Two Strike Noise - A Baseball History Podcast

Jeff and Mark wrap up the 2026 World Series and congratulate the Milwaukee Brewers on their first championship. Mark tells the story of Johnny Cooney. Before he signed a pro contract, Cooney threw a perfect game in a Connecticut industrial league hours after his train hit a car and killed four people. A Red Sox deal fell apart because his manager wouldn’t accept a check. He won 14 games for the Boston Braves, then had 13 pieces of bone removed from his left elbow, which left his pitching arm shorter than his other arm. Casey Stengel rebuilt him as an outfielder, and Cooney returned to the majors at 34. He hit .318 and .319 at ages 39 and 40, hit his only two career home runs on back-to-back days at the Polo Grounds, and umpired part of a game when the regular crew was fogged in on Cape Cod. The guys also explain Branch Rickey’s “coconut snatcher” term and compare Cooney’s pitcher-to-outfielder path with Rick Ankiel’s. Also in this episode: the Rays radio call of the Game 4 extra-innings finish, the check swing strike that ended Game 3, and Kenny Albert filling in for Joe Davis in the middle of colonoscopy prep. MLB is testing restricted outfield positioning in the Arizona Fall League, and Jeff looks at batting averages and stolen bases before and after the shift ban and the bigger bases. Moving the mound back comes up as an alternative. With a lockout looming, Sonny Gray and Nick Martinez become free agents, and the guys consider whether the Mexican League could land MLB players during a work stoppage. Jeff gives the answer to the trivia question on teams that have played in the World Series as both an AL and NL club. Wax Pack Heroes plays its own fall league with 1999 Upper Deck cans and tests three listener-inspired rules. Topics: Johnny Cooney, Boston Braves history, Casey Stengel, pitcher turned outfielder, Johnny Cooney perfect game, Willimantic American Thread industrial league, Ed Barrow Red Sox, Paul Krichell, hesitation pitch, Van Lingle Mungo, Leo Durocher trade, Boston Bees, Polo Grounds home runs, player umpire 1941, Branch Rickey coconut snatcher, Tommy Lasorda The Artful Dodger, Rick Ankiel, 2026 World Series, Milwaukee Brewers champions, Tampa Bay Rays, Chandler Simpson, Kenny Albert colonoscopy, Joe Davis, Arizona Fall League rule test, outfield shift restrictions, infield shift ban, MLB batting average, bigger bases stolen bases, pickoff limits, ABS check swing, moving the pitching mound back, MLB lockout 2026, Sonny Gray, Nick Martinez, Mexican League, Houston Astros AL and NL World Series, 1999 Upper Deck baseball cards, Wax Pack Heroes, Two Strike Noise Connect With Us YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twostrikenoise Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/twostrikenoise BlueSky: @twostrikenoise.bsky.social Email: [email protected] Support a Great Cause: Don’t let your common cards collect dust! Donate them to help spark a child’s interest in the game at http://commons4kids.org/. #baseballhistory #mlb #baseball #BaseballCards #TwoStrikeNoise #popculture 00:00 Welcome 01:55 World Series Recap 02:38 Game 4 and Broadcast Rant 05:22 Fall League Rule Experiments 06:46 Do Rule Changes Work? 10:42 Move the Mound Debate 12:07 World Series Trivia Setup 12:44 Colonoscopy Booth Story 14:54 Lockout and Playing Abroad 17:56 Johnny Cooney Origins 19:12 Perfect Game After Tragedy 21:53 Braves Breakout and Injury 26:40 Reinvented as Outfielder 28:38 Dodgers Years and Big Trade 31:48 Late Career Peaks and Umpiring 34:47 Final Seasons and Legacy 38:15 Coconut Snatcher Explained 39:52 Ankiel Wild Pitch Meltdown 40:44 Cooney World Series Trivia 42:16 Wax Pack Heroes 01:13:01 Wrap Up Rules And Contact

