B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 55 – October 5, 2026
Department of Corrections: I incorrectly reported last week that George Brindley had changed his last name to Rubin. The Picayune regrets the error.
Pre-game Quote of the Day: Scott Wright, during C League play: “I feel like I smoked a bunch of dope last night.” (Scott went 3 for 3 with three RBI in Maroon’s game.)
Games of Monday October 5:
10:30 a.m.: Green (2-5) at Purple (3-5):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Green 4 5 5 5 X 19 Purple 3 1 2 0 2 8 Pitchers: Green – Spike Davidson; Purple – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Green – Tom Bellavia; Purple – Daniel Baladez, Rich Brendahl, Donnie Janac, and Jeff Stone. Umpires: home – Anthony Galindo; bases – Ralph Villela, Dave Berra, and David Brown. Perfect at the plate: Green – Tom Bellavia (3 for 3 with two doubles and a triple), Spike Davidson (3 for 3 – Ohtani Award), Doc Hobar (4 for 4), Rex Horvath (2 for 2 with a walk and two doubles), and Terry O'Brien (3 for 3 with a double); Purple – Shane Hill, Jack McDermott, and Jeff Stone (all 3 for 3) and Mike Malay (3 for 3 with a double). Home run: Mike Garrison (inside the park) (5).
Boosted by the return of Terry O’Brien, Green put on a hitting clinic, scoring 19 of a possible 20 runs over its four at bats, leaving Purple team reeling. Mike Garrison set the tone, driving in the first three runs of the game with an inside-the-park home run on a drive to the fence in left field that scored Doc Hobar (lead-off single) and Rex Horvath (double past third base) ahead of him. Maroon added another run on consecutive two-out singles by Terry O’Brien (line drive to right field, like he’d never been away), Spike Davidson, and Ivan Budiselic – Ivan grounded to second baseman Mike Malay, who threw late to second trying to force out Steve Sandall, running for Spike, and Terry scored when the ball was mishandled.
Mike Garrison’s fifth home run of the season drove in the game’s first three runs in the top of the first.
Purple scored three runs with two out in the home half of the first. Patrick Schmidt led off with a single, but was erased when Spike Davidson made an excellent play on Rick Kahn’s hard grounder back to the box and started a 1-6-3 double play, Rex Horvath making a very nice pivot on the play. The next four batters singled, three scoring: Jimmy Sneed went first to third on Mike Malay’s hit to left field and scored when the throw in was misplayed; Mike took third on Shane Hill’s hit, a liner to right field, Shane taking second on the throw; and both Mike and Shane scored on Jack McDermott’s line hit to left.
Green won each of the next three innings decisively, scoring five times in each. In the third they did it with a lead-off triple by Tom Bellavia, four singles, Rex Horvath’s walk, Mike Garrison’s sacrifice fly to left fielder Patrick Schmidt, who made an excellent shoestring catch of Mike’s liner, and Terry O’Brien’s double. Purple got a single run back in the home half on three singles, the inning ending with second baseman Terry O’Brien making a terrific play to his left to short-hop Rick Kahn’s smash and toss Rick out.
Jeff Stone got Ivan Budiselic to ground out to first baseman Shane Hill to start the third inning, but the next six Maroon batters hit safely: Chunky Wright singled; Tom Bellavia drove in Mike Garrison, running for Chunky, with a double through the 5-6 hole; Doc Hobar’s single past third base put runners on the corners; and the next three batters delivered two-base hits – Steve Sandall’s line double to right drove in Tom, Rex Horvath’s flyball double drove in Doc and Steve; and Mike Garrison’s line double to center field drove in Rex.
Five of Purple’s first six batters hit safely in the bottom of the third, but they came away with only two runs. Jimmy Sneed hit a short pop in front of third base for a single to open the frame, then scored from first on Mike Malay’s double, a drive deep to center field. Shane Hill singled past first base into right field, Mike taking third. Jack McDermott’s Texas League single to left brought in Mike. Spike Davidson caught Billy Hill looking at a called strike three, a pitch that just clipped the mat, for the first out. Jeff Stone lined a single up the middle to load the bases, but Spike escaped the jam, catching Donnie Janac’s pop up (an infield fly), then getting Daniel Baladez to ground to third baseman Ivan Budiselic, who beat Jack to the bag for the third out.
