Baseball And Bbq

Episode 278 features Wally Backman, member of the 1986 World Series Champion New York Mets and a baseball lifer and Jonathan Lathrop and James Moore from the Grab'em in the Brisket podcast, plus guest co-host, Doug Scheiding. Wally Backman was an integral member of the 1986 World Series Champion New York Mets.  After his time with the Mets, Wally played for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Seattle Mariners.  Following his playing career, Wally used his teaching skills, as well as his abilities to get the most from his players and nurture their talent, as manager for various organizations at many levels.  Wally is a baseball lifer who loves putting on the uniform, going out on the field, and being useful to teams who can most use his services.  As of the time of this interview, Wally was enjoying time away from the game, but would gladly contemplate returning to the game to which he has dedicated his entire professional career.      Jonathan Lathrop and James Moore are tw

Episode 277 features Loot N' Booty BBQ's, Sterling Smith and Baseball Writer and Researcher, Bill Chuck as they remind us why they are among the best at what they do. Sterling Smith AKA Smitty is a World Barbecue Champion, US Navy Veteran, barbecue teacher, cookbook author, and owner/pitmaster of Loot N' Booty BBQ.  In addition to all of that, Loot N' Booty BBQ has created an award-winning selection of rubs and sauces.  Smitty tells us about his humble barbecue beginning and where his love of barbecue has taken him as well as what is coming up.  For more information on Smitty or to order his products go to  https://lootnbootybbq.com/ Bill Chuck is back.  Bill's first joined us on episode 139 to discuss his book, In Scoring Position:  40 Years Of A Baseball Love Affair which he co-authored with Bob Ryan.  He was then on many more episodes, until health issues curtailed his visits, but we are thrilled to have him back.  Bill is a baseball writer and researcher and has a weekly column in the Chicago Sun-Times. B

Episode 276 features author, Tom Hoffarth discussing his book, Perfect Eloquence:  An Appreciation of Vin Scully and pitmaster, Brad Vollmer from the Meat's My Mistress Barbeque Team    Tom Hoffarth is an Associated Press award-winning journalist.  He has written for the Southern California News Group, the Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, Angelus News, National Catholic Reporter, Los Angeles Business Journal, and Sports Business Journal.  His latest project is Perfect Eloquence:  An Appreciation of Vin Scully which is a collection of 67 essays, one representing each season of his career calling games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, from 1950 through 2016.  Written by various essayists, some more well known than others, but all with heartfelt thoughts which reflect on the ways his professional and private life influenced them.  The collection includes fellow broadcasters as well as historians, players, journalists, celebrities, and others connected to the game of baseball, with each piece introduced by Tom.

Episode 275 features the Kansas City Royals pitching coach, Brian Sweeney and the host of the Pit Life BBQ podcast, Johnny Mags.  Plus, we discuss the possibility of a Los Angeles Dodgers dynasty.    Brian Sweeney is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who has transitioned quite nicely into the role of pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals.  He played in the Major Leagues for the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres and then played in Japan for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.  After his playing career ended, Brian coached in the minor leagues for the Philadelphia Phillies and later became a coach with the Cleveland Indians.  Brian has also been the pitching coach for Team Italy at the World Baseball Classic.  We had the honor of meeting Brian when he was being inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame. John "Johnny Mags" Maguire is the creative force and host of the Pit Life BBQ podcast.  The show has creatively evolved over the years.  Changes have included different co-hosts

In episode 274 we learn about environmentally friendly charcoal with Ben Jablonski from The Good Charcoal and we go back in time to 1959 with author, Phil Coffin as we discuss his books, When Baseball Was Still Topps and A Baseball Book of Days. Plus Chef Ray Sheehan assumes guest co-hosting duties. Ben Jablonski is the co-founder of The Good Charcoal.  The company's mission is good charcoal, good for the environment, good for the community.  Ben grew up in Australia where grilling was central to celebrations or gatherings.  In 2020, Ben wanted to give consumers a healthy charcoal alternative.  The Good Charcoal won a 2023 leadership award through the Forest Stewardship Council due to their sustainability efforts in Namibia. As a leader in building ethical organizations, Ben has been featured in The Washington Post, Yahoo! Finance, and The Weather Channel to talk about how The Good Charcoal is making a positive impact on the environment and people’s health.  Go to https://www.thegoodcharcoal.com/ for more inf

