With Kurt off running the SB Nation mothership, Allison and Al spend a World Series travel day Bless You Boys Podcast trying to figure out what went wrong in San Francisco and what could go right for the Tigers in Detroit.

BYB Podcast 63 has a running time of 47 minutes and features Al Beaton and Allison Hagen.

Topics:

• The Tigers down 0-2 to the Giants. Time to panic?
• The Tigers have a far better record at home than on the road. Will home cooking turn the series around ion the Tigers favor?
• Was Gene Lamont too aggressive in waving Prince Fielder home in game 2? Did Jim Leyland make the correct call in settling for the double play while giving up a run late in game 2?
• Was Justin Verlander off his game or do you just tip your cap to Pablo Sandoval?
• Should Doug Fister been left in the game after being hit by a line drive, considering the possibility of a concussion?
• If you want to point fingers, point at the Tigers offense. Any chance the Tigers' bat can come around against right hand pitching, even if they are the Giants best post season pitchers?
• If feels like the Giants have have gotten every break, bounce and call. But saying their lead is due to luck is not giving them their due. They have outplayed the Tigers.
• Media narratives for this week: "The Giants are a scrappy team doing all the little things right" and "The Giants are making their own breaks."
• Have we seen the last of Jose Valverde?
• 40 of 50 teams who have taken a 2-0 World Series lead have gone on to clinch the championship. Will the Tigers win 2 games and take the series back to San Francisco?

Check out the Giants Pod podcast. Al was the guest of Thomas and Danny as they talked the first two games of the World Series, Verlander’s meltdown, Valverde’s ineffectiveness, Jim Leyland and Bruce Bochy’s similarities, and what to expect from the rest of the Fall Classic.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!

The latest edition of the Bless You Boys Podcast is short (for us, anyway), to the point (mostly) and all about the World Series (definitely). Allison is under the weather, so it's up to Kurt and Al to preview the upcoming match up between the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants.

BYB Podcast 62 has a running time of 39 minutes and features Kurt Mensching and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• What we did during the break between the ALCS and the World Series - Very little!
• We all remember what happened in 2006. How are the Tigers preparing differently this time around?
• The media loves narratives
• Talent vs. intangibles
• Breaking down the Tigers and Giants
• Starting pitching: Tigers
• Bullpens: Giants
• Offense: Al - Tigers, Kurt - even
• Defense - Giants, but not by as much as you think
• The favorite: The Tigers are favored by both the media and Vegas sports books, making the fan base extremely nervous.
• Prediction: Al - Tigers in 5, Kurt - Tigers in 5.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!

Bless You Boys Podcast 61 is full of confessions. Allison confesses a crime against her remote control, Al confessed he was still nervous after the Tigers had a 6 run lead in ALCS game 4 and Kurt...well, he confesses nothing.

As you might guess, this week's episode is 95% ALCS. We intentionally held off on much talk about the upcoming World Series as we plan on recording a preview before game 1. 

BYB Podcast 61 has a running time of 1:07 and features Kurt Mensching, Allison Hagen and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• ALCS SWEEP! The only person not surprised was Allison. Why? She predicted it.
• Will we hear more about the Tigers winning or the Yankees losing?
• Was the 9th inning of game 1 bungled? Did you think the game, and possibly the series, was over?
• How well did Jim Leyland handle the game 1 blow-back?
• The Jose Valverde "situation."
• We couldn't be happier for disgruntled former Yankee employee Phil Coke!
• Can a bullpen by committee continue to work?
• Don't be fooled by ALCS MVP Delmon Young.
• Will the Tigers risk playing Young in the outfield during the World Series or will the Tigers stay with what has been a very effective platoon?
• Speaking of bungling, could the game 4 rain out been handled any worse?
• Justin Verlander is good.
• So are the other 3 starters in the rotation.
• Did the numerous controversies swirling around the Yankees affect their ALCS performance?
• Did Yankees manager Joe Girardi deserve the amount of heat he received from the NYC media?
• Mike Ilitch has been both reprehensible (pre-2003) and great (post-2003) as the Tigers' owner.
• What percentage of saves should a closer be expected to convert?
• Any chance Papa Grande is not on the 25 man World Series roster?
• Final thoughts includes talk of smashed cable box remotes.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!

