Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a convoluted fun fact, the Cardinals’ anti-vaccination contingent, a historic Red Sox slump, an injury to top draftee Druw Jones, and a Willians Astudillo double-play pitch, Stat Blast (16:00) about Bryan Shaw and late-starting starters (plus an update on zero-RBI cleanup hitters), and share a Past Blast from 1881. Then (30:48) they talk to The Athletic senior writer Evan Drellich about what the end (for now) of negotiations over an international draft portends for the future of the concept and relations between MLB and the MLBPA, the latest legislative challenge to MLB’s antitrust exemption, a settlement in a class-action lawsuit over minor league pay, Rob Manfred’s comment about living wages for minor leaguers, MLB’s broadcasting and blackout plans, and more.

Audio intro: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, “First to Finish, Last to Start”
Audio interstitial: Television Personalities, “Evan Doesn’t Ring Me Anymore”
Audio outro: The New Pornographers, “Chump Change”

Link to fun fact tweet
Link to Goldschmidt/Arenado comments
Link to Mikolas comments
Link to Red Sox slump story
Link to Stathead
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to first-start data
Link to updated zero-RBI records
Link to story about Shaw
Link to Shaw game box score
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1881 story source 1
Link to 1881 story source 2
Link to story on Astudillo double play
Link to Jones injury report
Link to Evan on the international draft
Link to Ken and Maria on the draft
Link to James Wagner on the draft
Link to Evan on the antitrust exemption
Link to Evan on extended spring pay
Link to Forbes on the lawsuit settlement
Link to Hannah Keyser on MiLB pay
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley wrap up the podcast’s 10th anniversary week by doing a dozen listener-inspired Stat Blasts and then (51:53) talking to 42-year-old Red Sox starter and podcast legend Rich Hill about how the game and his game have evolved over his long career, plus (1:31:18) a Past Blast from 1880/postscript.

Audio intro: Silk Sonic, “Blast Off”
Audio interstitial 1: Levon Helm, “The Mountain”
Audio interstitial 2: Esther Rose, “Mountaintop”
Audio outro: This is the Kit, “Keep Going”

Link to Stathead
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to split doubleheaders sheet
Link to zero-RBI records sheet
Link to Ben on Joseph in 2016
Link to non-hit walkoffs sheet
Link to bases-clearing PA sheet
Link to most players managed sheet
Link to no-LOB shutouts list
Link to HR vs. same pitchers sheet
Link to country debuts sheet
Link to Madris story
Link to saves vs. former teams sheet
Link to Kimbrel vs. Jansen story
Link to Dunn/Thome cycle leaders
Link to Stat Blasts on the EW wiki
Link to Hill on the EW wiki
Link to article on Hill’s handedness
Link to Rosenthal signing news
Link to Walsh/Epstein saying
Link to listener emails database
Link to 10th anniversary shirt
Link to all shirts
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1880 story source 1
Link to 1880 story source 2
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen to banter about what accounts for the variability in how quickly prospects acclimate to the majors and detecting holes in swings, discuss (10:50) which teams have the prospects to trade for Juan Soto, review (22:59) impressive performances from the Futures Game (including a booming BP by Francisco Álvarez and a record throw by Masyn Winn), recap (31:02) the highs of the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game (with a focus on Julio Rodríguez’s standout Derby and the events’ best promotional moments), then break down the amateur draft, touching on the top three picks, the Orioles’ fruitful draft, the Rangers’ surprising Kumar Rocker selection, why so many sons of major leaguers were drafted, atypical players and potential two-way players, the teams with the best and most perplexing draft classes, the impact of the draft combine, and more, followed (1:45:09) by a Stat Blast on César Hernández and historic power outages, and a Past Blast from 1879.