Episode 273 is full of passion as we welcome New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Member, Kevin Graber and Queen of the Grill and Cookbook Author, Paula Stachyra   Kevin Graber loves baseball and wearing a baseball uniform makes him happy.  His baseball journey has been inspirational, not just because of what he has had to overcome, but also for why he has stuck with baseball which is clearly one of his passions.  Kevin talks about his humble beginnings as well as his time as a coach and coordinator in the Chicago Cubs organization.  Kevin is a member of the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame and is a coach at Phillips Academy Andover Paula Stachyra is a barbecue enthusiast, recipe developer, and creator of the popular Instagram account, Queen of the Grill which is beloved for its weekly #WingCrushWednesday posts.  She previously joined us on episode 153 and returns to discuss her new cookbook, The Big Book of Barbecue On Your Pellet Grill.  The book is filled with 200 showstopping recipes for sizzling stea

Ask a pitmaster, an author, and a Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame executive for their thoughts on the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot and you get a rousing, educational, controversial, and entertaining discussion.  Episode 272 features our annual Baseball Hall of Fame discussion for the class of 2025 with pitmaster, Doug Scheiding, author, John Vampatella, and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame executive, Scott Crawford.  Doug Scheiding, John Vampatella, and Scott Crawford know their baseball and each has their own opinions which you may or may not agree with, but we hope all can agree they are fun to listen to.  When the 2025 voting results are announced we will know who will be enshrined in Cooperstown, but until then the debate continues and Doug, John, and Scott make very good arguments for their chosen candidates. We recommend you go to Baseball BBQ, https://baseballbbq.com for special grilling tools and accessories, Magnechef https://magnechef.com/ for excellent and unique barbecue gloves, Cutting Edge Fir

Episode 271 features peace, love, and baseball with Kelsey Burd and what did dad do with My Dad's BBQ's, Danny Wilk, plus a tribute to legendary leadoff hitter, Rickey Henderson Kelsey Burd is the host and creative force behind the Peace, Love, and Baseball podcast.  This is in addition to her other podcast, Bourbon and Baseball which she co-hosts with Suzy Fulton. Kelsey’s love of performing in musical theatre combined with her passion for baseball makes Peace, Love, and Baseball unique in the various ways she views baseball.  Kelsey is a huge baseball fan, but the team she chooses to love the most is the St. Louis Cardinals.   Danny Wilk is an entrepreneur. His first successful invention was the Bandyball, a colorful ball of rubber bands.  It made for just one of the great stories from Danny as he explained how a Covid project of creating a spectacular barbecue sauce lead to the barbecue business, My Dad's BBQ.  Danny offers a look at inventing, starting a business, and winning awards.  For more information

Episode 270 features barbecue you can’t refuse with The Hogfathers, Mal Schexneider and Scott Dudek and author, Steve Wiegand on The Uncommon Life of Danny O'Connell, plus Jeff and Leonard's brilliant observations. The Hogfathers BBQ is barbecue you can't refuse and per their website, "was started with brother-in-laws Scott Dudek and Malton Schexneider cooking for their family. Fast and easy burgers and dogs on a gas grill were replaced with low and slow barbecue.  It started out as a backyard hobby on a vertical electric smoker and Weber Kettle, which was quickly replaced by a Traeger and then upgraded to an Outlaw BFO.  As their skills grew and demand for their cooking increased, they honed their craft by entering the world of barbecue competition.  Go to https://thehogfathersbbq.com/ for more information. Steve Wiegand is an award-winning journalist and history writer. His 35-year journalism career was spent at the San Diego Evening Tribune, where he was chief political writer; San Francisco Chronicle

Episode 269 features former Major League Baseball pitcher, Bill Pulsipher, telling his story to help others, Bubb'n Mutha's founder, John Fuhrman dishing out barbecue and baseball talk, Leonard rants, and we celebrate our show's seven year anniversary. Bill Pulsipher is one third of what New York Mets fans once knew as "Generation K."  It was a moniker he shared with his two other teammates, Jason Isringhausen and Paul Wilson.  The media dubbed them as the members and the fans, desperate for players to help their team, bought into the hype.  The amount of pressure this placed on Bill and the other two Generation K members was extreme and Bill tells all, including a career derailed by injuries and severe depression.  Bill spent parts of six Major League Baseball seasons with the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, and St. Louis Cardinals.  We tend to put these talented athletes on pedestals and revere them as heroes, but pulling back the curtain reveals they are as hu