Kurt and Al squeeze in a podcast session between the Tigers winning the ALDS and starting the ALCS. We realize the Tigers are killing all kinds of narratives and everything's coming up Milhouse!

Bless You Boys Podcast 60 has a running time of 53 minutes and features Al Beaton and Kurt Mensching.

Topics:

• We're beat! Late west coast starts are killer on the personal life.
• The Tigers won the ALDS because they had the best player. The Athletics deserve vast amounts of credit for taking the series to 5 games.
• Can we finally put to rest the "Justin Verlander has to prove he’s a big game pitcher?" media narrative?
• How good was Verlander in game 5? His game score of 89 was the highest by a pitcher in a elimination game in post-season baseball history.
• Can the "2012 Tigers underachieved" narrative be put to bed as well?
• Who was the Tigers' ALDS MVP not named "Verlander?"
• Were the struggles of Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera in the ALDS over-amplified?.
• The bullpen scares us.
• Game 4 fallout!
• Jose Valverde isn't the worst closer in baseball. But he did pick the worst time possible to blow up.
• The team follows Jim Leyland's lead. He took the correct course of action after the horrific game 4 loss, saying that it was a great baseball game and they'll get 'em in game 5. Which they did.
• If players treated each game like the fans their heads would explode well before the end of the season.
• The Tigers are going to be damn hard to beat in a short series.
• Do you prefer how the Tigers match up with the Yankees or having home field advantage against the Orioles?
• The vocal "FIRE LEYLAND" brigade is still making a ridiculous amount of noise. Words fail me...
• All 4 division series go to a game 5. It's a great time to be a baseball fan. Everything is not only coming up Milhouse, but coming up Bud as well.
• Kurt says the Tigers win the ALCS in 6 games, doesn't matter who they play. Al realizes we're actually living through a golden age of Detroit Tigers baseball.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!

Kurt and Alli return for this week's Bless You Boys Podcast, joining Al to preview the Detroit Tigers vs the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS, reflect on Miguel Cabrera accomplishing what was thought no longer possible, winning a Triple Crown and ask why sabermatricians with a bully pulpit despise "normal" fans.

BYB Podcast 59 had a running time of 1:10 and features Kurt Mensching, Al Beaton and Allison Hagen.

Topics:

• We didn't expect to be talking playoffs 2 weeks ago. Yet here we are preparing for the ALDS.
• Does the 2-3 format for the ALDS work in the Tigers' favor?
• What scares you about the A's?
• Are the A's just happy to be in the playoffs?
• The state of the Tigers as they head into the playoffs.
• Who makes the ALDS roster?
• Brennan Boesch? Really?
• Rick Porcello or Drew Smyly?
• Anyone trust Brayan Villarreal in a high leverage situation?
• Tigers or A's, who moves on the ALCS?
• TRIPLE CROWN!
• Anyone else get the nagging feeling Cabrera's remarkable accomplishment isn’t getting the accolades it deserves?
• What's next for Cabrera?
• What’s more annoying? Media members who dismiss advanced metrics despite not knowing a damn thing about them or sabermatricians/internet writers who think those who aren’t interested in advanced stats are knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing morons...which describes the attitudes anyone who writes for Fangraphs. Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Think Factory, Keith Law and Brian Kenny, to name a vocal few.
• What hath Bill James wrought? I loved his Baseball Abstracts. I don't love being told what is the "correct" way to watch baseball, which is what many of the new breed of sabermatricians revel in doing.
• Advanced stats should be enlightening and expand horizons, not used as a weapon to attack those with differing opinions.
• Want fans to buy into sabermetrics? Don't talk down to them or belittle their beliefs.
• The Boston Red Sox fire Bobby Valentine. BWAHAHAHA! Should have hired Gene Lamont.
• Terry Francona is just using the Cleveland Indians.
• Text Allison at your peril during Saturday's game! She'll be on a score embargo for a couple of hours.
• The AL MVP is Miguel Cabrera.
• Tigers fans better be consistent, for better or worse. Don't trash advanced metrics to make Miguel Cabrera's MVP case, then use them make a Cy Young case for Justin Verlander.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!