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Skin in the Game

The Best of Baseball with Tim O’Shei

Published August 30, 2025 at 4:00 PM EDT

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Mariann Do

This week on Skin in the Game, Tim O’Shei cues up a baseball special that spans sandlots to the show. We’ve dug into the archives and curated a program that looks at America’s pastime from different perspectives. Mike Buczkowski, president of Rich Baseball Operations, shares how Bisons baseball fuels Buffalo’s identity—from big-league ambitions in the ’90s to today’s role anchoring downtown. Michelle Seniuk, the Blue Jays’ senior vice president of fan experience and concessions, pulls back the curtain on Toronto’s reimagined ballpark culture and the multi-year Rogers Centre makeover built around inclusive, social spaces. Trailblazer Kate Brownell reflects on life after becoming the only Little Leaguer ever to throw a perfect game—and how grit and grace outlast a viral moment. Rob Perez of the Tri-City Chili Peppers and Cosmic Baseball talks about the game’s pop-culture moment and authors Will Bardenwerper (“Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America”) and Mark Sommer (“Rocky Colavito: Cleveland’s Iconic Slugger”) round out the lineup with stories of small-town resilience and the celebration of an icon whose legend still resonates.

Skin in the Game | Season 1

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