“I have trouble sleeping,” is how the Chicago-based media producer who goes by Mr. King starts to explain his latest venture.

It’s a radio broadcast of a baseball game. It’s completely fictional. And it’s designed to put you to sleep. “I make dumb YouTube videos and now the world’s best fake baseball podcast,” Mr. King joked.

Northwoods Baseball Sleep Radio: Big Rapids Timbers vs. The Cadillac Cars

“I experimented with listening to podcasts and white noise, and I found I liked to fall asleep by listening to a west coast game that I didn’t really care about,” Mr. King continued. “But I would always get jarred by the commercials suddenly yelling at you about a Ford F-150 or something.” And thus, he struck upon an idea: “What if there was a baseball game you could listen to, and there was no yelling, commercials at the same audio level, and you could actually fall asleep to it?”

“It’s a terribly weird idea, and I just went for it,” he said.

That’s how Northwoods Baseball Sleep Radio was born. The domain of sleepbaseball.com was registered, and the first game was produced. As for using the name of an existing league, that was unintentional … maybe. “I did know that there was a real Northwoods League at one time, but then I forgot about it, and then realized it again when I went to register a domain,” Mr. King explained. “I’m hoping not to get sued, or maybe I am, as I can then own the real Northwoods League and that will be part of my empire.” Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s Chin Music is a little bit late but it’s for a good reason, as we finally had baseball news on Thursday with Major League Baseball and the MLBPA meeting for the first time since the lockout began six weeks ago. To discuss said news, I’m joined by the inimitable Jeff Passan of ESPN. We begin by spending over an hour discussing what happened yesterday, how we got to this point, and where we go from here. Then it’s your emails on how the union works, teams trading away players they didn’t mean to, and diversity in baseball hiring, followed by some discussion of the HBO mini-series Station Eleven and the exceptionally pleasant video game experience that is Lake. As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Music by Nervous Curtains.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Warning One: While ostensibly a podcast about baseball, these conversations often veer into other subjects.

Warning Two: There is explicit language.

Run Time: 2:07:31.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Chin Music enters 2022 with more prospect talk, which means another co-hosting spot from the always entertaining Eric Longenhagen, as we ramble for two hours and don’t even need a guest to do it. We begin by talking about the current state of the pandemic and if professional baseball is even tenable given these circumstances. Then, after a brief chat about news from the world of media, Eric and I get into the weeds on prospects, with an in-depth discussion about the farm systems of the Blue Jays, Brewers and Tigers, whose prospect lists were published at FanGraphs since we last spoke. Then it’s your emails on failed (or not as failed as you think) top draft picks, prospect trades, and kitchen gadgets, followed by some video game and podcast recommendations. As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Music by Strangelight.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Warning One: While ostensibly a podcast about baseball, these conversations often veer into other subjects.

Warning Two: There is explicit language.

Run Time: 2:07:31

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It’s the holiday season. Maybe you are traveling (stay safe), maybe you just need a break from your family. Either way, the always wonderful Jon Tayler and I will try to help get you through it with a brief (for us, at least) holiday mailbag edition of Chin Music. We talk about Twitter weirdos, MLB mailing lists, the risks of tanking, the 2013 draft, the Angels, name mispellings [sic], space travel and oh so much more. As always, we hope you enjoy, and wish you all a safe and lovely holiday season.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Warning One: While ostensibly a podcast about baseball, these conversations often veer into other subjects.

Warning Two: There is explicit language.

Run Time: 1:13:46

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The off-season may be at a standstill, but prospect season is rolling along, so I’m joined by returning co-host Eric Longenhagen for some in-depth breakdowns on this week’s Chin Music. After a quick discussion of weather wackiness, very old houses, and watching winter league baseball, Eric and I spend nearly an hour walking through the systems of the Cubs, Angels, and Athletics, whose prospect lists were published this week at FanGraphs. Then we are joined by Ryan Thibodaux, better know as the person behind The Baseball Hall Of Fame Tracker, who explains (or at least tries to) why he does that, why some people take this way too seriously, and believe it or not, accupuncture. Then it’s your emails on Frankenstein players and our baseball movie ideas, followed by some Moments of Culture. As always, we hope you enjoy, and thank you for listening.

Music by Dead Best.

Have a question you’d like answered on the show? Ask us anything at chinmusic@fangraphs.com.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Warning One: While ostensibly a podcast about baseball, these conversations often veer into other subjects.

Warning Two: There is explicit language.

Run Time: 2:17:19

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