Maroon kept hitting in the fourth, again scoring five times, all the runs coming across after two were out. Terry O’Brien and Spike Davidson singled with one out, each completing 3-for-3 games. Ivan Budiselic hit into a 4-6 force for the second out. The next four batters reached base. Chunky Wright grounded to third baseman Rich Brendahl, who threw past second, Terry scoring. Tom Bellavia knocked his third extra-base hit in as many at bats, a double to the fence in right-center that drove in both Ivan and Mike Garrison, running for Spike, Tom taking third on the throw home. Doc Hobar knocked his fourth single, a line drive up the middle that scored Tom. And Steve Sandall ripped his second double, another line drive to right field, Doc scoring from first.
Spike Davidson blanked Purple in the bottom of the fourth. He got Rich Brendahl to ground back to the box, then retired Patrick Schmidt on a pop behind first base, Terry O’Brien ranging back and to his left to run the ball down, a terrific catch. Rick Kahn singled, but Spike got Jimmy Sneed to pop out to third baseman Ivan Budiselic.
With Green leading by 12, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Mike Malay, Shane Hill, and Jack McDermott each singled to start the inning, all three completing 3-for-3 games, loading the bases. Billy Hill hit a sharp grounder down the third base that Ivan Budiselic knocked down near the bag; shortstop Rex Horvath got to the ball, picked it up, stepped over Ivan (fancy footwork, Rex’s new knee performing splendidly), and tagged the bag before Shane could get there, for the first out; Patrick Schmidt, running for Mike, scored on the play. Jeff Stone’s Texas League single to left-center brought in Jack with the second run of the inning. Donnie Janac flied out to Larry Fiorentino in right-center, the runners holding. Daniel Baladez lined a single to left field, but forgot he had Jack McDermott running for him from home, and passed the commit line and was called out, ending the game.
Final score: Green 19, Purple 8, Green posting its first win as visitors this session, Purple falling to 0-5 at home for the session.
Spike Davidson was 3 for 3 at the plate while pitching Green to victory, earning his seventh Ohtani Award of the season.
Jeff Stone was also 3 for 3 at the plate, but had to settle for a No-Tahni Award.
11:30 a.m.: Red (4-4) at Gray (5-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 5 3 0 2 3 5 18 Gray 3 4 0 3 1 0 11 Pitchers: Red – Trent Peacock; Gray – Luis Sanchdez. Mercenaries: Red – Terry O'Brien; Gray – Ken Brown, Jack McDermott, Patrick Schmidt, and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – Rex Horvath; bases – Mike Malahy. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Coles (4 for 4 with a double) and Johnny Lee and Terry O'Brien (both 4 for 4); Gray – Luis Sanchez (4 for 4 with a double and a triple) and Jack Spellman (2 for 2 with a walk).
Dave Berra’s weather report: 82°, feels like 84°; humidity 52%; sunny; wind from the Northeast at 12 MPH, a nice breeze blowing out to right.
ASSL weather interns Eva and Liz enjoy the great conditions.
The strong hitting continued early on in this game. Red burst out of the gate, scoring five times while making just one out in the top of the first on three singles, Anthony Galindo’s triple (drove in Ralph Villela with the game’s first run), doubles by Tim Coles (driving in Anthony) and Trent Peacock (driving in the third and fourth runs), and a walk drawn by Candy Perez.
Gray got three runs back in the home half, on four singles, Mike Nagy’s RBI force-out grounder, and Clint Fletcher’s walk, the runs all coming across after two were out.
Gray then won the second inning, holding Red to three runs in the top half. Terry O’Brien singled with one out and was forced at second on Ralph Villela’s grounder back to the box, Luis Sanchez making a good play to snag the ball. Mark Dolan followed with a single. Anthony Galindo tripled home Ralph and Mark and then scored on Tim Coles’s base hit. Candy Perez drove a pitch to deep left field, but Mike Nagy made an outstanding catch, falling backwards to the ground but holding on to the ball.