Audio intro: St. Vincent, “All My Stars Aligned”
Audio outro: David Crosby, “Rodriguez for a Night”

Link to EW guest data
Link to Grant’s tweet
Link to quote about “transition tax”
Link to Ben on minors-to-majors gaps
Link to Ben Clemens on a Soto trade
Link to Baseball Trade Values
Link to MLBTR on Soto trades
Link to R.J. Anderson on Soto trades
Link to story on Soto’s brother
Link to Emma on Dodger Dogs
Link to clip of Cruz’s throw
Link to clip of Winn’s throw
Link to MLB.com ASG game story
Link to MLB.com on Manoah
Link to Joe Posnanski on Manoah
Link to MLB.com on Cortes
Link to Ben on mic’d up players
Link to MLB.com on best ASG moments
Link to The Ringer on the ASG
Link to The Ringer on the HRD
Link to R.J. on the Orioles’ draft
Link to Eric’s first-round recap
Link to Eric’s farm rankings
Link to MLB.com on father-son players
Link to Sawchik on father-son players
Link to R.J. on atypical picks
Link to Cory Lewis story
Link to Jared Beck story
Link to Jurrangelo Cijntje story
Link to Cijntje interview
Link to Reggie Crawford story
Link to Tyler Cleveland story
Link to info on the draft combine
Link to Stathead
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1879 story source
Link to tweet about Ohtani’s ESPYs
Link to Secret Headquarters trailer
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley continue their celebration of the 10th anniversary of Effectively Wild by bringing on former cohost Jeff Sullivan and Most Frequent Guest (for now) Grant Brisbee to banter about Jeff’s job with the Rays and draft their favorite baseball stories from the past 10 years (plus a Past Blast from 1878).

Audio intro: Joel Plaskett Emergency, “Old Friends”
Audio outro: Willie Nelson With Waylon Jennings, “Old Friends”

Link to EW guest data
Link to story on Orioles catchers
Link to story on Yankees sliders
Link to Trout on the EW wiki
Link to Jeff on Trout’s adjustments
Link to Grant’s Quintana trade tweet
Link to Ben on young newsbreakers
Link to @NoContextEWPod
Link to Grant on Rueter’s shed
Link to Jeff on framing
Link to Ben on sign stealing
Link to Rob Arthur on sign stealing
Link to other BP sign-stealing study
Link to Jeff on the Astros
Link to Grant on the Astros
Link to Meg on Bradley
Link to Meg on Lind
Link to Stanton homer
Link to tweet about Lester
Link to Ben on Lester
Link to Jeff on Lester
Link to Lester on the EW wiki
Link to Hill on the EW wiki
Link to Grant on Ishikawa
Link to Ben on home runs in 2016
Link to Ben on the Negro Leagues
Link to Ben on the Negro Leagues again
Link to LaRoche retrospective
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1878 story source 1
Link to 1878 story source 2
Link to Richard on the triple play
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page
Link to 10th anniversary shirt
Link to all shirts

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On the 10th anniversary of Effectively Wild’s first episode, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley kick off a week-long celebration by reflecting on the milestone, then (6:40) bring on producer Dylan Higgins and listener Chris Hanel for a round of Effectively Wild trivia and fun facts. After that (41:49), they dig into the podcast archive for a highlight reel of favorite moments from Effectively Wild’s past, narrated by broadcaster Jason Benetti, which is followed by a Past Blast from 1877 (2:21:48) and a collection of listener-submitted audio tributes to the show (2:27:43).

Audio intro: Travis, “Anniversary”
Audio interstitial 1: Mark Eitzel, “The Last Ten Years”
Audio interstitial 2: Tennis, “10 Minutes 10 Years”
Audio outro: Al Stewart, “Anniversary”

Link to EW trivia spreadsheet
Link to Chris’s scorebug Twitter account
Link to @NoContextEWPod
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page
Link to EW podcast archive
Link to EW competitions/drafts sheet
Link to listener emails database
Link to 10th anniversary shirt
Link to all shirts
Link to playlists and music/episode info
Link to clips reel order
Link to clips reel files
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1877 story source 1
Link to 1877 story source 2
Link to listener tribute clips

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With Meg Rowley on the road, Ben Lindbergh does an almost-all-interview episode featuring the authors of four new baseball books: First (3:22), Howard Bryant on Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original; second (42:45), Jeff Fletcher on Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played; third (1:19:36), Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt on Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation and Cheating; and fourth (1:58:38), Paul Oyer on An Economist Goes to the Game: How to Throw Away $580 Million and Other Surprising Insights From the Economics of Sports, followed (2:32:42) by a Past Blast from 1876.

