Tri-state At The Plate

On a very special episode of Tri-State at the Plate, Andy speaks to Brad Balukjian, author of the LA Times Best selling book 'The Wax Pack'. Brad's book takes readers on an 11,000 mile trek across the country in an attempt to meet all of the players from a pack of 1986 Topps baseball cards. Brad talks about his life as a scientist, professor, and Duke alumni and how his life helped prepare him to write this book. At the 27:30 minute mark, he discusses specific elements of his book, so spoilers will be from that point on. From there he talks about Pittsburgh fan-favorites Lee Mazzilli and Richie Hebner, Steve Yeager's mindset, Jaime Cocanower's career trajectory and post-career plans, and Don Carman's mental approach to life and baseball. Brad wraps up the interview discussing his literary decision to include personal details in the story and their importance to telling The Wax Pack tale. If you don't have a copy of 'The Wax Pack', you can pick up a copy at any of the sites below: The Wax Pack website Buy T

Could you have picked a better time to return to podcasting about baseball than right now? Probably. But the gang at Tri-State of Mind Baseball isn't going to let a lack of baseball stop them from podcasting about baseball. On this week's episode, Andy, Bob, and Jason talk about what baseball during a global pandemic might look like. Jason and Bob then recap the last three years of baseball in Cleveland and the complexity of the decisions that were made for a World Series contending team. Andy then analyzes the same time frame for the Pirates, which is an honest - and often heartbreaking - look at what front office decisions were made over the last few years. The team then finishes up the episode by discussing the current state of Minor League Baseball and how MLB's decisions are affecting their operations.