Gray then scored four runs, its first five batters reaching base. Jack Spellman and Patrick Schmidt singled and Paul Rubin walked to load the bases. Clint Fletcher’s double drove in Spellman and Patrick. Luis Sanchez ripped a triple to right-center, driving in Paul and Clint. It looked like an easy five-run inning for Gray, with four in, the fifth on third base, and no out, but Trent Peacock got out of the pickle. He got Mike Velaney to hit a two-strike foul for the first out. Mike Nagy squared up on a pitch, but his liner was hit right at shortstop Ralph Villela for the second out. Jim McAnelly, with Clint Fletcher running for him from home, grounded a ball to shortstop; if Ralph had thrown to first, Clint might well have beaten the ball out, but Ralph made the quick, smart decision to throw home to catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft, putting out Luis, who’d broken on contact – wicked smart play by Ralph.
Neither team scored in the third, both turning inning-ending double plays. Johnny Lee led off the top of the inning with a single, but his pinch-runner was forced at second on Trent Peacock’s grounder to second baseman Mike Velaney. Mike then made a very nice turn on a 1-4-3 double play on Richard Battle’s one-hopper back to pitcher Luis Sanchez. Jack McDermott singled and Jack Spellman walked with one out in the bottom of the frame, but Ralph Villela, shading up the middle, fielded Patrick Schmidt’s grounder and turned a 6u., 6-3 double play.
Red extended its lead to 10-7 with two runs in the top of the fouth. Marvin Krabbenhoft walked and Terry O’Brien singled to open the inning. Ralph Villela followed with a drive to left field; Marvin’s pinch-runner scored easily, but Terry held up at third. Ralph didn’t realize this until he was over halfway to third himself. Meanwhile, left fielder Mike Nagy made a strong throw to the cutoff man, shortstop Jack Spellman, who threw to third baseman Tim Coles. Ralph retreated to second, but Tim snapped a throw to second baseman Mike Velaney, who held on while Ralph ran into the tag for the first out of the inning, 7-6-5-4. Mark Dolan’s single brought in Terry with the second run of the inning. Luis Sanchez got Anthony Galindo to hit a two-strike foul for the second out. Tim Coles singled, Mark taking third, but Jack McDermott made a good catch of Candy Perez’s fly to deep left-center field. (The gusting breeze made outfield play an adventure all day.)
Gray then tied the score with three runs in the bottom half, kept from taking the league by a gloriously weird double play that squelched the rally despite Gray getting hits from five of the six batters it sent to the plate in the inning. Paul Rubin led off with a line double down the left-field line. Paul held on Clint Fletcher’s hard ground out to second baseman Candy Perez, then scored on Luis Sanchez’s double to right. Mike Velaney singled, putting runners at the corners. Mike Nagy also singled, Luis scoring, Mike V. stopping at second.
Then came what Mike Velaney later accurately called “The Debacle.” Jim McAnelly, with Clint Fletcher running for him from home, lined a single up the middle. Mike Velaney scored (which most of us missed in the moment), and Mike Nagy raced to third, beating the throw and stepping on the bag; but Mike N.’s momentum took him a step past the base, and third baseman Tim Coles alertly tagged him out; meanwhile, Clint had taken an aggressive turn at first, and seeing the throw go to third, took off for second, forgetting he was a runner from home and couldn’t do so. I (and maybe others) yelled from the visitors dugout for him not to do it, but Clint didn’t hear us in the heat of the moment and raced past second base. Clint was called out, completing a double play that I don’t know how you’d score: maybe “7-5, umpire’s decision”? Gray had been very close to having three runs in, two on, and one out, but instead it was a 10-10 game entering the final five-run inning.