Audio intro: Drive-By Truckers, “Dancin’ Ricky”
Audio interstitial 1: Sir Douglas Quintet, “Revolutionary Ways”
Audio interstitial 2: Franz Ferdinand, “Cheating on You”
Audio interstitial 3: Dan Bern, “Economy”
Audio interstitial 4: Feist, “Past in Present”
Audio outro: Kelley Stoltz, “Read it in Books”

Link to Rickey
Link to Howard’s website
Link to Sho-Time
Link to Jeff’s website
Link to Ohtani’s Garcia impression
Link to Ohtani’s bat CPR
Link to Ben on Ohtani’s origin story
Link to Intentional Balk
Link to Mark’s website
Link to Daniel’s website
Link to EW sign-stealing episode
Link to Ben on overrated cheating
Link to An Economist Goes to the Game
Link to Paul’s website
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to vaccination story source
Link to 1876 story source
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani taking over the MLB WAR lead, a Taylor Ward/Jared Walsh mixup, an on-air “zombie runner” endorsement, another fruitless hidden ball trick attempt, and the need for an amended rule about replay reviews of slide plays, then (26:03) discuss the Blue Jays firing manager Charlie Montoyo and the revelation that the Royals have 10 unvaccinated players. After that (57:28), they meet major leaguers Vinnie Pasquantino and Bubby Rossman, banter more (1:08:45) about Spencer Strider, Sam Haggerty’s walk-up music, the “pie slice” anti-shift rule, a Pesäpallo water feature, and PGA golfers sponsored by MLB, followed by (1:27:26) a Stat Blast about managerial longevity and teams with the most sequential uniform numbers, info on the etymology of “muffin games” and “batter” vs. “striker,” and (1:43:28) a Past Blast from 1875.

Audio intro: Bobby Darin, “Goodbye, Charlie”
Audio outro: Neil Young, “Ten Men Workin’”

Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to post about Ohtani as a DH or P
Link to video of the slide at second
Link to Dave on fixing the slide rule
Link to catch/transfer rule change
Link to cricket rule change video
Link to cricket “out of ground” rule
Link to cricket bouncing bat problem
Link to The Athletic on Montoyo’s firing
Link to Vlad’s “trailer” comment
Link to playoff odds changes
Link to Andy McCullough on the Royals
Link to Sam McDowell on the Royals
Link to Stephanie Apstein on the Royals
Link to Alec Lewis on the Royals
Link to CDC vaccination data
Link to report on unvaccinated players
Link to list of unvaccinated MLB players
Link to story on MiLB vaccinations
Link to Pasquantino scouting report
Link to Pasquantino on his call-up
Link to Pasquantino’s first homer
Link to story on Rossman
Link to other story on Rossman
Link to story on Gibson’s explanation
Link to Nerds Herd info
Link to Timothy Jackson on Strider
Link to Justin on Strider and Greene
Link to <162 IP pitcher WAR list
Link to Haggerty video
Link to Pesäpallo play video
Link to Pesäpallo play explainer
Link to water plays montage
Link to Saarikenttä wiki
Link to Pesäpallo EW episode
Link to MLB.com on the “pie slice” rule
Link to Jayson Stark on the rule
Link to story on MLB sponsoring golfers
Link to Stathead
Link to post about Stathead upgrade
Link to manager longevity data
Link to current manager tenure data
Link to manager longevity graphs
Link to Mariners homers tweet
Link to most sequential uni numbers data
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1875 story source
Link to story on muffins
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s hazardous last week, then discuss the ongoing mellowing of attitudes and discussions surrounding the All-Star game, embracing the game’s potential for sentimentality, how it would feel to be a team’s lone All-Star representative, the results of a new poll about robo umps, an NPB record and whether/when Reggie Jackson will be unseated as the all-time strikeout king, the reemergence of Matt Moore, the Rockies, the trade deadline, and Daniel Bard, the suddenly exciting Orioles and how a team in their position should approach the deadline, the Phillies’ anti-vax contingent and what it means to be a bad teammate, the injury-ridden seasons of the Rays and Wander Franco, and a mystery involving shifting on right-handed hitters, plus a Past Blast from 1874 (1:19:20), a listener email about eliminating foul lines, and a few followups.

