Sean and Eds welcome friend and teammate Matt Marchese (host/producer at Sportsnet 590 The Fan & writer for Sportsnet) to the podcast as Eds stumbles upon another story; this time with a local twist. A tale from the nebulous depths of baseball history that tells how the meteoric rise of a man who shovelled his way to the major leagues from the train yards to the ball fields was ultimately stymied in a surprisingly spectacular fashion.

Sean and Eds Do Baseball

47 Len Koenecke

Sean gets back in the box with a story for Eds that touches base with several previous episodes of Sean and Eds Do Baseball. Cliff Carroll, close friend and fellow saloon master to Old Hoss Radbourn was a man whose antics off the field landed him in some hot water and his play on it may or may not have been responsible for the continuous debate around small ball. 

46 Cliff Carroll

Eds returns to the mic to tell Sean a tale that rivals his account of Oyster Burns, but not because this man was an abrasive human being and not because he had a peculiar nickname. In a story plucked from relative obscurity, Eds recounts the rather pedestrian career of Clarence "Climax" Blethen; a pitcher who left Maine for a 20 year career in the minor leagues. He had a few cups of coffee in the big leagues that amounted to not much but he bit into history with a single play in 1933.

45 Climax Blethen

Sean goes back to back and tells Eds about one of the wildest practical jokes in the history of the game. The story revolves around Ruth Law; a trailblazing pilot who set records and risked her life advancing flying technology but most importantly - to us at least - took part in a stunt that changed baseball history.

44 Ruth Law: Legend of the Grapefruit League

In this episode Sean goes way back to tell Eds the story of one of the most feared power hitters of the 1890’s and by all accounts one of the biggest loudmouths to ever play the game. Tom ‘Oyster’ Burns was a pitcher, a hitter, a leader and an idiot. His reputation may have shortened his career and his actions one day in 1893 almost cost a teammate his life (or at least his leg).

43 Oyster Burns

Eds continues with Part 2 of his telling of the tale of a man who baseball tried but ultimately failed to ostracize, Bill Veeck. We pick up the story again as Bill realizes his defeat in St Louis and attempts to leave town with the Browns, but the baseball establishment let Veeck know their true feelings for him when they forced him to part with his team. But he knew of no other life and he would be "back beneath the arc lights" before too long in his sweet home Chicago where not even another brush with death could keep him out of the owners box. 

42 Bill Veeck Pt2

Eds tells Sean part 1 of 2 to the tale of the man who was one of the few people in the world of baseball who could hold a candle the eccentricity of Charles Finley. William Louis Veeck Jr. was destined for a life in baseball spending his early days working the concession stands of Wrigley Field, and then the next 6 decades in and out of the owners boxes of 4 different franchise at 5 separate times. In that time Veeck set attendance records across the league, changed the world of baseball promotion, and in the end was ostracized for it.

41 Bill Veeck Pt 1

Sean tells Ed’s the story of All-Star closer Ugueth ‘Uggie’ Urbina. From his time as a rising prospect with the Expos to a World Series champion, Uggie was an elite pitcher. But after the highs came the lows. A story that goes off the track quickly and involves guns, kidnapping, torture and of course, baseball.

40 Ugueth Urbina

Eds turns over a new leaf with this tale and despite Sean's disbelief announces a new found soft spot for Yankee pinstripes. And it's all because of one man's courage to speak his mind and stick to his guns despite an attempted gagging by the baseball establishment. In the first of a likely series of episodes Eds tells Sean about the working class hero Jim Bouton, and the Bulldog attitude that kept him in the sports fan's psyche long after he left the mound.

39 Jim Bouton

In this episode Sean goes outside the foul line (or should we say fowl line) as he regales Eds with the story of Ted Giannoulas. A man who as fate would have it ended up dressed as a chicken and became the unofficial mascot of the San Diego Padres. Transforming mascots and sports entertainment as we know it.

38 The San Diego Chicken

In a short but sweet episode Eds tell Sean the tale of a young man that rose through the ranks of the Oakland A's front office starting at the tender age of 9, and whose baseball connections helped him become a household name.

37 Stanley Kirk Burrell

Sean tells the tale of another trailblazing umpire, and for the first time Eds sees it coming. In an episode which came so close that it actually crossed path's with the previous story, Sean shares the life of Emmett Ashford, a tenacious man who dug in against the adversity of the day and remained true to himself despite the resistance to his energetic style to take the American League by storm.

36 Emmet Ashford

Eds gets back on track with a story for Sean about a man of great baseball ambitions and who wouldn't take no for an answer. Bob Motley escaped the perilous grip of discrimination in the Jim Crow South and found himself on the battlefields of Japan where a mishap took him surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) to a place behind the battery and cemented into history forever. 

35 Bob Motley

Sean carries on telling Eds the exciting conclusion to the tale of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listen up to hear more about the hardships faced by the brave women of the league, their booming success through the post war years, and their eventual descent into relative obscurity, but most importantly how their time together on the diamond inspired them to make better lives for themselves. 

34 All American Girls Pt2 - The Post-War Years

Tune in as Sean tells the true story behind The All American Girls Professional Baseball League - most well known from the classic baseball movie "A League of Their Own.” It's the tale of an America on the brink of war. A time when women were forced to take on the task thought to be impossible at the time, replacing the men- at home, at work, and even on the ball field. Listen in to hear about the ludicrous rules imposed on these talented women, who despite some ill conceived notions of the patriarchy, rose to the occasion and entertained the masses.

33 All American Girls - The War Years

Sean and Eds Do Baseball is a podcast where two friends take turns telling each other a story from baseball history.

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Sean and Eds Do Baseball

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