Red reclaimed the lead with three runs on five singles, the last three with two out, in the top half, and Trent Peacock, with help from another inning-ending double play, protected it in the bottom half. Gray got one run on singles by three of its first four batters: Ken Brown, Jack Spellman, and Patrick Schmidt got the hits; Jack McDermott squared up a pitch, but hit it directly at shortstop Ralph Villela for the first out. With runners on first and second, Paul Rubin hit a sharp grounder to Ralph, who threw to Tim Coles at third to force out Spellman; Tim then threw over my head back to second baseman Candy Perez to put out Patrick on a bang-bang play, completing a 6-5-4 double play.
Red then put the game away with five runs in the top of the buffet, again coming through with a key two-out hit. Four of Red’s first five batters singled, two runs scoring. Luis Sanchez got Marvin Krabbenhoft to fly out to Jack McDermott in left-center for the second out. Terry O’Brien singled, his fourth hit in as many at bats in this game, his seventh in seven at bats for the day. That loaded the bases for Ralph Villela, a situation that went about as well for Gray as you would expect: Ralph ripped a triple, I think to right-center, clearing the bases and putting Red ahead 18-11 in actuality, though in the moment we thought it was 18-10, having forgotten to count Mike Velaney’s run back in the fourth inning. There was a brief discussion of whether to flip-flop, but it was decided to play on. Luis got Mark Dolan to ground out to first baseman Clint Fletcher to end the inning.
Gray came up needing seven (we thought eight) to tie, but couldn’t get much going. Clint Fletcher flied out to Terry O’Brien in left-center. Luis Sanchez singled, completing a 4-for-4 game, missing the cycle by a homer. Mike Velaney flied out to Richard Battle in left field. Mike Nagy hit a sharp grounder to the right of second base; Candy Perez made a good play moving to his right to knock the ball down, then corralled it and stepped on second for the game-ending force.
Final score: Red 18, Gray 11, Gray suffering its first loss of the session as home team.
Luis Sanchez had a great day at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a double, a triple, three RBI, and two runs scored, earning himself a No-Tahni Award.
12:30 p.m.: Orange (3-5) at Maroon (6-2):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Orange 0 0 5 0 3 8 Maroon 5 5 3 3 X 16 Pitchers: Orange – Tommy Deleon (innings 1-2) and Trent Peacock (innings 2-4); Maroon – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Orange – Trent Peacock and Ralph Villela; David Brown entered for Tommy Deleon in the second inning. Umpires: home – Jim McAnelly; bases – Clint Fletcher. Perfect at the plate: Orange – David Brown (1 for 1 with a walk), Jack Spellman (3 for 3), and Ralph Villela (2 for 2 with a double); Maroon – Steve Browne (3 for 3 with a double and a triple), Tony Garcia (3 for 3 with a double), and Scott Wright (3 for 3). Home run: Pat Scott (inside the park) (3).
Dave Berra’s weather update: About two degrees warmer.
Maroon seized control of this one early, and never let go. No doubt inspired by the excellent team patch Tony Garcia created with AI assistance…
…the Scotty’s Maroon Meanies came out hitting, scoring five times in each of the first two innings after Jeff Stone had blanked Orange on a lone single in each of the top halves. They did it with four singles and doubles by Steve Browne (leading off) and Tony Garcia (driving in the first two runs) in the first, all the balls hit hard. David Pittard brought in the fifth run with a sacrifice fly to right fielder David Schneider, who made a nice catch charging in, but had no chance of throwing out Ken Brown.
In the second, Maroon’s first six batters singled – a couple or three of these were Texas Leaguers, but none were close to being caught. Following the fifth, by Scott Wright to drive in the third and fourth runs, Tommy Deleon removed himself from the game, having twisted his knee and wisely deciding not to risk more serious injury. David Brown entered the game and took over at first base, with Trent Peacock moving from first to the mound. The first batter Trent faced, Ken Brown, drove in the fifth run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to Pat Scott in right-center – again, no possibility of throwing out Tony Garcia scoring from third.