Audio intro: Harper Simon, “Wishes and Stars”
Audio outro: Echo & the Bunnymen, “Stars Are Stars”

Link to ASG rosters
Link to robo-umps poll
Link to news about NPB record
Link to Nakamura’s wiki page
Link to all-time MLB batter K leaders
Link to story on Grossman’s streak
Link to EW Episode 9
Link to Ben on pitching prospect rankings
Link to Rockies MLBTR story
Link to Orioles MLBTR story
Link to updated FG farm rankings
Link to ESPN strength of schedule
Link to Mark Simon on the Orioles defense
Link to Franco MLBTR story
Link to Dan Szymborski on Rays injuries
Link to BP Injured List Ledger
Link to story on Schwarber
Link to story on Realmuto
Link to Tango on the shift vs. RHH
Link to Tango on the shift vs. RHH again
Link to Ben on the shift vs. RHH
Link to Justin Choi on the shift vs. RHH
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1874 story source
Link to story on Frasier’s swap
Link to Stanky Draft episode
Link to Mauer retirement ceremony

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s unfortunate Brussels sprouts incident, then answer listener emails about the ballparks with the most and least locations where a ball would be a home run only in that park, the Rays’ MLB-leading outs on the bases, the Orioles’ possibly improved pitcher development, a loaner-type trade where a player is his own player to be named later, how to define a comeback, “batters” vs. “hitters,” whether a team can really win without ever holding a lead, whether we’ll ever see another walk-off home run single, why a walk-off ground rule “double” is scored as a single, the legality of applying a tag with a piece of clothing instead of a glove, and a possible Ohtani rule loophole that could theoretically allow Shohei Ohtani to bat twice in a row, plus (1:18:32) a Past Blast from 1873.

Audio intro: Donna Summer, “End of the Week”
Audio outro: Pasek & Paul, “Come to a Party”

Link to article about digesting Brussels sprouts
Link to B-Ref team baserunning page
Link to list of players traded for themselves
Link to win expectancy calculator
Link to tweet about Astros not trailing
Link to Jake Mailhot’s power rankings post
Link to Ventura’s grand-slam single
Link to Judge’s walk-off homer
Link to article about fans storming field
Link to Reddit thread about fans storming field
Link to Chambliss homer video
Link to Disco Demolition Night podcast
Link to Alfaro’s walk-off non-double
Link to explainer of walk-off non-doubles
Link to Jones discussing “Crazy Train”
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to Bull Durham clichés scene
Link to EW emails database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley rant and banter (ranter?) about MLB’s approach to promoting the Futures Game, then (17:33) discuss superheroes throwing baseballs, the latest exploits of the semi-superpowered Shohei Ohtani and Sandy Alcantara, and Ohtani’s chances against Aaron Judge (and others) in the AL MVP race, Stat Blast (39:03) about losing teams with two hyper-productive players and pitchers with the most even pitch-type distributions, entertain the idea (59:59) of adjusting WAR for quality of competition because of position-player pitchers, speculate about Judge’s free-agent contract, highlight Luis Arraez’s pursuit of Ted Williams, an Andrew Vaughn hidden-ball-trick attempt, Charlie Blackmon’s walk-up song, a fateful Rockies shift, observe (1:23:10) which teams’ playoff probabilities have risen or sunk the most in the last month and react to MLB’s asterisk-esque All-Star Game caps, and close (1:32:32) with a Past Blast from 1872.

Audio intro: Status Quo, “The Future’s So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)”
Audio outro: Heart, “Hijinx”

Link to Futures Game rosters
Link to Jarrett Seidler on MiLB talent
Link to 2023 WBC announcement
Link to The Boys Season 1 clip
Link to Invincible clip
Link to Superman Returns clip
Link to Alvarez throw
Link to video about baseball movies
Link to story on Judge’s 30th homer
Link to story about Ohtani’s game
Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to Angels PR tweet
Link to other Angels PR tweet
Link to third Angels PR tweet
Link to Jeremy Frank tweet
Link to video of HRs off of VanMeter
Link to Katie Sharp tweet
Link to Stathead
Link to Stat Blast list of losing teams
Link to Dan on sub-replacement Angels
Link to Alcantara’s pitch usage
Link to least-used-top-pitch data
Link to lowest-standard-deviation data
Link to Rob Mains on adjusted offense
Link to Craig on Judge’s contract
Link to PPP velo by year
Link to Patrick on the Rockies’ loss
Link to tweet about the Rockies’ positioning
Link to clip of Rockies-Dodgers play
Link to TikTok of Blackmon’s song
Link to playoff odds changes
Link to France ASG video
Link to asterisky Astros cap
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1872 story source
Link to history of infield fly rule

