Mike Barnicle on Baseball

“I’m not a native New Yorker. You know, I’m here three or four days a week each week. I am stunned at the electricity on the sidewalks and in the stores about the Mets, and about baseball in general, but specifically about the Mets. Last night, we were on a text chain, four or five other people during the game texting back and forth. The bases are loaded, and one of the text members, just a one-line text: ‘I feel a grand slam from Lindor.’ And boom. I mean, that’s the Mets’ season, and Francisco Lindor is symbolic of the Mets, I think. He’s a calming presence when you hear him interviewed, he’s a calming presence at the plate, and you just have a confidence and a joy in what he brings to the game each and every day,” says veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during this Morning Joe conversation with Willie Geist and Jonathan Lemire about the New York Mets having reached the National League Championship Series with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies due to Francisco Lindor hitting a grand slam in the sixth inning during the 2024 Major League Baseball playoffs.

“I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame, but I think everything that he did, both positive and negative, ought to be put on the plaque. I mean, there are a few other people in the Hall of Fame, few other players who were not models of civilization or civility. Just recognize who Pete Rose was: he played 25 years, 25 years in the major leagues. He averaged 194 hits per season. He was a bad guy off the field. Let’s get that on the record; but he was a spectacular player, a spectacular player. And yeah, put him in the Hall of Fame, but put it on the plaque,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during this Morning Joe conversation with Willie Geist and Jonathan Lemire as they remember Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s hit king who then became an outcast for gambling on the game. Rose died at 83 years old, leaving behind a tainted legacy in baseball history.

Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Jonathan Lemire, Pablo Torre and Mike Barnicle about the gambling and theft allegations surrounding Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter and close friend of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, after at least $4.5 million in wire transfers were reportedly sent from Ohtani’s bank account to a Southern California bookmaking operation that is under federal investigation. “Major League Baseball and every baseball fan should really be praying that the greatest star that has appeared in the Major League Baseball stage maybe since Babe Ruth, Ohtani, did not bet on any games. That’s the hope here,” says Barnicle. Join the conversation here.

Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Jonathan Lemire and Mike Barnicle talk about the Texas Rangers mashing their way to the World Series in Houston, soundly defeating the Houston Astros 11-4 after piling on eight runs in the first four innings. “Yesterday was a key example of (manager Bruce) Bochy’s importance to the Rangers, Jonathan. In that he goes out and he hooks Max Scherzer off that mound in the third inning. And Scherzer, you could tell, was disturbed about being taken out; but you’re not going to fool with Bruce Bochy,” says Barnicle about the three-time World Series-winning manager who came out of retirement to manage the Rangers.

MLB Open Day 2023 has arrived! ICYMI: Watch this Morning Joe conversation with Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, Theo Epstein and Mike Barnicle as they preview another season of Major League Baseball and the new rules changes. “It’s the start of the year. We have New Year’s Day, but Opening Day is the real start of the year….It’s wonderful being at the park, and I’ve looked forward to it for far too long—every year, and every year, every year, I say, this is the year,” says Barnicle as he roots for his beloved Boston Red Sox once again.

“He was a very good baseball player at Yale, very good baseball player at Yale, and I’ve got to tell you something else watching him and listening to him over the past four or five days, clips from Iowa and everything like that: Donald Trump is going to crush this guy,” says Morning Joe’s veteran columnist Mike Barnicle about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump while watching this clip that shows DeSantis playing catch during a Fox News interview. Join the conversation here.

“The pitch clock is wonderful for Major League Baseball,” says Morning Joe’s Mike Barnicle about the new device implemented to speed up the game amid a ratings slump, after a spring training game between the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves ended with a batter violation of the pitch clock. “The only thing, I think, that we have to take a look at, that’s going to be really interesting, is who does it have more of an impact on: The pitcher or the batter? I think the batter at first. I think it will all get ironed out during the course of the year, but I think the batter. The first couple months of Major League Baseball, April and May, it’s going to be interesting to watch that dynamic. Hear more of the conversation with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Jonathan Lemire.

“My dream is that the Yankees beat the Astros, and then the Phillies beat the Yankees in the World Series, and that’s quite a World Series. Philadelphia versus New York, a subway series so to speak…The series will probably end on Thanksgiving eve in the snow, but that’s my dream,” says Morning Joe veteran columnist Mike Barnicle during this conversation with Joe Scarborough and Claire McCaskill about the Major League Baseball playoffs after the Houston Astros defeated the New York Yankees in game one of the American League Championship Series and the San Diego Padres evened up the National League Championship Series with a victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in game two.

Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist and Mike Barnicle talk Major League Baseball, with the playoffs less than ten games away, including the Boston Red Sox’s disappointing season as the team will finish in last place in the American League East. “Outside of my family, the Red Sox are the most important component of my life, and I have to tell you that this has been the most bitter, the most disappointing season I’ve experienced in a long, long time. There is no excuse for what’s happened.” You can watch the segment here.

Morning Joe’s Willie Geist, Claire McCaskill and Mike Barnicle talk baseball: recent games, players and MLB news. “The big highlight for me as a baseball fan…was watching the Mets game, and they had a young kid broadcasting…maybe 11 or 12 years of age, and he did a half inning broadcast with the crew – Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen – and it was such a joy to watch….There’s a magic to baseball in watching it, listening to it; it’s relaxing; it’s calming, and it’s a constant story that America tells itself through watching a baseball game,” says Barnicle about the New York Mets having had kidcaster Eddie Kraus join their broadcast booth to do play-by-play during a game. Watch the segment here.