On this edition of the baseball podcast David Brown is on hand to discuss a sticky situation with Edwin Diaz and his interesting offer (not taken up) as to what the umpires should smell. They also talk about the game at Rickwood Field, more interesting Willie Mays stats, fun stuff from the Ryne Sandberg statue unveiling, how the Cubs and Cardinals did with their long stretch of games against crap teams, and why don't teams make more big league player for big league player trades? All that, and m...
Jun 25, 2024•59 min
The Cubs are wallowing in last place, but thanks to the woeful National League they're not that far behind anybody (but the Dodgers and Phillies), so Oleg and Praz join the podcast to talk about what's wrong with the Cubs and what, if anything, can be done about it. They also discuss the death of one of baseball's all-time greats, and the death of Willie Mays. Andy tells the guys about a special gift he got them so they can go see a real podcast being made. They discuss ;weird movie double featu...
Jun 19, 2024•1 hr 22 min
The trade deadline is approaching but with everybody (not the White Sox) still in the race, how active will it be? How does the Phillies losing a catcher screw the Cubs? David Brown drops by to show off the Wifi in his car and discuss all of this, plus whether the Angels will finally trade Mike Trout, what's Luis Robert worth and does it even make sense for the Sox to trade him, will the Jays trade Vlad Guerrero or Bo Bichette and how much of an upgrade is Pete Alonso? They also talk Twins' City...
Jun 12, 2024•1 hr 2 min
The gang is back together to discuss why the Cubs aren't more fun (though spotting the Sox five run leads turned out to be pretty amusing), the end of our long national nightmare and the return of all-time Cubs great David Bote. They discuss the weird name of Bote's kid and why it's named that. Andy gives you second hand kinesiology advice of how to run to first base. They discuss how Comcast is about to screw the Cubs, what the Cubs will do at the trade deadline. There's so much Crane talk that...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 20 min
The Cubs can't hit and the Bears are finally going to be on Hard Knocks, and Tom Loxas has left his own podcast to become a regular here at Pointless Exercise and so we talk all about it. Do the Cubs need a catcher? I guess if you don't want every pitch to just roll to the backstop they do. How do they work Petecrow into the lineup on a regular basis? Is Dansby Swanson ever going to hit again? Why is Nick Madrigal still around and Ian Happ still batting right handed? Then, on a happier note the ...
May 31, 2024•1 hr 18 min
Angel Hernandez has been put out to pasture, Ben Brown was yanked with a no-hitter going, and the Cubs hitters aren't really into the whole line-drive thing. David Brown joins Andy to discuss all of this, plus whether or not Andy cursed Ronald Acuna Jr to the injured list, whether they guys agree with Bob Costas and Chris Russo's thoughts on whether Shohei should just bag pitching altogether and a young friend takes a break from breaking up sex trafficking rings in Thailand to pitch a defunct un...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Oleg and Andy call to the bullpen and Mike D. steps over Kyle Hendricks to fill in for the birthday boy, Praz. The guys discuss whether the Cubs have demoted Kyle to the bullpen or is being put out to pasture, and they (or at least Andy) thinks with a little "growth" it might just work. They also try to make sense of the Cubs sending down Petecrow and not Nick Madrigal and just how long Nick's Roster Spot Hostage Crisis can go on. They also discuss what to do with Ian Happ, whether Cody Bellinge...
May 22, 2024•1 hr 27 min
Why are some of the best young pitchers limited to short stints in the minors instead of contributing what they can to the big league team? David Brown and Andy discuss that hot topic, plus can you fix your bullpen in May, why is that Paul Skenes mustache a thing, when are they finally going to get around to updating the requirements to get a win, create the team error and figure out how to make a safety base that isn't too weird looking for a big league diamond? Andy demands the Cubs bring up C...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 5 min
The guys kick around all of the important issues this week like, how long has Dansby Swanson's offensive slump been going on (a long time), who should be the Cubs fourth outfielder when Seiya Suzuki returns and why should it be Ian Happ, and what to do with Petecrow when Seiya's return happens. They also ponder just how well Nick Madrigal would need to hit to actually be worth a big league roster spot and what current big leaguer can be used as the minimum threshold for that? They kick around id...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 37 min
The Athletic's Jon Greenberg comes on the pod to talk about the Bears ill-fated stadium press conference, his role in helping the Bears finally put their tortured quarterback history to the side, why Kevin Warren and George McCaskey would end up being the stars of Hard Knocks. They discuss how cool Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze are. Why it's savvy for Ryan Poles to become The Pat McAfee Show's favorite general manager. How the Flus' glow up actually makes you more confident in his ability to co...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Is the Twins new rally celebration an ecoLOGical diaster just waiting to happen? David Brown weighs on that meaty matter and other hot topics like Mike Trout's meniscus, revenge games, Jose Abreu's trip to Del Boca Vista, how are the Cubs surviving (mostly) their injuries and the Astros aren't, fun with batter's interference and why baseball's uniforms likely won't really be fixed anytime soon. And don't miss Andy's important news from his recent doctor's appointment! All that, and more.
