Best baseball podcasts to get you through those long holiday drives

Look, I know it’s easy to have Sirius XM Radio and just pop on MLB Network Radio for your upcoming eight-hour drive to who-knows-where. But you deserve better. You deserve more in-depth discussion than hearing the same nationally-syndicated voices who only skim the surface of analysis. You deserve podcasts.

These are intended to be in no specific order; just the ones I listen to that I really enjoy. Since this is a Cleveland Indians site, after all, it feels appropriate to start with the Indians (or Cleveland) related podcasts:

Indians podcasts

Let’s Talk Tribe Podcast - Woah, how’d this get in here? Ok, it’s not like I’m going to make a list of podcast and not shamelessly plug my own. Jason Lukehart and I breakdown Indians on a week-by-week basis.

Waiting For Next Year - A cavalcade of personalities from Waiting For Next Year host this podcast, which has a pretty sporadic schedule. If you’re like me, and are only interested in Indians chatter, the episodes are split out into Browns, Cavs, and Indians topics so it’s easy to avoid those other unmentionables.

Cleveland Indians Podcast - The official Cleveland Indians podcast features several names you probably know if you follow the team: Anthony Castrovince, Jordan Bastian, and even radio announcer Jim Rosenhaus are frequent names that appear.

The A to Z Podcast - Calling this in an “Indians” podcast is a bit of a stretch, they are much more a general Cleveland discussion — but with much more Indians talk than a Cleveland radio station. Andre Knott and Zac Jackson are both professional broadcasters in one capacity or another, and it shows. There’s a lot of neat behind-the-scenes info, too.

Smoke Signals - They don’t update very often, but if Indians Baseball Insider posts a new episode of their podcast, you should listen to it.

General baseball podcasts

FanGraphs Audio - Carson Cistulli hosts with other FanGraphs writers and editors cycling through as co-hosts. It’s the same kind of smart, witty humor you find on FanGraphs itself.

Beyond the Box Score - You know who they are. The fine folks over at our sister site, Beyond The Box Score, rebooted their podcast last year in the form of the In Play, Pod(cast).

South Side Sox - I know it’s weird recommending a podcast about a non-Indians team, but it’s such a high-quality podcast that I can’t go without giving it a shoutout. Josh Nelson hosts with a selection of great guests seemingly every episode.

The Ringer MLB - All The Ringer podcasts that I’ve listened to are great, and the MLB version is no exception. Hosts Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann provide great insight and just last week they had Sandy Alomar Jr. on as a guest.

Effectively Wild - Always great insights from the staff at Baseball Prospectus. I don’t think it’s daily like it used to be, but they get damn close.

Statcast Podcast - No one has poured over Statcast data more than Mike Petriello, who delivers a great podcast with various guests from around baseball.

This post is a blatant abuse of power an indirect way of asking for podcast recommendations anyway, so if you have anything I missed feel free to leave them in the comments below. Drive safe, everyone.