Hello Everyone,
I’m making a Thursday visit to your inbox to announce a new addition to the Project 3.18 family.
If you’ve read even one story here, you know that I use the collective “we” pronoun. “We” is the “editorial” pronoun, and it's become a silly little joke that I use it, but early on it was a way to pretend I wasn’t on my own when I began writing here. Saying “we” made it feel like Project 3.18 was already more than a crazy idea.
Well, today the “we” is more than editorial.
I’m partnering with my great friend, Ted Walker—co-host of the long-running Take Note Podcast, co-creator of a gem of a 2010s baseball superblog, Pitchers and Poets, grad school buddy, and the best man at my wedding. Ted and I are turning some of our favorite baseball stories into a podcast: Clear the Field.
Our amazing logo1.
About Clear the Field
On the show, Ted and I share the stories readers here will enjoy—moments when baseball goes sideways. If Project 3.18 is a well-researched and occasionally zany feature article, Clear the Field is a guided audio tour with a side of banter.
To kick off the podcast, we’re revisiting some of our favorite stories from the Project 3.18 archives. We’re leading with Al Capone, the Stolen Uniform Spree, the White Sox’ Atomic Pennant, and, of course, the Yellow Ball. New episodes will be published every other week, and eventually there will be some pod-exclusive stories that work best in that format.
But rest assured this isn’t just Project 3.18 the Podcast, and the difference is Ted, who is the producer, the host, the commentator, and the fearless vocal impressionist. As you can see from this 2010 photo, taken in the Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery, baseball has been a part of our friendship for a long time. This guy’s been making me laugh for 20 years and writing about baseball just as long. Clear the Field is a true collaboration, and we’re excited to see where it goes.
And here we are in late June 2025, at RoughRiders Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The idea of Clear the Field was born on the bus ride home from this game:
How to Listen
Four episodes are live! You can listen to them here:
Substack | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | RSS Feed
Is Anything Changing at Project 3.18?
Nope!
As a writer, Project 3.18 comes first for me, and I am grateful that you’re a subscriber here. If you’d like to listen and follow Clear the Field “wherever you get your podcasts,” I would love that, but my written, feature-style baseball stories will continue uninterrupted in this space.
I’ll use the bottom of my usual Monday story to mention when Ted and I post a new episode, but if you’re not interested in the podcast, you won’t notice it.
Word-of-Mouth and Online Sharing Supports Our Work
Clear the Field is an effort to bring our particular slice of baseball history into a new medium and reach fans who prefer to listen.
If you, formidable reader, know any such fans, always telling you how much they like an edu-taining, story-forward podcast and are on the hunt for a new one to love, please tell them about our show, made by a prolific writer and a veteran podcaster, drawn from the choicest parts of baseball’s 150 years of history.
Thank you for your support and encouragement all along this now-multimedia journey. Happy reading and/or listening.
A shout-out to the amazing graphic designer and fellow School of the Art Institute of Chicago alum, Ketaki Kulkarni, who has outdone herself yet again with our podcast artwork.
Subscribed!
I’ve let my baseball fanatic acquaintances know about the podcast. So impressed that you continue to move forward, dealing with a topic you love in a way that showcases your talent.