Orange got on the board in the top of the third, scoring five runs. Ralph Villela led off with a double and took third on Trent Peacock’s ground out to second baseman Scott Wright. David Brown, batting in Tommy Deleon’s lead-off spot, drew a walk. Jack Spellman’s single to the right side drove in Ralph. Pat Scott then stepped up and drove a pitch to left-center, over the head of George Brindley and to the fence for a three-run inside-the-park homer, Pat’s third of the season.
Jeff Grandcolas then tripled to right-center (I think it was), his first hit as a member of Orange team.
Know Your B-Leaguer: Jeff Grandcolas is unfazed by the pressure of being B Team’s savior.
Don Solberg singled in Jeff with the fifth run.
Maroon got three runs back in the bottom half of the third. Jeff Stone and Fritz Hensel walked to start the inning, and their pinch-runners both scored on Alan Phillips’s double, a line shot to left-center. Alan scored on Steve Browne’s two-out triple.
Jeff Stone held Orange scoreless in the top of the fourth. Matt Levitt singled leading off, but Jeff got David Schneider to fly out to Ken Brown in right-center and Hal Darman to ground into an around-the-horn double play, David Pittard to Scott Wright to Dale Fugate.
Maroon extended its lead to 11 runs with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Tony Garcia and Scott Wright led off with sigles, both completing 3-for-3 games. Ken Brown doubled in Tony. As Jeff Stone stepped up to the plate, Orange manager Dave Berra reminded him that he needed to reach base to secure an Ohtani Award. “Why did you tell me that?!?” cried Jeff, who then popped out to second. Fritz Hensel singled, Scott scoring and Ken taking third. David Pittard hit his second sacrifice fly of the game, again to right fielder David Schneider, to drive in Ken.
In-game Quote of the Day: Tim Coles, after Paul Rubin pointed out that Tim couldn’t pinch-run in the top of the buffet, having taken a pinch-runner earlier in the inning: “I was a little injured before. I’m not injured now.”
Orange opened the buffet with four consecutive singles, Ralph Villela, David Brown, and Jack Spellman completing perfect games at the plate. (Spellman’s combined exit velocity on his three singles was around 40 MPH – as ever, it’s better to be lucky than good.) Ralph scored on David’s hit, and Matt Levitt ran for David. Jeff Stone caught Pat Scott looking at a called strike three, an unhittable pitch that clipped the front edge of the mat, for the first out, then got Jeff Grandcolas to hit a two-strike foul for the second. Don Solberg came up with the bases loaded, Trent on third, Matt on second, and Matt also on deck. Realizing this, Don Solberg refused a walk, then picked out a 3-2 pitch and laced it into right-center field for a two-run single, Matt scoring and then grabbing a bat and going up to hit. He flied a ball out to left field, where Steve Browne made a fine running catch to his right for the final out.
Final score: Maroon 16, Orange 8
Session 4 standings:
| Session 4 standings: | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Maroon | 7 | 2 | .778 | 0 | 129 | 92 | 37 | W1 |
| Gray | 5 | 3 | .625 | 1.5 | 123 | 109 | 14 | L1 |
| Red | 5 | 4 | .556 | 2 | 127 | 125 | 2 | W2 |
| Blue | 4 | 4 | .500 | 2.5 | 92 | 80 | 12 | W1 |
| Green | 3 | 5 | .375 | 3.5 | 104 | 102 | 2 | W1 |
| Purple | 3 | 6 | .333 | 4 | 114 | 132 | -18 | L1 |
| Orange | 3 | 6 | .333 | 4 | 67 | 116 | -49 | L2 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | Last 5 | ||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | games: | ||
| Maroon | 4-2 | 3-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | WLWLW | |
| Gray | 3-1 | 2-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 2-1 | WLWWL | |
| Red | 2-1 | 3-3 | 1 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 1-2 | LLLWW | |
| Blue | 4-1 | 0-3 | 2 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 2-1 | LLWLW | |
| Green | 2-1 | 1-4 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-2 | WWLLW | |
| Purple | 0-5 | 3-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | WWLWL | |
| Orange | 2-2 | 1-4 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-0 | LWWLL | |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 4 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 29 | |
| Gray | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 19 | |
| Green | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 24 | |
| Maroon | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 31 | |
| Orange | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 21 | |