May 01, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Andy, Praz and Oleg discuss all the pertinent issues with the Cubs like the return of Matt Mervis, Nicky Two Strikes, Ian Happ's return to the lineup, Kyle Hendricks' phantom back injury and Boog's fascination with Mike Tauchman. But then they put their big throbbing brains together and come up with a series of initiatives that will toughen the Cubs up and forge them into a true championship contender. The ideas are brilliant and the Cubs can easily monetize them, which is all they care about. T...
Apr 24, 2024•1 hr 11 min
While the Cubs bullpen might be awful, Andy, Praz and Oleg decide to talk about what isn't...Seiya Suzuki. They do discuss the state of the Cubs bullpen, what's going on with the vaunted pitching infrastructure these days, how taking Christopher Morel out for defense all the time finally bit the Cubs in the ass, and they try to figure out what it is that Nick Madrigal is doing that supposedly helps a team. They bask in the afterglow of another fine Shōta Imanaga start and try to figure out what ...
Apr 10, 2024•1 hr 14 min
The gang moves into a fancy new studio and David Brown stops by to talk baseball. How are the Cubs ever going to know if Christopher Morel can get better at third if they keep yanking him out of games late, and when is it going to cost them to lose his bat in the process? What's life going to be like for the A's in Sacramento and what's the only way to make that move a positive? Joe Maddon talked about who else to blame in the Shohei mess, which got Andy talking about Shōgun and how everything h...
Apr 04, 2024•1 hr 7 min
The whole Pointless Exercise team has assembled to do a mega preview of the upcoming baseball season. Join Andy, David Brown, both the Mike P's (Praz and Pusateri), Remember this Crap's Mike Donohue and the new guy, Oleg, as they make way too many predictions. They break down each division, use their big baseball brains to tell you who's going to the World Series and winning all the big awards. If you have a gambling problem like Shohei's former pal, Ippei, you're in luck, they also share their ...
Mar 27, 2024•1 hr 55 min
Ready or not, baseball seasons starts in the wee hours of Wednesday morning so David Brown is here to talk about how Blake Snell signing with the Giants makes the wild card path tougher in the NL and what's up with Jordan Montgomery. They discuss the Dodgers just forgetting to find a shortstop and how Mookie Betts solves everything. How many other players would be willing to try switching positions on the fly. They talk about great moments in David Ross losing the DH, and the height of Joe Torre...
Mar 20, 2024•53 min
Less than two weeks to opening day and it's time for Andy and Praz to do the hard work for Craiggy and Jed and make the Cubs final cuts for them. Who's got options, who would get through waivers and who might actually be useful to round out the bench and the bullpen. Oh, and then they take a look at how best to order the batters. Talk about being helpful.
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 16 min
With one move the Cubs went from fourth best to best in the very flawed NL Central and David Brown is back to discuss it and to take a look at the contracts that Scott Boras got for Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman and what the market might look like next year. Andy calls Blake Snell "Ian" about a dozen times and they talk about what the prospects for Snell and Jordan Montgomery signing before the deadline are. Is JD Davis an actually valuable trade piece for the Giants and would the Cubs be inte...
Mar 06, 2024•1 hr 18 min
Looking for a non-meatball take on the Bears' QB situation we reach out to The Guardian's Senior Writer Andrew Lawrence and he delivers. Though he lives in Atlanta now, so he wouldn't mind seeing Justin Fields play there. We talk about Netflix's Drive to Survive, the many interesting things going on with the F1 season upon us, and Drew just wrote a piece about Fanatics and Nike screwing up baseball's uniforms. Plus, he talks about his time at Monday Morning Quarterback with the recently "retired...
Mar 01, 2024•1 hr 27 min
It's the 300th Pointless Exercise podcast (and you said it wouldn't last) and Andy and Mike Praznowski are giddy about the Cubs re-signing Cody Bellinger, but fearful that a sponsorship deal gone awry might have him in traction on opening day. They also lament the loss of the great Bailey Horn, or somebody they aren't really sure, are excited that the manager seems to grasp the obvious and they make a compelling case for Matt Shaw to make the opening day roster (even though he won't.) Praz learn...