Episode 268 features a candid interview with Greg Rempe, host of the BBQ Central Show and we explore 3,000: Baseball's Elite Clubs for Hits and Strikeouts with Author, Douglas J. Jordan, plus we discuss the possibility of the Golden At-Bat Rule   Greg Rempe is the creator and host of the longest running and most listened to show dealing with live fire cooking, The BBQ Central Show.  He has been extremely supportive of our show with advice, support, and encouragement.  We wanted Greg back to learn more about him, his show, what it takes to produce a successful podcast, his opinions on barbecue and baseball and much more.  His show can be heard live every Tuesday night from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm and is released in podcast format; the first hour on Wednesday and the second hour on Thursday.  Then on Fridays you can catch up on parts of past episodes listening to The Best Moments of The BBQ Central Show in 10 Minutes or Less.  You can find out more about his show by going to http://thebbqcentralshow.com/ Douglas J.

Episode 267 features Chef Ray Sheehan presenting his Annual Holiday Gift Giving Guide and Author, Lynn Ames discussing her award-winning biography, Out at the Plate: The Dot Wilkinson Story Ray Sheehan also known as Chef Ray is an award winning maker of barbecue sauces and rubs as well as an award winning cookbook author.  We continue with our yearly tradition as he presents his annual holiday gift giving guide.  Links for the gift guide follow: Big Green Egg https://biggreenegg.com/  The Good Charcoal Company https://www.thegoodcharcoal.com/  Thermoworks https://www.thermoworks.com/  Amazingribs.com https://amazingribs.com/pitmaster-club-gift-card/  Trompo King https://trompoking.com/  Charcoal and BBQ https://charcoalandbbq.com/  Unce Steve's Shake https://unclestevesshake.com/  MagneChef https://magnechef.com/  Mantis BBQ Sauces https://mantisbbq.com/  Rogue Cookers Rubs https://roguecookers.com/  GRIPmitt by Wow Gear https://gripmitt.com  Yocan Red Torches https://yocanred.com/  Chef Ray Sheehan products

Episode 266 features Brett Mandel, co-founder of Baseballbbq.com and Keith O'Brien, author of Charlie Hustle. Plus we discuss two Major League teams who will be playing on minor league fields. Brett Mandel from the company, Baseball BBQ, https://baseballbbq.com/ is back to apprise us on the great things the company is doing and remind us of all their terrific products.  Anyone who loves baseball and barbecue will thoroughly enjoy the wide range of grilling tools and accessories they offer.  It's an extensive list, but includes spatula's, forks, grill scrapers, pigtail hooks, bottle openers, and tongs which are all made using baseball bat handles which can all be personally engraved.  In addition, they have cutting boards shaped liked home plate or shaped like baseball jerseys which also can be engraved.  Their newest product is a bat rack, designed to hold their baseball bat handle tools which also may be custom engraved.  As if that was not enough, they also have rubs, sauces, tee-shirts, and a unique board

Episode 265 features fireballing former MLB Pitcher, Jim Kern and Trompo King inventor, Noam Weiss treating us to  amazing stories and we have a New York State Baseball Hall of Fame Dinner Report Jim Kern is a former professional baseball pitcher.  With three All-Star appearances from 1977-1979, Kern went went 13–5 with a 1.57 ERA and 29 saves out of the Texas Rangers bullpen in 1979 to finish fourth in American League Cy Young Award balloting.  Over a 12 year Major League career, Jim played for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and Milwaukee Brewers.  Jim is aptly nicknamed Emu and he explains why that moniker fits so well.  In 2013, FanGraphs named Kern as the best relief pitcher in baseball history over a given 4-year period of time in their January 25 article "Jim Kern's Four Incredible Seasons."  From 1976 to 1979, he won 42 games and registered 75 saves out of the bullpen, and he averaged more than 100 innings per year and 1.88 inn

Episode 264 features Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Director of Operations, Scott Crawford and Charcoal and BBQ owners, Jason and Paula Mathews Scott Crawford is the Director of Operations for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada.  Scott provides a wonderful description of Canada's Baseball Hall of Fame including how it got started, the way inductees are chosen, and stories about some of its honorees.  Baseball has thrived and continues to do so in Canada and the museum is dedicated to preserving its heritage.  You may be surprised to learn how long Canadian's have played baseball as well as hearing about Jackie Robinson's time playing there.  Go to https://baseballhalloffame.ca/ for more information on Scott Crawford and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Jason and Paula Mathews are the husband and wife owners of the company, Charcoal and BBQ.  The company provides products designed for those who enjoy cooking, but even more for the people who love t