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the possible end of the Taylor Ward/Tyler Wade broadcaster confusion, Ward getting caught unawares at first base, and the Twins turning the first-ever 8-5 triple play, then Stat Blast (11:06) about Cam Vieaux and the most pitches thrown in various types of innings, share a Past Blast (23:33) from 1871, and discuss the Empire State Greys, a traveling Frontier League team that started the season 0-35 and now, at 2-42, is in danger of posting the lowest winning percentage in pro baseball history. Then (43:23) Ben brings on brothers Eddie Gonzalez and Jerry Gonzalez, the co-owners and co-hitting coaches of the Greys, to talk about their work with the Empire Professional Baseball League, the challenges of operating in indy ball, the Greys’ origins and roster composition, being a perpetual road team, the mood on the team during its historically long losing streak, how the streak was snapped, the close calls they had before their first win, facing Kumar Rocker, their hopes for the rest of the season, the Greys’ growing fan base, and more, followed (1:23:54) by a few postscripts.

Audio intro: Bobby Bare, Jr., “One of Us Has Got to Go”
Audio interstitial: Fleetwood Mac, “Empire State”
Audio outro: Harry Belafonte, “Zombie Jamboree (Back to Back)”

Link to video of Ward play
Link to video of Twins triple play
Link to La Russa ejection clip
Link to Vieaux game B-Ref page
Link to Vieaux’s postgame comments
Link to Stat Blast pitch data
Link to most pitches between outs
Link to 2003 Pavano game
Link to 1954 Dodgers-Redlegs game
Link to Allan Roth SABR bio
Link to 2010 Linebrink game
Link to 1996 Orioles-Rangers game
Link to Stathead
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter account
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1871 story source
Link to list of worst team records
Link to tweet about Muskogee Mets
Link to article about Muskogee Mets
Link to B-Ref page on Muskogee Mets
Link to EW wiki on the Salina Stockade
Link to Ben’s article on the Stockade
Link to the Stockade’s B-Ref page
Link to research on indy league quality
Link to the Greys’ B-Ref page
Link to Frontier League standings
Link to Frontier League stats
Link to story about the NCBL
Link to story about Empire League’s origin
Link to Empire League wiki
Link to Empire League website
Link to the Greys’ January announcement
Link to story about the Greys
Link to other story about the Greys
Link to the Greys on Twitter
Link to the Greys’ team shop
Link to the Greys’ schedule
Link to game story about the first win
Link to photo from after the first win
Link to story about Rocker’s season
Link to Cardinals dingers video
Link to Ben Clemens on single-game homers

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the varying interpretations of Bobby Bonilla Day and what may be the last-ever Bruce Sutter Day, then (17:20) discuss what an expansive ESPN profile of Rob Manfred reveals about the MLB commissioner. After that (48:49), they answer listener emails about players jumping straight from college to the majors, whether a player who hit a lot of homers but little else would be playable, how many players would still be two-way players if the rules permitted nine designated hitters, and a chair for catchers. Finally (1:22:53), they Stat Blast about the players with the most unique uniform numbers and the most lopsided starting-pitcher matchups by win-loss record, plus (1:34:35) “fourth out” banter, a Past Blast from 1870, a call for listener testimonials, and a few followups.

Audio intro: Etta James, “Bobby is His Name”
Audio outro: The Hollies, “Pay You Back With Interest”

Link to Planet Money on Bonilla Day
Link to The Athletic on Sutter
Link to thread about deferred payments
Link to Torre on athletes going broke
Link to ESPN profile of Manfred
Link to Selig EW episode
Link to @dril tweet
Link to pitcher stuff aging curve
Link to first dorm chair
Link to second dorm chair
Link to third dorm chair
Link to Stathead
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter account
Link to active uniform-number leaders
Link to all-time uniform-number leaders
Link to Petriello on George Brunet
Link to Petriello on uniform-number value
Link to winless vs. lossless SP data
Link to winless vs. lossless record game
Link to lopsided net W-L record data
Link to earlier Stat Blast on SP W-L records
Link to EW emails database
Link to post on Nationals “fourth out” play
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1870 story source
Link to CarShield tweet
Link to Ward interview
Link to John Poff’s fundraiser

