance-throwing contest, taught himself to throw left-handed, and on July 18, 1882, became the first pitcher in Major League history to throw with both arms in the same game. Two months later he threw the first no-hitter in American Association history, a game that also featured Pete Browning getting called out as an illegal baserunner after forgetting he had a pinch runner. Jeff follows "The ...

Red Ruffing started work 600 feet underground in an Illinois coal mine at 13, lost four toes in a coupling accident at 15, and turned to pitching because he could no longer run. He went 39-96 for a Red Sox team that finished last in each of his five full seasons there, then was traded to the Yankees in 1930 for Cedric Durst and cash and became the ace Joe McCarthy trusted to start Game 1 of six World Series. Mark tells the story of...

It's another Tales From the Dugout episode, and this one's got range: an 1886 outfielder attacked by a dog mid-play who later invented the rain tarp, Ernest Hemingway getting thoroughly beaten up by a Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher during a drunken boxing match at his own house, a "record" of eight stolen bases in a single inning that almost certainly wasn't real, and a top closer who retired from baseball to become an real-life Indiana ...

In 190, the Philadelphia Athletics were bursting out of tiny Columbia Park — so owner Ben Shibe built the first concrete-and-steel ballpark in Major League history. But on Shibe Park's opening day in 1909, catcher Doc Powers collapsed with mysterious abdominal pain and was dead two weeks later. Jeff and Mark dig into the real medical story behind his death, bust the myths that have followed him for over a century, and trace S...

This week on Two Strike Noise, Jeff and Mark open the show with a tribute to Butch Huskey, the former Met and Mariner who passed away recently. From there, the guys warm up with some batting practice covering Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley's appearance at Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, complete with a camcorder that almost certainly lacked the express written consent of Major League Baseball. They also dig into the surprising s...

The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords won the Negro National League championship with four future Hall of Famers on the roster — and their most famous player never put on the uniform all season. Jeff traces how numbers-racket money built a dynasty, why Satchel Paige spent the year pitching in Bismarck, North Dakota instead of Pittsburgh, and how a seven-game series against a first-year New York Cubans franchise came down to a 0-for-1...

Before he was a two-time World Series champion and four-time All-Star, Pepper Martin was jumping freight trains to spring training to save a dime. After he retired, he was choking out an umpire in Havana. In between: smoke bombs disguised as a fire emergency, a painting crew that wasn't hired to paint, a hospital room cowboy band concert nobody asked for, a stint running an Oklahoma City hockey team, and a batting line across two W...

Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, joins Two Strike Noise to talk about the museum's $50+ million capital campaign to build a new 30,000-square-foot facility and Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center in Kansas City. From there the conversation covers the story of Branch Rickey's real first choice to break the color line, why Kansas City Monarchs owner J.L. Wilkinson never saw a dime for Jackie Robinso...

A catcher catches a baseball dropped from a blimp and ruins his face in the process, and Jeff and Mark draft baseball players named after months, days, and holidays. Also: the answer to last week's puzzle — how many hits can a team get in one inning without scoring a run?

Also in this episode: A Rickey Henderson story from spring training with the Padres. The universal DH debate. The last time a pitcher stole a base in the Am...

Rabbit Maranville spent 23 seasons in the National League, holds the all-time putouts record at shortstop, and has been in the Baseball Hall of Fame since 1954. He also faked his own death, got dangled out of a 14th floor hotel window by Jim Thorpe, and dove headfirst through a moving subway car. Jeff makes the case that Rabbit belongs in one Hall of Fame — just not the one in Cooperstown.

Also in this episode: A minor league...

Jeff and Mark open with light banter before diving into baseball odds and ends, including Aroldis Chapman’s “yes hitter” outing, the show’s odd placement on Red Sox and funny history podcast lists, and White Sox reliever Mike Vassal’s Harry Potter wand-and-hat home run celebration. They share Mets-themed items, from a velvet/velour Mets sweatsuit to the Brooklyn Cyclones’ King of Queens bobblehea...

On this episode of Two Strike Noise, Jeff and Mark cover recent baseball chatter (Jazz Chisholm borrowing gear, a new baseball rom-com, and the 1986 Wally Joyner knife incident) before welcoming Baseball-Reference’s Adam Darowski for a deep dive on Julio Franco, from his Dominican upbringing and Phillies signing through stints with Cleveland, Texas, the White Sox, and extensive play in Japan, Mexico, Korea, and back in MLB wi...

On May 17, 1998, David Wells showed up to Yankee Stadium having slept maybe two and a half hours, running on coffee, a single pancake, and whatever was left of Saturday night. He then threw the 15th perfect game in Major League Baseball history in front of 49,820 people who were mostly there for a Beanie Baby. That's the story this week.

We go deep on the whole thing — the legendary SNL after-party that didn't happen, the cas...

The mailbag delivers. Listener emails this week include a baseball honeymoon, a Jeopardy-funded wedding (not a typo), and a fan who shipped over APBA game materials and a stack of 1972 Topps cards. That last one matters by the end of the episode.

In BP, Jeff and Mark work ...

Jeff and Mark return and open with BP topics including Bobby Witt Jr.’s inside-the-park homer and a minor-league inside-the-park home run created when a fielder slid on a ball and unknowingly plugged it under the turf. They discuss Cal Raleigh ending an 0-for-38 slump by showering in full uniform, then going on the IL, and debate complaints about constant in-stadium audio at Yankee Stadium, including claims Aaron Judge wants ...

Jeff and Mark kick off their opening day episode of Two Strike Noise by mocking the Giants’ version of the viral 9-9-9 challenge (mini hot dogs and one beer split into flight glasses) and complaining about MLB games being scattered across too many streaming platforms. They share quirky baseball items and stories, including a Royals rookie oversleeping, an MLB/Mountain Dew promo tied to 420-foot homers, Rays jerseys containing...

Jeff and Mark open discussing Hideki Matsui’s scheduled lecture at the Japan Society of Fertilization and Implantation and how he became an ‘expert’ on the subject. They review minor-league rule experiments, including moving second base again, check-swing challenges, limiting batter timeouts, counting PitchCom issues as mound visits, reducing disengagements, and allowing starters to re-enter, plus a DH-related ide...

Jeff and Mark open this week’s episode with some unique baseball history notes, including Andre Dawson’s Hall of Fame plaque, Ramon Laureano’s scratched spring start due to his new best boy, a forgotten Jay Johnstone’s prank, a “Very Reverend” arrested for stealing baseball card packs, and the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp using “Honey Drippers” as an alternate identity. The main story sp...

Jeff and Mark open with BP updates including Ben Davis cutting his kneecap to the bone with a chainsaw and Matt Waldron being hospitalized after hemorrhoid surgery, plus an immaculate-grid note that Josh Gibson pitched once and Cool Papa Bell pitched extensively with a winning record. They discuss Mets pitcher Ryan Lambert boosting velocity by eating up to 30 raw eggs a day and debate how baseball phrases dominate everyday language...