We celebrate founders as episode 263 features Carolyn Wells, co-founder of the Kansas City Barbeque Society and Rene LeRoux, founder of the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame.     Carolyn Wells is co-founder of the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) which she founded with her late husband, Gary Wells.  She has won over 150 awards in barbecue cooking contests.  She is a member of the prestigious KCBS Hall of Flame, and has earned her Ph.B. (Doctor of Barbecue Philosophy).  Carolyn is an author, including as the chief essayist for The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook.  Carolyn has promoted barbecue in other food related organizations including the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Southern Foodways Alliance, National Barbecue Association, American Institute of Wine & Food, World Barbecue Association, and Les Dames de Escoffier.  Her remarkable contributions have been recognized with an award named in her honor, the Carolyn Wells Ambassador Award which recognizes outstanding KCBS m

Episode 262 features unique barbecue and baseball stories with the president of AmazingRibs.com, Clint Cantwell and co-host of the National League Town podcast, Jeff Hysen while Chef Ray Sheehan assumes guest co-hosting duties. Clint Cantwell is president of AmazingRibs.com which is a leading online resource for barbecue and grilling information.  As president, Clint performs day-to-day operations, creates recipes, writes articles, shoots photos, and does whatever else is needed to help run the heavily heavily trafficked website.  He is also a champion pitmaster and an outdoor cooking content creator.  Clint was named one of the "10 Faces of Memphis Barbecue" by Memphis Magazine in May of 2015 and was the winner of the Travel Channel’s “American Grilled” nationwide cooking competition series.  Clint previously worked as a public relations professional in New York City and shares two incredible baseball stories.  One involves the 2000 World Series, Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, and a broken bat.  The o

Episode 261 features Bill Mikita, Hollywood writer and film producer and Mike McCloud, creator of the World Food Championships. Bill Mikita is the writer and producer of the movie, Chasing 3000.  The movie is based on the true story of Bill and his brother's cross country trip to see Roberto Clemente get his 3,000th base hit.  The story of how this career lawyer became a Hollywood writer and film producer and was able to get Ray Liotta, among other celebrities to star in the movie is fascinating.  Some of those other celebrities include, Lauren Holly, M. Emmet Walsh, Lori Petty, Keith David, Trevor Morgan, Rory Culkin, Tania Raymonde, Seymour Cassel, and Willa Holland.  Bill gives us an inside look at the making of the film which, in its final form seemed improbable, but Bill persevered and the result is a wonderful movie.  Bill discusses his next project which is based on an amazing baseball game between two unbelievable teams and is a story you will not want to miss. Mike McCloud is focused on making Food S

Episode 260 features Mark Anderson, one half of the Grill Dad's discussing all things barbecue and grilling while Doug Scheiding joins us for additional "grilling" and Doug Kurkul discusses his latest book, It's a Beautiful Day for Baseball which explores the game and players from the 1960's. Mark Anderson is one half of the Grill Dad's.  He previously joined us on episode 143 with the other Grill Dad, Ryan Fey.  This time he is flying solo and he provides an update on the exciting things the Grill Dads have been up to as well as discussing many other grilling related items.  They have made numerous television appearances, including Guy's Big Project, hosted by Guy Fieri and they starred in the primetime shows, The Grill Dads and Comfort Food Tour on the Food Network.  They have also appeared on Beat Bobby Flay, The Wendy Williams Show, The Today Show, and the Howard Stern Wrap-Up Show.  They are also the authors of the cookbook, The Best Grilling Cookbook Ever Written By Two Idiots.  Doug Scheiding

Episode 259 features Fred Claire, general manager of the 1988 World Series Champion, Los Angeles Dodgers and Phil Breeden, award-winning pitmaster and founder of LC BBQ. Fred Claire  is a former Major League Baseball executive who served in numerous roles for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969 to 1998 including the role of general manager.  Prior to his GM role, Fred was the VP of Public Relations and was instrumental in creating the branding that came to be known as "Dodger Blue."  However, it was an unfortunate night on April 6, 1987 when Dodgers General Manager Al Campanis appeared on the televison news program, Nightline to talk about his thoughts on the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Campanis' comments stunned the baseball world and he was forced to resign with Fred being asked to take over the GM job.  After a dismal 1987 season, Claire rebuilt the team into an instant playoff contender as the Dodgers went on to win the 1988 World Series. Phil Breeden is a champ