Excellent look at the young core of Team Korea. Four players, all under-23, with significant KBO track records already. Korea may not have a long run this WBC, but they are well set up for the future.

In three seasons in the KBO, Ariel Jurado has posted a 2.87 ERA and been one of the most consistent pitchers in the league. He's built a really nice career, and he's back with the Lions in 2026. Very cool to see him get the ball for his country in the WBC.

I've been bitten by the Geese bug, this is very cool

The Cold War, a Red Scare, and the New York Giants’ Historic Tour of Japan in 1953

40% of Bluesky have been contestants on Jeopardy making us a very smart website but all of them came in third so its not like that impressive

Just launched the first installment of Catalog Club. It's like a book club but with albums. Every month, I'll pick an artist and over 4 weeks talk about 4 of their albums. This month's artist is Lucinda Williams. Check out the first episode, it's free! tinyurl.com/ac4msrzm

Joe DiMaggio’s Last Hurrah: The 1951 Lefty O’Doul All-Star Tour

Today is good a day as any to watch the brilliant Battle of Chile

Josh Bell finished 2025 with both a higher xwOBA (.358) and barrel rate (12.0%) than Freddie Freeman and Julio Rodriguez.

My first set of 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame projections with 112 ballots in @notmrtibbs.com's Tracker. Current trends indicate that Carlos Beltrán is very likely to enter the Hall this year, but it's still unclear whether Andruw Jones will join him.

Lost Hal Steinbrenner's vote when he said NYers shouldn't ask for little and expect less.

Manny Ramírez Saved Taiwanese Baseball

The proliferation of pumpernickel everything bagels at even small and random bagel shops might be the only good thing that happened in 2025.

Song has proven he makes adjustments with reps. Hopefully, the Padres stay committed to giving him the playing time

How baseball helped shape Japanese migrants’ experiences during the White Australia policy

Cis comedians making great trans jokes is always such a treat

The Greatest Piece of Diplomacy Ever: The 1949 Tour of Lefty O’Doul and the San Francisco Seals

Even diehard Mets fans don’t think Wright is more of a Hall of Famer than Pettitte if you aren’t taking PEDs into consideration

COURT QUEENS is out March 17, women's hoops in pictures and words, 1890s to 2020s. It was a blast to pull together such a love letter of a coffee table book—pre-orders open everywhere you buy your books 🧡 (But 25% off for Barnes and Noble members right now! www.barnesandnoble.com/w/court-quee...)

A Choo vote! Add first Korean player to ever get a Hall of Fame vote to his resume.

Happy to announce a new project for 2026: Catalog Club. It's like a book club but with albums. Every month, I'll pick an artist and over 4 weeks talk about 4 of their albums. It starts Jan 6. Read here to learn more and find out the artists for Jan and Feb tinyurl.com/3ks5c3jh

Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel are off to historic starts to their NBA careers. It’s time to talk about a truly terrific NBA Rookie of the Year race shaping up between these two former teammates.

This is a helluva ballot

With SSG's announcement that they are bringing back White and Heredia, every KBO team has now signed their foreign players to start the 2026 season. This year, teams get a fourth foreign slot for non-Korean Asian ballplayers. The final tally is seven Japanese, two Australians, and one Taiwanese.

Some organizations supporting women’s baseball in Korea

Is Taiwan Arming Youth Ballplayers with AI?

Baseball writers have lost their damn minds

I’d vote for Hamels and Felix but I think I’d go with Hamels over Felix if I had to choose.

Do people still use StubHub?

You don't have to have a degree in mathematics to understand advanced stats. We break down Run Scoring Percentage in fewer than 100 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffnY3qptpwY

Jalen Johnson’s level up this season has been awesome to see

After you’ve watched tonight’s (awesome) PLURIBUS season one finale, check out this 23-minute BTS video Apple just posted. It has Vince and the core four cast, and so many amazing details about the production. The cul-de-sac and ice hotel? All built from scratch. youtu.be/9C5Un2ikvLQ?...

Some nice context for Song’s super fast and unlikely rise to MLB. Two years ago, he batted .263 and had just five homers on the worst team in the KBO.

Very much pumped (I’m not clear which award they are referring to as “Player of the Year” though).

Re-upping my latest for nightsiders who might enjoy Umpires Behaving Badly. (More srsly: McKinley was behind the plate for the integration of the AL; the integration of the Yankees; Game Seven of a World Series; and other historic events.)

This is a very good ballot

Song is a better player in virtually every way than Hyeseong Kim. He doesn’t have the raw speed but he’s a smarter baserunner and a significantly better hitter. Song is about Ha-seong Kim’s equal except that he doesn’t play SS. However, positions he does play, he plays very well.

I guess I have to get my first Padres jersey.

Sung-mun Song is signing with San Diego. I’m thrilled that more people will get to see him play.

As we await another Kiwoom Hero potentially moving to MLB, here’s an interesting piece about the franchise and how they’ve become the unlikely big league factory of Korea.

My latest: number 19 on the list of Japan’s favorite retired players. Fun fact: I was unfamiliar with him before writing this. I hope I did him justice, Giants fans. thomasloveseagull.substack.com/p/japans-fav...

Babe Ruth hit 405 home runs after Dick Van Dyke was born.

"Okay but do you have any proof it was Manute's? I feel like this could've been anyone's warm-up."

A fantastic article about the small school in Korea that has produced a surprising amount of MLB talent

Audi Crooks has also scored 30+ in 3 straight games with 107 points on 70.3% (45 for 64) from the field including Iowa State’s only two games against power 4 opponents so far (Indiana and Iowa) #NCAAWBB

A TV show here in Japan asked the public to vote for their favorite retired baseball players. Here's how they ranked them. thomasloveseagull.substack.com/p/japans-fav...

Wow

The great Eui-ji Yang sets the record for most Golden Glove awards at one position with nine and ties for the most overall with ten.

Ranked the 10 best #NCAAWBB games left before Christmas in newsletter today for @herhoopstats.com, with Wednesday’s showdown between unbeaten rivals Iowa and Iowa State unsurprisingly high on the list No paywall! herhoopstats.substack.com/p/tulins-tre...

The Guy Teams Were Willing To Face After Intentionally Walking Barry Bonds has now been elected to the Hall of Fame over Barry Bonds