Feb 28, 2024•1 hr 11 min
The Cubs have been playing somebody in left field every game for more than 125 seasons and in a few of those games the left fielder was actually good. The guys take a look back at the good, the bad and the Zuleta of guys who have played left. You will learn how Wildfire Schulte got his nickname, who the second best left fielder in franchise history is, why Billy Williams is the coolest, why Dave Kingman isn't, and just how many guys have tried and failed to nail down the job over the last 50 yea...
Feb 23, 2024•2 hr 3 min
National baseball writer David Brown joins the podcast to discuss all the hot topics like Nico Hoerner giving the longest "no" in recorded history, why baseball fans habitually side with teams over players and their agents, when will the 'Boras Four' sign, why the Cubs haven't improved their roster more, who would win the NL Central if rosters were frozen right now, did the Corbin Burnes trade signal the Orioles are going to spend, what would happen if the Reds ever spent, why Kap called Andy se...
Feb 17, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Tom Loxas joins the podcast to talk about what it would take for the Cubs to resign Cody Bellinger, what happens if they don't, and how Michael Busch and Petecrow Armstrong fit into all of this. They talk about the Cubs PECOTA projections and how close the Cubs are to actually building a good bullpen. Then, they talk about what the Bears are going to do with the number one overall pick, what Justin Fields' trade market looks like and much, much more.
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 14 min
It's a solo pod and all the hot topics are hit on, when do the Cubs get to hug Carter Hawkins and could the Cubs turn that into a fundraiser? Why haven't they signed Cody Bellinger yet? What do they do if they don't sign Cody? Do they know their current roster is bad? How could they make getting a big payroll a game for Todd? And then why can't Chicago media adequately cover the Bears? And why would anybody try to rank the top 20 Chicago media people? All that, and more.
Jan 25, 2024•42 min
The guys discuss the eerie quiet from Halas Hall as everyone awaits announcement on changes big or small or not at all. Andy goes on an unhinged rant about the future of the Bears' quarterback position and the Mikes take a more reasoned approach to what the smartest option would be. They discuss how even if Jim Harbaugh were the right move for the franchise just how much they don't want to have to put with that weirdo, and they discuss just how close the Bears really are after a season of improv...
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 4 min
All of your favorite Pointless Exercise podcasters have assembled to kiss off 2023 and look ahead to 2024. David Brown, Mike Donohue, Mike Pusateri and Mike Praznowski join Andy as they discuss what shocked them last year in all of Chicago sports and what crazy stuff lies ahead.
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 22 min
All hands are on deck for this week's Bears podcast and the guys discuss the win over the Falcons, Justin Fields and DJ Moore's perfect half, the Panthers handing them the number one overall pick and how a return to CBS is just the thing the Bears will need to slap around the Packers and knock them out of the playoffs. You'll learn the five things that will determine Justin Fields' Bears future, why it's not so bad, maybe, that The Flus is going to return and what the first sign of their intenti...
Jan 03, 2024•59 min
If you haven't noticed, and judging by interest in the team, you haven't, the Bears have won FOUR straight home games. Really. Only one of the Mike P's was available for this week's podcast to revel in the Bears continued home dominance. Andy and Praz look back at a game you probably only saw parts of because it was on in the middle of the afternoon on Christmas Eve, and don't worry, if you missed the second half, you missed nothing. They talk about how the number one pick can be wrapped up this...
Dec 27, 2023•1 hr 11 min
The guys are back to, incredibly, break down a THIRD Bears fourth quarter collapse, and they look ahead to the many different permutations this offseason could take. The Flus gone and Fields back, both gone, both back, what have you. Is Ryan Poles any good at this job? Was The Flus hired to be the Bears' Ricky Renteria? They talk about the Brown games' two Fail Marys, the defense's fourth down struggles, why Cairo wasn't asked to kick those long field goals, and what Darnell Mooney should have b...
Dec 20, 2023•1 hr 3 min
In part one (ep. 288) we brought in a young to help us look back on more recent Cubs collapses, but for this one we needed an old, so Forklift is here to discuss the Durocher, Franks, Frey and Riggleman editions of Cubs choke jobs, and they were plentiful. We ponder why the '69 era Cubs are so beloved considering they not only didn't win anything important they only won 90 games once. We take another look back at 1977 and watch in horror as the '84 Cubs completely fall apart in 1985. And then ar...
Dec 15, 2023•2 hr 3 min