Jeff and Mark put on their best costumes for the 2SN Halloween episode. With the Rays and Brewers in the World Series, they start with the haunted hotels of both cities. In Milwaukee that’s the Pfister Hotel, where visiting players from Adrián Beltré and Bryce Harper to Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández have reported strange sounds, moving furniture and misty spirits. In St. Petersburg it’s Tropicana Field, built on a former cemetery site, and the Vinoy Park Hotel. They also cover Michael Young’s toothpaste cross in a haunted minor league motel room and a rundown of baseball curses: the Colonel, Billy Penn, the Black Sox, Cleveland, and the Angels. Then come Ellis Burks’ glass-elevator ghost story at the Westin St. Francis, the paranormal investigators the Cubs hired at Wrigley in 1998 after Harry Caray’s death, and the teenager from Babe Ruth’s old farmhouse who lost his front teeth to a Manny Ramirez foul ball.   Also in this episode: a tribute to Todd Benzinger, including the “Benzinger game” and his surprising career WAR. Billy Bates beats a cheetah at Riverfront Stadium. Jeff talks about his appearance on The Mixtape ’90s Sports Edition covering the 1990 season (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Qb5TuEmKUIMRVLy2OyYFt). The Orioles cut the Oriole Bird and Mr. Splash, and Stephen Vogt passes on the Mariners. The guys trace the origins of “on the screws,” “worm burner” and “the catbird seat,” and look at the Brewers’ custom hand-painted protective cups. They trade lists of Halloween baseball names, from Bob Grim to Vlad the Impaler. Wax Pack Heroes plays an exhibition game with 1990 Senior Professional Baseball Association cards and a new lowest-season-WAR rule.   Halloween baseball, Pfister Hotel ghost, haunted hotels MLB, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series, Tropicana Field cemetery, Vinoy Park Hotel, Michael Young ghost story, Curse of the Colonel, Hanshin Tigers, Curse of Billy Penn, Curse of the Bambino, Black Sox curse, Angels curse, Ellis Burks, Westin St. Francis, Harry Caray ghost, Wrigley Field paranormal, Babe Ruth farmhouse, Todd Benzinger, Billy Bates cheetah race, 1990 Cincinnati Reds, The Mixtape ’90s Sports Edition, Oriole Bird, Stephen Vogt, catbird seat, Red Barber, on the screws, worm burner, custom protective cups, Halloween baseball names, Senior Professional Baseball Association, Wax Pack Heroes   00:10 Open 01:11 Halloween Costumes Bit 02:32 RIP Todd Benzinger 05:29 Billy Bates Races Cheetah 10:12 Rewatching 1990 Series 11:41 Orioles Staff Cuts 14:23 Mariners Manager Rumors 15:58 Baseball Phrases Origins 19:31 World Series Cups Talk 22:28 Halloween Baseball Names 30:56 Haunted Milwaukee Hotel 33:13 Pfister Hotel Ghost Tales 36:04 Tampa Hauntings And Cemeteries 38:02 Michael Young Toothpaste Cross 39:37 Baseball Curses Rundown 42:06 Angels Curse And Burial Ground 43:37 Haunted Glass Elevators Prank 46:42 Wrigley Paranormal Investigation 49:12 Babe Ruth Farmhouse Oddities 50:18 Mitch Costume And Segment Switch 51:26 Wax Packs Heroes Exhibition Rules 01:03:51 Final Wrap   Connect With Us YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twostrikenoise Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/twostrikenoise BlueSky: @twostrikenoise.bsky.social Email: [email protected]   Don’t let your common cards collect dust! Donate them to help spark a child’s interest in the game at http://commons4kids.org/.   #baseballhistory #mlb #baseball #BaseballCards #TwoStrikeNoise #popculture

It's not every day a real-life Major League Baseball owner agrees to talk to two jabronis from a baseball history podcast, but here we are. Jeff and Mark sit down with Baltimore Orioles chairman and principal owner David Rubenstein to talk about his new book, Inside the Owner's Box: Conversations on Power and Leadership in Sports. They ask what song he wanted to replace "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" with during the seventh-inning stretch, and why he walked away from buying the Orioles before coming back. He talks about the Adley Rutschman trade and how much of it crosses an owner's desk, Pete Alonso changing his own diapers at spring training, and whether spending money really buys wins. The guys also ask whether sports franchise values are in a bubble and what he collects outside of baseball, and he explains why the Tupac bobblehead outsold his own. Then Jeff closes with a personal question as a lifelong A's fan: John Fisher, the vote to move the team to Las Vegas, and whether owners would ever vote against one of their own. Also in this episode: How a Double-A walk-off home run by Michael Cuddyer kept a teammate off American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11, 2001. Neil Patrick Harris plays the devil in a new Broadway Damn Yankees that moves the story to 2000 and makes the Orioles the team chasing the Yankees, with a Steinbrenner granddaughter producing. A planned community in Herriman, Utah, where every street is named after a Red Sox figure, and Jeff's grudge against the Salt Lake Bees' new ballpark. Mel Allen returns with a 1979 This Week in Baseball quiz on the last pitcher to win an MVP, and Wax Pack Heroes wraps up its season with 1991 Leaf cards sent in by listener Dave P. Topics: David Rubenstein, Baltimore Orioles owner, Inside the Owner's Box, Carlyle Group, MLB owner interview, Adley Rutschman trade, Pete Alonso, Thank God I'm a Country Boy, Camden Yards, seventh-inning stretch, MLB CBA, MLB lockout, sports franchise valuations, John Fisher, Oakland A's relocation, Las Vegas A's, Joe Lacob, Michele Kang, Vida Blue, Charlie Finley, Michael Cuddyer, Brad Thomas, New Britain Rock Cats, September 11 baseball, Damn Yankees Broadway, Neil Patrick Harris, Julianne Hough, Haley Swindal, Steinbrenner, Herriman Utah, Red Sox street names, Salt Lake Bees, This Week in Baseball, Mel Allen, MVP pitchers, 1991 Leaf baseball cards, Wax Pack Heroes Connect With Us: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twostrikenoise Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/twostrikenoise BlueSky: @twostrikenoise.bsky.social Email: [email protected] Don't let your common cards collect dust! Donate them to help spark a child's interest in the game at http://commons4kids.org/. #baseballhistory #mlb #baseball #BaseballCards #TwoStrikeNoise #popculture

