On May 20, 2017, Carlos Martinez was scheduled to get the ball against the visiting, scoring-challenged San Francisco Giants. It was good timing. After blanking the Cubs for seven-plus innings on Opening Night, Martinez hit… Read more »
Posts by Alex Crisafulli
Brandon Lee and Alex Crisafulli talk about Mike Dunn, Mike Dunne, Stephen Piscotty, Yu Darvish, Cubs vs Rays, “this season” vs “last season,” favorite 2017 moments, and SNES sports games, then cap things off.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros will be competing in the 2017 version of the World Series, which begins tonight. This much we know. We also know, or can at least reasonably assume that… Read more »
In this all-banter episode of an NL Central Podcast, Eric, Alex, and Brandon predict Eric Thames for the rest of the season, discuss Paul O’Neill kicking a baseball, whether Brandon should worry about the Cubs,… Read more »
Banished to the Pen’s full NL Central Podcast team got together to preview the 2017 National League Central. Alex Crisafulli, Eric Roseberry, Rob Mains, Ross Bukouricz, and Brandon Lee went around the horn to give their takes and answer questions about the Cardinals, Reds, Pirates, Brewers, and Cubs.
Since the turn of the millennium, the Cardinals have won 71 more games than the second best National League team (Dodgers). They have the most postseason wins (65) across the league. And they’ve won 197… Read more »
On the late afternoon of Thursday, April 9, 2015, Tony Wright settled in to his usual seat in the middle of Row B, Section 319 at pleasant Petco Park in San Diego. Section 319 had… Read more »
Banished to the Pen is always looking for new writers. To help convince you that this is a great place to get your work out, we’ve asked a few BTTP alumni to tell you about… Read more »
The Winter Meetings began this week just outside of Washington, D.C., and the one team everyone will be watching is the Chicago White Sox, as it seems as though the market is waiting for the South Siders… Read more »
In the latest episode of An NL Central Podcast, Eric Roseberry, Alex Crisafulli, Brandon Lee, and Brandon’s dog Gus bark about the World Champion Chicago Cubs, mostly discussing Brandon’s thoughts on game 7, while also covering which memes do/do not apply to the series.
Ah, the Midwest, my long-lost home, and the exclusive locale for the 2016 World Series. Ken Burns is buying a map as we speak. I missed the mark in last year’s World Series preview by picking the Mets… Read more »
Alex Crisafulli of Viva El Birdos and our NL Central Podcast joins Ryan Sullivan to talk about the four division series, the remaining postseason, attending Game 5 in DC, and evolving bullpen usage, and, in between, wonder about the appeal of drones
Eric Roseberry, Alex Crisafulli, and Brandon Lee check in after an exciting National League Division Series game 5 between the Nationals and the Dodgers. LA will go on to play the Cubs in the NLCS…. Read more »
On the latest episode of an NL Central show, Alex Crisafulli, Eric Roseberry, and Brandon Lee talk about Pitch Talks Chicago, the Cardinals’ Wild Card chances, Vin Scully, Pitch, and the all time single-season WAR… Read more »
On the latest episode of an NL Central Podcast, Alex Crisafulli, Ross Bukouricz, and Brandon Lee discuss the current state of their teams (Cardinals, Brewers, and Cubs respectively) and revisit the concept of the Brewers’ “Timeless Ticket.” The guys also talk about season tickets (including some non-NL Central and non-MLB teams), and reveal their favorite September baseball memories. The episode closes with an NL Cy Young trivia question.

In the final part of our ’94 retrospective, we look at two things from that year that probably have little value in 2016: baseball cards, and Major League II. Also included is a brief anecdote… Read more »

In the gaming portion of our revisit to 1994, we talk about the original 16-bit Griffey title, and break down the references used for the game’s fake player names. Then we take a brief look… Read more »
On the latest NL Central Podcast, Eric Roseberry, Alex Crisafulli, and Brandon Lee talk about the plural forms of breakfast foods, cross-country roadtrips, music festival fashion, hats, and baseball. Baseball topics include but are not… Read more »

Anthony Lorenzo and Scott Kushner join Alex Crisafulli for a 3-round draft of favorite “Seinfeld” minor characters, and conclude with discussion on a memorable episodes.
Eric Roseberry, Alex Crisafulli, and Rob Mains talk about Pete Rose, Cardinals baserunning, and whether the Pirates are actually done. Also, Alex also shares how much he hates interleague play, and everyone picks their desert… Read more »
On episode 7 of An NL Central Podcast, Eric Roseberry, Alex Crisafulli, and Brandon Lee talk about the (currently) ongoing Cubs/Cardinals series, including Trevor Rosenthal, the Cubs stream of prospects, and what exactly is “Nuveen.”… Read more »
On the latest episode of An NL Central Podcast (#6), Alex Crisafulli (@alexcards79), Eric Roseberry (@ericdroseberry), and Brandon Lee (@bleeinternets) discuss division roster moves, Rany Jazayerli’s piece on the Cubs for the Ringer, the Cubs… Read more »
An NL Central Podcast strikes back for episode 5: Eric Roseberry is joined by Alex Crisafulli and Rob Mains, discussing Tony LaRussa in the booth, how high the Cubs could go, and Carson Cistulli’s TV broadcaster rankings.
In this episode of an NL Central Podcast (episode 4), Eric Roseberry and Alex Crisafulli put Ross Bukouricz on the spot to judge a 6-year-old bench-clearing fight between the Reds and Cardinals (Cardinals and Reds?). The… Read more »
On episode 2 of An NL Central Podcast, Rob Mains, Alex Crisafulli, and Brandon Lee discuss the happenings in the division over the past month, including an assessment of the Pittsburgh Pirates so far, how… Read more »
In the first episode of An NL Central Podcast, Alex Crisafulli, Eric Roseberry, and Brandon Lee discuss the virtues of a divisional podcast in 2016, your current WAR leaderboards, how this year’s Reds aren’t at all like the 1996 Bulls, why Cardinals fans should consider booing Jason Heyward, and “Christian EDM.”
Alex Crisafulli and Eric Roseberry join Brandon Lee (not in a car due to scheduling conflicts), talking about cubs, Cubs, Cards, Reds, Roseberry Twitter, John Lackey, winning a World Series, and the Effectively Wild Tournament finals.

I know it’s over – still I cling I don’t know where else I can go -The Smiths ************************ .272/.313/.385 84 wRC+ -Bo Hart Last year, my theme for this piece was “not yet,” as… Read more »
Guests Scott Holland and Tim Livingston join Alex Crisafulli and Eric Roseberry to hold a 3-round draft of some of their favorite ’90s sitcoms. Along the way, they play “Name That Show.”
To learn a bit more about Carlos Martinez’s 2015 season, in my first post at Viva El Birdos I researched all right-handed pitchers from 1988-2015 who logged at least 162 innings in their age-23 season…. Read more »