| Purple | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 17 | |
| Red | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 21 | |
| TOTAL: | 17 | 26 | 23 | 15 | 25 | 31 | 25 | 162 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Terry O’Brien – 10
Ralph Villela – 9
Steve Browne – 6
Mike Garrison – 5
Trent Peacock – 5
Tony Garcia – 4
David Brown – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Jack McDermott – 3
Alan Phillips – 3
Pat Scott – 3
Jack Spellman – 3
Scott Wright – 3
Richard Battle – 2
George Brindley – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tommy Gillis – 2
Rick Kahn – 2
Bobby Miller – 2
Scott Rokita – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Tom Bellavia – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
Ivan Budiselic – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Jim Foelker – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Mike Malay – 1
David Pittard – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Steve Sandall – 1
Patrick Schmidt – 1
Hit for the cycle:
Ralph Villela – May 26
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 8 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16, June 22, June 25, June 29, July 9)
Ray Pilgrim: 8 (March 5, March 23, March 26, June 1, July 2, July 9, August 17, August 27)
Spike Davidson: 7 (May 4, July 2, July 20, August 6, August 20, September 17, October 5)
Tommy Deleon: 6 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6, July 30, September 24)
Jeff Stone: 3 (March 2, July 9, September 8)
Trent Peacock: 2 (March 9, August 3)
Luis Sanchez: 2 (September 8, September 28)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Jack Kelly: 1 (August 3)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Schedule for Thursday October 8:
10:30 a.m.: Gray (5-3) at Blue (4-4), Purple umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Purple (3-6) at Maroon (7-2), Blue umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Red (5-4) at Orange (3-6), Maroon umpiring
Green has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Is it too soon to start obsessing about full-season standings? Probably, but that’s not going to stop me. Here are the full-season standings at the end of play today:
| Full-season standings: | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win % | GB | |
| Maroon | 31 | 15 | .674 | 0.0 |
| Blue | 29 | 17 | .630 | 2.0 |
| Green | 24 | 23 | .511 | 7.5 |
| Orange | 21 | 25 | .457 | 10.0 |
| Red | 21 | 25 | .457 | 10.0 |
| Gray | 19 | 26 | .422 | 11.5 |
| Purple | 17 | 31 | .354 | 15.0 |
Blue, trying to keep pace with Maroon, plays Gray at 10:30 Thursday. Blue, idle today, leads that season series 4-3 and wants to extend its one-game winning streak. Maroon, with the best full-season record, plays Purple, with the worst, at 11:30. Maroon leads the season series 7-1. Red and Orange are tied for the fourth-best full-season record, which will get that team home-field advantage on the first day of the end-of-season tourney. They play at 12:30. Red leads the season series 4-3. Will the rest of B League celebrate International Podiatry Day by joining me in limping around on an arthritic ankle? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
(Defunct) Podcast review: BBC Ukrainecast
This much-missed podcast was the BBC’s response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It launched on February 24, 2022, the day of the invasion, and eventually produced more than 500 episodes. The principal hosts were BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko, a Ukrainian-born journalist for whom the war was literally a matter of reporting from his backyard. BBC correspondents including James Waterhouse, the great Lyse Doucet, and Sarah Rainsford appeared frequently, alongside military, diplomatic and political experts. In addition to covering battlefield developments, the pod regularly spoke with Ukrainians experiencing the war. There was always a heavy emphasis on the human side of the war—families separated by the invasion, refugees, civilians living under bombardment, and children whose lives had been transformed by years of conflict – and while Victoria was a bit squishily touchy-feely around this, Vitaly balanced it well. Initially ran five times a week,; eventually they cut back to three, then to two, then just discontinued it, for no good reason I can ascertain. It was brilliant at its best, still worth listening to at its weakest. New England content: None to speak of, it was all Ukraine. Canadian content: Ditto. Listening speed: 1X. Rating: 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