We’re a few weeks into the new season and the San Francisco Giants have gotten off to an inauspicious start. The stench of 2023 still lingers in the dugout, despite a new manager and many new faces on the 40-man roster. It’s fair to say things haven’t entirely clicked yet for the Giants. However, there’s one man seemingly untouched by the malaise, who has undoubtedly made a great first impression: step forward Jordan Hicks. Hicks, signed by the Giants to a four-year, $44 million contract in the winter, enjoyed a successful five-year stint as a relief pitcher with the Cardinals and Blue Jays (f ..read more

The annals of Major League Baseball are filled with pitchers whose abilities on the mound have left indelible marks on the sport. From baffling hitters with mesmerising fastballs to etching their names in the postseason record books, these athletes have defined eras, transformed franchises, and, in many instances, changed the game itself.  10. Bob Gibson: The Embodiment of Dominance Bob Gibson’s career, spanning from 1959 to 1975, was nothing short of legendary. With a career record of 251-174, an ERA of 2.91, and 3,884.1 innings pitched, Gibson’s dominance on the mound was undeniable. Hi ..read more

Last year’s Champions League champion, Adam Nicholson, is already looking ominously good with a 2-0 start to the defence of his title. He is joined by Michael Garmston, Mark Finbow, and Bat Flips & Nerds as the only unbeaten teams in the top division. However, it is last season’s highest points scorer, Richard Davidson, who is again setting the bar high with a whopping 605 points over the first two matchups. Richard is one of only two players among the 150 entrants to break the 600-point barrier, but bizarrely, he has started the season with two losses, so sits in ninth place on 0-2. If yo ..read more

The season has started so it’s time to overreact to everything that has happened thus far. It really is a great time to make bold and outlandish predictions that will make me look stupid in late September. So let’s get into these, and make them increasingly bold as we go down. Bear in mind I’m a Giants fan and will be putting that delusion to good use. 1. NL Wildcard Let’s annoy the NL West early, shall we? I’d be stupid to not have the Braves, Phillies, Dodgers and a token Central team make the playoffs. However, that’s where things get interesting. The Arizona Diamondbacks are not making ..read more

An oft-watched, grainy VHS recording of The Blues Brothers is not the most obvious place for a three-decade love of baseball in general, and the Boston Red Sox in particular, but Jake and Ellwood’s use of 1060 West Addison as a fake address which diverted law enforcement to the iconic marquee of Wrigley Field was where mine started. It took a long time to get going though. It wasn’t until fifteen or so years later in 2002, on holiday with my wife, that I visited Wrigley whilst stopping off in Chicago on a three-week train trip from the East Coast to visit friends in Minnesota. I knew very li ..read more

The opening week is in the books, and we witnessed some very tight matchups and a few exceptionally high-scoring teams. It was an unpredictable week of baseball, with Kansas City Royals’ Brady Singer and Houston Astros’ Ronel Blanco top scoring for the pitchers. I doubt either player was drafted in any of the GBFBS divisions. Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, a guy boldly predicted to be the most productive Japanese player this season, was the highest points-scoring hitter, just ahead of Salvador Perez and Spencer Steer. Continuing from last season’s dominance, Richard Davison was one of only 11 t ..read more

Here is the final instalment of Five Bold Predictions from the Bat Flips & Nerds family. Presumably, you have already seen Gav’s 30 BOLDish Predictions (one for each MLB team) and Part 1 and Part 2. So, we’ll cut to the chase and give you Part 3 of Bat Flips & Nerds bold predictions. Kicking us off today is St Louis Cardinals correspondent Jennifer Annely. As if to reinforce the “Best Fans in Baseball” reputation, just look at the genius of her prediction number 5 Jennifer Annely The Atlanta Braves won’t win the NL East The NL Central will be the worst division in baseball The Nationa ..read more

After months of murmurings, yesterday saw the official announcement from both the Oakland Athletics and MLB that the Athletics will be leaving Oakland and the Coliseum at the end of the 2024 season ahead of the team’s move to Las Vegas.  While the new stadium in Sin City is built, the A’s will instead play at Sutter Health Park, home to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. In many ways, it is a curious move, as logic dictated that, if the A’s were going to move to a Triple-A stadium while its new stadium was being built in Las Vegas, it would make sense to move to the Las Vegas Ballpark, p ..read more

We are guessing that you have read Gav’s 30 BOLDish Predictions (one for each MLB team) and Part 1 of this series from the Bat Flips & Nerds team, so without further ado, here are more Bat Flips & Nerds bold predictions. First up is Charlie Deeks. A skilful shortstop for the Bristol Buccanneers, Charlie’s patience at the plate saw him walk five times more than he struck out. It is also probable that he is the only member of the Bat Flips & Nerds extended family who has appeared on Only Connect. Charlie Deeks 1. The Atlanta Braves get reverse swept in the World Series This is my ef ..read more

Hopefully, you have already seen Gav’s 30 BOLDish Predictions (one for each MLB team) and you are in the mood for more Bat Flips & Nerds bold predictions. We start off with John. He assures us that the recent injuries are superficial, but perhaps his fifth bold prediction suggests he banged his head harder than he admits. John McGee 1. Minnesota Twins make the ALCS 2. ⁠Nick Pivetta makes the top 3 in Cy Young voting 3. Aaron Boone fired 4. ⁠Yoshinobu Yamamoto posts an ERA over 4.50 5. ⁠A classic butcher’s dog (complete with a string of sausages) enters the field of play in Anaheim and pee ..read more