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by Jake Mintz of Céspedes Family BBQ to talk about Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson leaving the team midseason to join LSU, why MLB teams are hiring coaches from college and why colleges are hiring them back, whether MLB teams should pay coaches more, the state of player development in college, Jake’s experience at the College World Series, his short summary of what non-college baseball fans should know about the just-completed college season, the arrival of Royals rookie Vinnie Pasquantino, the Astros’ extremely low-offense catchers, the importance of pitch-tipping, Rafael Devers heating up and sitting down, Clay Holmes’s improvement after leaving the Pirates, the unwritten rules of closer entrance song etiquette, Justin Turner’s walk-up song consistency, and more. Then (1:00:19), Ben and Meg banter about yet another Tyler Wade/Taylor Ward broadcaster mixup, how Freddie Freeman leaving Atlanta is like Ben leaving grammar school, and whether wearing two gloves could actually be legal, plus a Past Blast from 1869.

Audio intro: Shy Boys, “In Gloves”
Audio outro: Monophonics, “Let That Sink In”

Link to Dan Hayes on Johnson
Link to SI post about Johnson
Link to article about Fetter
Link to Ben on college player dev
Link to story on Twins’ college coaches
Link to ESPN on the CWS outcome
Link to Jake on Houston’s catchers
Link to team catcher offense
Link to Trout pitch-tipping GIF
Link to Jordan on Devers
Link to Speier on Devers
Link to article about Holmes post-Pirates
Link to Ben Clemens on Holmes
Link to Jordan on Holmes
Link to Cameron Grove on pitch usage
Link to Rob Arthur on pitch usage
Link to Rob on pitch usage again
Link to sinker usage leaderboard
Link to grounder rate leaderboard
Link to Ken Rosenthal on Freeman
Link to Jay Jaffe on Freeman
Link to Kershaw comment on Freeman
Link to article on Flores crying
Link to wicket-keeper wiki
Link to wicket-keeper image
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1869 story source

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a surprising ESPY nomination for Jorge Soler, another Tyler Wade/Taylor Ward broadcaster mixup, the massive Mariners-Angels brawl and ensuing suspensions and pizzas, Bryce Harper’s broken thumb and not-broken face, Mark Appel finally making the majors, an update on the Joc Pederson–Tommy Pham feud, the Yankees getting no-hit, the respectable Orioles, an impressive fact about the AL East, a Willians Astudillo tag mistake and the nature of forces vs. tags, and Freddie Freeman’s representation, plus a Stat Blast (1:13:05) about Robbie Ray and pitchers with high concentrations of runs allowed in one inning, a Past Blast (1:24:32) from 1868, and a few followups.

Audio intro: Colleen Green, “Number One”
Audio outro: The Hives, “Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones”

Link to ESPY nominations
Link to video of brawl
Link to sunflower-seed toss
Link to suspension announcements
Link to pizza story
Link to Tepera’s two ejections
Link to Harper quote
Link to 2021 Harper HBP story
Link to Appel story
Link to Astros no-hitter video
Link to Langs tweet about Yankees
Link to first Judge game-ender
Link to second Judge game-ender
Link to Pederson/Pham update
Link to Astudillo tag play
Link to Olney report about Freeman
Link to Freeman ovation video
Link to Freeman press conference
Link to Stat Blast data
Link to Ray broadcast graphic
Link to Cameron Grove on Ray
Link to Grove on Ray again
Link to third Grove/Ray tweet
Link to Stathead
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1868 story source
Link to other 1868 story source
Link to Bradley broken-elbow video
Link to Bradley broken-elbow news
Link to Meg’s post on Bradley
Link to Sadman Baseball video

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley answer listener emails about why players in the dugout seem so confident in pitch locations, whether it would ever help to wear two gloves, MLB Big Inning and other baseball equivalents of NFL RedZone, the extreme dimensions of the Polo Grounds, what makes it so impressive that some players perform at the same level for a long time, whether the Cardinals are a fun team, and what it means when we say that a player is “fun to watch,” then (55:45) take pedantic questions about “pedantic” vs. “semantic,” whether every batted ball that hits the ground is a ground ball, “former” first-round draft picks, “number one” draft picks, how best to describe a batter’s small-sample line, the (un)importance of head-to-head team records, clearing the bases and homers that drive in multiple runs, how to refer to ballparks that have since changed their names, and the on-deck circle vs. the “next batter’s box,” followed (1:32:07) by a Past Blast from 1867.

