What do Jackie Robinson's historic debut, baseball's first All-Star Game, Moonlight Graham, the spitball and Dave Winfield's unfortunate encounter with a seagull have in common?

They're all part of baseball's remarkable history—and the stories behind them are often more surprising than the events themselves.

In Episode 728, Mark and Gordon welcome author Phil Coffin to discuss his book, A Baseball Book of Days: 31 Moments That Transformed the Game.

Coffin takes a different approach to baseball history, organizing 31 stories around memorable dates and uncovering the people, coincidences and unexpected circumstances that make the game endlessly fascinating.

Among the stories we explore:

• Jackie Robinson's debut: Why the contemporary newspaper coverage and attendance at Ebbets Field might surprise today's fans.
• Pumpsie Green and the Red Sox: The 12-year gap between Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier and Boston finally integrating its roster.
• The first All-Star Games: How the American and National Leagues' 1933 exhibition and the Negro Leagues' East-West All-Star Game became major events.
• Baseball's strange bird encounters: Dave Winfield's arrest in Toronto and other improbable incidents involving baseballs and birds.
• Moonlight Graham and the one-game wonders: The players whose entire major league careers lasted a single game, sometimes without a plate appearance.
• The origins of the trade deadline: How wealthy New York teams helped inspire restrictions on late-season player acquisitions.
• The .400 hitter who wasn't: Don Padgett's extraordinary 1939 season and the circumstances that left him at .399.
• The spitball ban: Why baseball allowed certain pitchers to continue throwing the pitch after outlawing it in 1920.
• Bill Veeck and baseball's winter meetings: A look at baseball's colorful offseason past as the sport faces an uncertain future.

Phil also discusses the research behind his books, his earlier work on the 1959 Topps baseball card collection and his next project exploring baseball's innovators.

Whether you're a longtime student of baseball history or simply enjoy discovering the game's forgotten characters, this conversation offers plenty of stories worth remembering.

Find Phil Coffin's book: A Baseball Book of Days: 31 Moments That Transformed the Game, available through McFarland Books and major booksellers.

Almost Cooperstown is a weekly baseball podcast featuring thoughtful conversations about the Baseball Hall of Fame, baseball history, current MLB topics, player comparisons, statistics and the stories that connect today's game with its rich history.

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music.

Visit AlmostCooperstown.com for original baseball articles, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and follow Almost Cooperstown on YouTube.

From Little League through the major leagues, hitters are taught that striking out looking is one of the worst things they can do. But what if that conventional baseball wisdom is wrong?

Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges changed his approach at the plate by becoming more willing to accept called third strikes rather than making weak, defensive swings. The results raise an intriguing question: Can being less afraid of striking out actually make someone a better hitter?

In Episode 727 of Almost Cooperstown, Mark and Gordon Kolier examine the relationship between called third strikes, plate discipline, walks, and on-base percentage. Their research suggests that hitters who take a higher percentage of their strikeouts looking tend to reach base more often. But is that because they're better at recognizing pitches, or is something else at work?

The conversation includes Steven Kwan, Seiya Suzuki, Elly De La Cruz, and other major leaguers, along with a memorable example of a hitter frozen by a great pitch: Carlos Beltrán facing Adam Wainwright in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.

Also in this episode:

• Can the Brewers, Guardians, or Rays stop the Dodgers from winning a third consecutive World Series?
• What MLB's reported 154-game schedule proposal could mean for baseball's future.
• Why postseason bullpen games have become increasingly common.
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto's place among successful postseason pitchers.
• The surprisingly short list of catchers who have won batting titles.

Sometimes the smartest swing is the one you don't take. But how do hitters know when to hold back?

Almost Cooperstown is a weekly baseball podcast featuring thoughtful conversations about the Baseball Hall of Fame, baseball history, current MLB topics, player comparisons, statistics and the stories that connect today's game with its rich history.

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music.

Visit AlmostCooperstown.com for original baseball articles, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and follow Almost Cooperstown on YouTube.

The 2026 MLB regular season is over, the Division Series are underway, and some teams are already facing a difficult question: When is it time to break up the band?

Mark and Gordon take a look at several clubs whose familiar cores may have reached a crossroads. The Phillies still have star power, but after another disappointing finish, does bringing back essentially the same group make sense? Houston won its division, but an aging core and questions about the pitching staff create a similar dilemma.

The guys also look at what comes next for the Blue Jays, Orioles, Tigers and other teams trying to determine whether they need a few changes—or something much bigger.

Before getting to the offseason questions, Mark and Gordon take a tour through some of the most interesting statistical results from the 2026 regular season, including the decline of the 200-hit season, fewer doubles and triples, stolen-base leaders, saves, and a home-run race that finished without anyone reaching 50.

Plus, they recap the opening of the Division Series, including a costly Yankees baserunning decision, dominant pitching, and one of the strangest potential home runs you'll see in a postseason game.

In Episode 726:

• The unusual statistical leaders of the 2026 MLB season
• Why nobody reached 200 hits
• The changing nature of doubles, triples and stolen bases
• Why the 60-save closer may be disappearing
• A surprisingly modest home-run leaderboard
• Early Division Series takeaways
• A bizarre roof play that helped decide a postseason game
• Should the Phillies break up their veteran core?
• Is Houston approaching the end of an era?
• What should Toronto and Baltimore do next?
• Detroit's offseason opportunity
• How the possibility of a 2027 labor stoppage could complicate everything

At some point, continuity stops being stability and starts becoming stagnation. Which MLB teams have reached that point?

Almost Cooperstown is a weekly baseball podcast featuring thoughtful conversations about the Baseball Hall of Fame, baseball history, current MLB topics, player comparisons, statistics and the stories that connect today's game with its rich history.

Thanks again to Mercury Maid for the Intro & Outro music.

Visit AlmostCooperstown.com for original baseball articles, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and follow Almost Cooperstown on YouTube.