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 Apollo of the Box" from running away from home in Erie, Pennsylvania, to the Louisville Eclipse, the St. Louis Browns, Toledo, and Cincinnati: 284 wins, the all-time wild pitch record, contract jumping, a full-season suspension, and a game-fixing accusation. Then there's the other side of Tony Mullane: his treatment of Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first openly Black major leaguer, threatening his own team president, an arrest over a whiskey bill, a divorce granted on grounds of extreme cruelty, and a lawsuit claiming he hit a man with a baseball bat. It all ends with a stint as a Chicago police sergeant and a Hall of Fame case that Cooperstown has never answered.   Also in this episode: Bernie Williams joins Jose Iglesias in the Buena Vista Social Club on Broadway. Jeff quizzes Mark on the Hall of Famers who debuted after 1950 but don't have their numbers retired by any team. The guys run through the best teammate name combos in baseball history, from Black & Decker to Abbott & Costello to the Days of Wine and Rojas. An awkward Mets fan encounter at the grocery store, a check-in on Broccoli Man, and Mel Allen returns with a This Week in Baseball quiz about the last second baseman to hit 20 home runs before 1989. Plus, Wax Pack Heroes goes virtual with 1987 Topps.   Topics: Tony Mullane, switch pitcher, ambidextrous pitcher, first American Association no-hitter, Louisville Eclipse, Pete Browning, Guy Hecker, Moses Fleetwood Walker, baseball color line, Toledo Blue Stockings, Chris Von der Ahe, St. Louis Browns, Union Association, reserve clause, Cincinnati Reds history, 19th century baseball, American Association history, Apollo of the Box, Baseball Hall of Fame debate, most wild pitches, Bernie Williams Broadway, Buena Vista Social Club, Jose Iglesias, retired numbers, Hall of Famers without retired numbers, teammate name combos, This Week in Baseball, Mel Allen, Bobby Grich, 1987 Topps baseball cards, Wax Pack Heroes   The Broadcast Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dmBOq4b8Ek2Z9sFZvm4dw?si=5JAkBiyRQv2q9M8IegOuDw   Connect With Us: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twostrikenoise Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/twostrikenoise BlueSky: @twostrikenoise.bsky.social Email: [email protected]   Don't let your common cards collect dust! Donate them to help spark a child's interest in the game at http://commons4kids.org/.   #baseballhistory #mlb #baseball #BaseballCards #TwoStrikeNoise #popculture

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 Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing: the 25-loss season in which he hit .314, four straight 20-win seasons from 1936 to 1939, six World Series championships, a hitting career that included 36 home runs and a .269 average, a no-hitter thrown while serving in the Army Air Corps, a comeback at age 40, a brief stint as pitching coach of the 1962 Mets, and a 1967 Hall of Fame election that required a runoff. Also in this episode: Jeff remembers Isao Harimoto, Japan's all-time hits leader with 3,085, who passed away at 86. The Cubs sign 24-year-old Kippei Mikawa, who pitched in just three games in four years at Rikkyo University and now throws 97 mph after a data-driven comeback. The Angels try to avoid the first 100-loss season in franchise history. A wave of new baseball media arrives: the Cubs' TikTok rom-com series "Nine Innings to Love," Mark Wahlberg as Pete Rose, and Robert De Niro in talks to play Tommy Lasorda in "Tommy and Me." Plus the TWIB trivia quiz, a listener's podcast recommendation, and Wax Pack Heroes with 1972 Topps cards.   Red Ruffing, Red Ruffing Hall of Fame, Red Ruffing Yankees, Red Ruffing Red Sox, Red Ruffing coal miner, Charles Herbert Ruffing, Red Ruffing 1967 Hall of Fame runoff, Joe McCarthy Yankees, Yankees dynasty 1930s, Isao Harimoto, Kippei Mikawa, Chicago Cubs, Angels 100 losses, Nine Innings to Love, Mark Wahlberg Pete Rose biopic, Robert De Niro Tommy Lasorda, Wax Pack Heroes, 1972 Topps, baseball history podcast, baseball podcast Connect With Us YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twostrikenoise Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/twostrikenoise BlueSky: @twostrikenoise.bsky.social Email: [email protected] Don't let your common cards collect dust! Donate them to help spark a child's interest in the game at http://commons4kids.org/. #baseballhistory #mlb #baseball #BaseballCards #TwoStrikeNoise #popculture