As a hardcore baseball fan since my teenage years, it’s no surprise that I enjoy watching baseball related content on YouTube. However, my real attraction to the sport is its deep, rich history and how deeply you can delve into statistics and how they can tell a story like they can in no other sport. Thus, my baseball content tends to lean towards the statistical and historical side of video essays, although I enjoy a lighthearted baseball-related video here and there. Here are my six favorite MLB baseball-related YouTube channels, plus a couple of honorable mentions.
In his YouTube profile, he refers to himself as “the inventor of baseball,” which is obviously a tongue-in-cheek joke. He may not have nearly as many videos as other channels on my list, but his content is extremely high-quality and well-researched.
On top of his looks at obscure moments in baseball history, the Historian also has a series he calls Baseball Dudes, who are players that are “More than Guys, but not quite Great; they’re Dudes.” The series includes good, but not great players like Brian Wilson, Bernie Williams, and David Wells who are also really interesting personalities off the field.
Foolish Baseball (Baseball Bits)
It’s hard to believe that Foolish Baseball began as an Out of the Park Baseball 19 tutorial channel on YouTube. While I certainly enjoy OOTP content, I first started watching Bailey’s channel when I stumbled across an episode of the series that made him famous, Baseball Bits.
This baseball video essay series analyzes neat tidbits from baseball’s past, including some players you may have never heard of, such as Old Hoss Radbourn (I had because I am a nerd). What sets this series apart from other baseball series is its retro gaming aesthetic in addition to its extremely well-produced content. Bailey also has a separate channel where he posts much more often called Foolish Bailey for non-Baseball Bits content.
Perhaps the most prolific poster on this list, iTalk Studios stays on top of everything happening in baseball. His channel focuses on need-to-know baseball news. He has a very balanced, journalistic approach to his videos, although you can tell what his personal opinions are on many happenings in the sport. Also, as a Red Sox fan himself, you can tell he definitely leans hard into Boston baseball. Being from Boston myself, and a Red Sox fan since 2000, it doesn’t bother me, although I’m sure his pro-Boston leanings is annoying to other baseball fans.
Jolly Olive has quickly become one of my favorite baseball YouTubers, and he’s only been making videos for the past two years, posting weekly since 2021. His video essays are top-notch, and while not quite on the level of Baseball Bits, they are always enjoyable to watch whenever they pop up in my notifications.
But, his content doesn’t stop there. He also has a podcast called Shea Station which he co-hosts with former New York Mets pitcher Jerry Blevins! There’s a new episode after every Mets series, so if you’re a Mets fan – and really even if you’re not – it’s well worth checking out!
This mostly stat-focused channel is probably one of the more underrated baseball channels on YouTube. He also contributes to Stark Raving Sports on a semi-regular basis, which is part of the reason his personal channel has begun to take off itself. He only posts bi-weekly on his personal channel, but his videos are worth the wait.
One of my favorite series he contributes to is called “The Butterfly Effect” which he produces for Stark Raving Sports (see below). These video essays look at how one singular event in baseball history led to a chain reaction that eventually led to another much better known event. As a history enthusiast myself, this series is particularly great, although it’s currently on hiatus, perhaps due to the crazy amounts of research that have to go into each video.
With multiple contributors, Stark Raving Sports has a good mix of content, even if not all of it baseball. As I actually enjoy basketball and football as well, I find myself watching plenty of content from this channel even when it’s not baseball related.
My Honorable Mentions include FivePoints Vids and Secret Base; they didn’t make the proper list as much of their content has to do with basketball and football much more than baseball. I will be certain to mention videos from these channels in future posts on my site, however. With FivePoints Vids, you can find most if not all of his baseball related videos in this MLB and Baseball playlist. For the Secret Base channel, I highly recommend their Dorktown series, which has an excellent documentary about the history of the Seattle Mariners, among other great baseball topics.
What are your favorite sports-related YouTube channels, baseball or otherwise?
