Jacoby Podcast/IF-53.494

=== Hot Mic ===
Jacoby Podcast was a suspected stage name for a pirate radio personality in Baltimore. During the absence of the Crabs, Baltimore's standing within the local theography was called into question, and it was made clear that the municipal organizations in charge of preparedness against divine crisis had been relying far more on the blaseball team than was publicly reported. Investigations into corruption and embezzlement at the local and county level were largely fruitless on the surface, but a hard-to-pinpoint radio host broadcasting on the Wild Low Frequency (WLF) radio band gained infamy at this time for getting deeper into the case than any of the established media organizations; something that honestly didn't surprise anyone because nearly all of Baltimore's media sphere was sensationalist tabloids existing merely as vessels for bad splorts puns.
As tensions grew between the people, the city, and the surrounding godscape, the tone of Jacoby's show shifted into a platform for activist organizations, networking on the behalf of protest cells, unions, civil orgs, irreverent militias, personalities and regular people alike, across the city's social landscape. It became apparent to activist leaders that the show was operating independently, the information the host was receiving was not coming from any particular individual; however, the information and direction on the show was unnaturally accurate, and its greater strategy effective, if a little dramatized in its pacing.
Across the seething streets, in the hideaways and coves, in the homes of the tired and the angry alike, listeners tuned in daily. When the first of many gods crossed the threshold of Baltimore, people were ready. When the municipal staff tried to shred the infrastructure accounts papers, people were ready. When city councilmembers sought to make underhanded deals with the divine in their desperation, the people were there to meet them too.
=== Live Wire ===
Once control of the city tilted in favor of grassroots organizers, Podcast changed gears into juggling several smaller radio projects. They included, but are not limited to:
* Updates and accountability on the now reinvigorated construction projects in the Crabitat, projects in the case of divine retribution that allowed for the corpse stadium to hold the whole city under siege.
* Arthropods of Baltimore, a human interest block (or whatever you would call it for nonhumans) that touched on stories from residents across the Oldest Bay.
* A music and poetry slot dedicated to hyperlocal artists. Many people featured on the slot have no idea how Jacoby got their hands on their work in the first place, and a handful hadn't successfully presented or published their features to begin with.
* A godswatch scanner broadcast which informed what residents were calling the 'New Crabs' or the 'Shadow Crabs' of any divine activity at the borders of the Baltimore domain. While the city got its anti-god infrastructure situated, many credited Jacoby with maintaining the city's hold on the domain by directing those more capable of handling their own against the probing divine.
On the return of the Crabs to the Immaterial Plane, the team was relieved to see the city still standing, better than they left it, even. Seeing how essential Jacoby's directives were to that, how similarly they carried themselves and the Shadow Crabs to the Crabs during the city's last great crisis, the team sought out Podcast in hopes of looping them into the team directly. However, every time the signal was triangulated, the pursuants would arrive at an empty live room, still on air, the seat by the mic still swinging slowly as if the host had left seconds before, always just a moment too late.
Parker Parra hypothesized that Jacoby Podcast was never themselves a person. The voice on the radio was all that there ever was. Following that thread, the Crabs finally got a hold of the figure by calling out for them over Parra's ham radio kit (one of their many abandoned projects), and convinced them to come on-board, followed by a gripping interview that told us all about exactly what happened to the team in the Up and you surely have already heard it by now so the details will not be repeated here.
=== Pitch Perfect ===
How does Jacoby play a game? Well, the answer is very simple.
===Finding a Rock===
When joining the Crabs, Podcast was quick to see co-captain Brock Forbes as a mentor, both in play and outside the diamond. The two of them had similar pitching styles and Forbes was quick to explain the finer points of his plays when Podcast asked. The two fell into a comfortable routine of communication and practice, with Forbes being understanding of Podcast’s competitive nature and tendency to lay face down in the outfield when things weren’t going their way. 
In season 16 after a tumultuous election Forbes was now playing for the Boston Flowers and Podcast playing for the Ohio Worms. Despite attempts from Forbes, Podcast was not receptive to attempts to reach out with cries of being abandoned in Ohio despite reminders from other Worms that this was a regular outcome of the election, and not a personal slight against Podcast themself. On Season 16 day 47 Podcast was forced into a reunion between when the Flowers played in The Wormhole, and the rotation lining up to leave Podcast and Forbes on the mound. The game went into extra innings, with Podcast letting up two home runs in the top of the 14th to end the game.
They refused to speak to Forbes afterwards. 
After a reverb of the Flower’s rotation, Forbes was given another opportunity to pitch against his student on day 75. The game once again went into extra innings, with the Worms being shamed with 2 runs in the bottom of the 10th. This time when Podcast attempted to snub their mentor, Forbes simply applied their considerable experience in martial combat to immobilize Podcast while he talked about his feelings. It is not clear what was said in The Garden but in the weeks since the two have been seen hesitantly meeting up when not in games to practice together.
When speaking of their relationship, Jacoby was quoted as saying “Brock is great and all, but next time we play he won’t make it to extra innings.”
===Crossed Swords===
Podcast and Loubert Ji-Eun disagree on what underground "pirate radio" is.
===Returning to the Crabs===
When Podcast was traded back to the Baltimore Crabs from the Ohio Worms in Season 19, they were aware that their mentor Brock Forbes had left the team, but actually experiencing Baltimore without him was another thing altogether. Podcast quickly found there were plenty of other things to take their mind off of this however, as this was also Podcast’s first time playing and practicing alongside Lorcan Smaht, who Podcast knew better as “that rookie pitcher who showed up to replace me”. Since Smaht emself was unaware of this rivalry, ey frequently took the time to invite Podcast to hang out after practice and be an all around excellent teammate. Luckily Podcast’s feelings on this were interrupted by the attentions of the Crabs newest player, Zeruel Kramer, who was fascinated by Podcast’s pitching, and frequently asked them to model it for zer as ze worked on zer “Arm of God” project. This kind of flattery alongside Kramer’s non-existent pitching skill was quick to win Podcast over, and Kramer even managed to get Podcast to practice what ze called “being okay with being bad at things”. 
Before their journey took them across the league Podcast was delighted to discover that they had developed a strange form of carcinization that picked up where their blacklight mode ended. While at first it only appeared to be a strange noise that Podcast began to emit when angry or excited, with the help of resident Carcinization expert Pedro Davids they were able to pinpoint this as a growl produced by teeth in Podcast’s stomach, much like that of Ghost Crabs, and that Podcast could control the sounds they could produce. Furthermore when they entered blacklight mode it was possible to see them glowing through Podcast’s mouth which they described as “really cool actually”. Upon confirmation of their carcinization the first thing that Podcast did was call Forbes in Boston to tell him about it.