Molly Knight and Joe Posnanski want to share ‘The Joy of Baseball’

Baseball fans seeking a fun, uplifting listen might want to tune in to Molly Knight and Joe Posnanski’s podcast.

The two longtime MLB writers launched a podcast last month, The Joy of Baseball. In each episode, they invite guests to discuss the sport they love. So far, the podcast has featured luminaries including documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, sportscaster Jason Benetti, comedy writer Megan Amram, and television writer and producer Mike Schur.

The concept is simple: a discussion of what makes baseball special. The inspiration is slightly surprising: Elizabeth Olsen’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“She had a movie coming out, and he was asking her questions about the movie, and it was so clear how much she just wanted to talk about the Dodgers,” Posnanski told Awful Announcing. “She just wanted to talk about baseball, and it was like the joy in her face.”

As media members, we’ve all spoken to someone who is clearly uninterested. Sometimes it’s because they’re exhausted from a press tour. Other times, they don’t want to answer the question.

That’s why it can be a delightful surprise when a celebrity, athlete, or coach is enthusiastic about an interview. Olsen’s energy and enthusiasm sparked the idea for a podcast dedicated to conversations about why people love baseball.

“The Dodgers just won the World Series again,” Knight said. “And she was so excited to be there the same night they were. She wore a little Dodgers outfit and was so nervous to talk to them backstage. We both have a lot of experience, obviously, trying to get famous or important people to talk to us. And it’s usually a drag. We realized, ‘Oh my God, imagine if a celebrity just got to go on a talk show or whatever instead of being asked about their personal life or their work for the 500th time, or some weird professional problem they have with another actor; they just got to talk about this thing they loved, and that brought them so much joy.’”

Starting a podcast is one thing. Maintaining it and securing regular guests is another. So far, that hasn’t been a problem.

Knight and Posnanski are both New York Times bestselling authors. They have several contacts, sources, and people eager to talk baseball.

“It’s been surprising, I would say, how it’s been pretty easy to get people to say yes,” Knight said. “We tell them what it is. We’re like, it’s just 45 minutes talking about baseball and why you love it and telling stories about how you fell in love with it and your daily neuroses or whatever. And people are like, ‘Yes, (I’m) in, love it.’ Just a lot easier than asking someone to talk about their creative process or their love life or their whatever.”

The Joy of Baseball debuted on Aug. 11, with Schur as its first guest. This tracks. Posnanski and Schur have their own podcast, The PosCast with Joe Posnanski & Michael Schur. They are longtime friends and released a book, Big Fan, earlier this year.

“It was so fun to have him kick this thing off because, obviously, we’ve been friends for almost 20 years.,” Posnanski said. “And he and Molly have been friends for a long time now too…

“He tells an incredible story about 9/11 in that episode. He hadn’t told that story very often. It’s just beautiful. So, would we want Mike on more often? Of course we would. We’ll take him on anytime he wants to come.”

The highlight of the podcast so far might be the episode featuring Burns. Burns’ Baseball documentary series is required viewing for any baseball fan. Having Burns on the podcast was a major coup, especially for one particular The Joy of Baseball listener.

“So my mom is great,” Knight said. “She’s my biggest supporter, but she’s a pretty even-keeled lady. She was a fifth-grade teacher and pretty rock-solid. She’s only texted me in all caps with exclamation points like twice in my life. One was when the book I wrote made the New York Times bestseller list. And the other was when I told her we were getting Ken Burns on our podcast. So, like, ‘OMG, all caps, exclamation points.’”

Baseball is entering its best time of year. The playoffs start next month, and plenty of compelling storylines await. However, a work stoppage is likely in 2027, as the collective bargaining agreement expires in December. While that is disheartening, The Joy of Baseball focuses on the good in the game.

“If you love baseball, I think you want a little bit of that in your life,” Posnanski said. “The season is going on, and now is a good moment, but we all know what’s coming. We all know there’s likely to be a lockout. We all know it’s likely to last a while. We all know it’s going to be ugly. We’ve been through this nonsense before. And then there are a bunch of people out there who are mad at the Dodgers, who think the game isn’t fair, but they still love this game. They want to feel that love.”