Audio intro: Nick Lowe, “Hope for Us All”
Audio outro: The Mynabirds, “Semantics”

Link to Martinez ejection story
Link to MLB Big Inning
Link to B-Ref Stream Finder
Link to Ben on baseball RedZone
Link to the Mitchell catch
Link to Sam on the Mitchell catch
Link to Polo Grounds dimensions wiki
Link to B-Ref on the Polo Grounds
Link to THT on extreme ballparks
Link to THT on ballpark homogenization
Link to 85.4 mph home run
Link to Ben on quality of competition
Link to Dan Szymborski on Cardinals projections
Link to Viva El Birdos on Cardinals projections
Link to THT on political baseball jargon
Link to The Atlantic on baseball stereotypes
Link to research on baseball stereotypes
Link to Craig Wright on the running game
Link to Pages From Baseball’s Past
Link to Defector on The Athletic
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1867 story source
Link to 1873 dead ball ad
Link to “next batter’s box” diagram

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about two spectacular games by Shohei Ohtani and Ohtani’s extraordinary playing-time pace and relay a sinker-iffic response from Michael Lorenzen to a previous discussion about baseball grip, then (24:22) answer listener emails about using different-colored balls to denote different levels of liveliness, how much time to train players have in-season, whether fielders are to blame when their gloves develop holes, outlawing webbed gloves to raise BABIP, single-game team home-run records, whether players who come up now are already conditioned by pitch clocks, PitchCom and pace, which single stat they would most want to know about hitters and pitchers, and how many appeals a ball-strike challenge system should allow, plus (1:23:17) a Past Blast from 1866.

Audio intro: Jon Brion, “Hook, Line and Sinker”
Audio outro: Japanese Breakfast, “Boyish”

Link to Ohtani game stories
Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to Langs tweet
Link to pre-2022 combined BF+PA data
Link to Lorenzen comments
Link to MLB mud memo
Link to sinker HBP rate
Link to Annie Hall clip
Link to Justin Choi on sinkers
Link to Ben on pitching machines
Link to Diaz glove video
Link to Vlad glove video
Link to Rob Arthur on low BABIP
Link to 2015 story on age and pace
Link to Rob on pace and velo
Link to Russell on pace and velo
Link to Rob on batter age and pace
Link to 27-and-under SP pace
Link to 28-and-over SP pace
Link to team homer records in game
Link to team homer records in season
Link to MiLB experimental rules
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1866 story source
Link to Creighton SABR bio
Link to tweet about Pabor’s nickname
Link to Thorn on Pabor’s nickname
Link to Gavarni illustration

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether changing managers is at all responsible for the Phillies’ recent success, the Yankees’ almost unparalleled winning-percentage pace, the Royals’ historically terrible pitching performance and the pressure on their pitching coach, another Taylor Ward/Tyler Wade broadcaster slipup, Anthony Rendon’s season-ending surgery, Michael Lorenzen’s comments about baseball slipperiness and MLB’s new mud mandate, a tough-negotiating teen fan’s price for J.J. Matijevic’s first career home run ball, a persuasive display of the minor-league ball/strike challenge system, the major league promotions of Riley Greene and Oneil Cruz, and Lorenzo Cain’s career, plus Stat Blasts (1:15:51) about an entire lineup turning over in a single game and losing pitchers who made the last out of a game, and (1:30:21) a Past Blast from 1865.

Audio intro: Pulp, “Can I Have My Balls Back, Please?”
Audio outro: The Moody Blues, “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone”

Link to Joe Sheehan’s poll
Link to The Athletic writers on Girardi
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Yankees
Link to B-Ref newsletter on the Yankees
Link to tweet with Moore quote
Link to follow-up tweet about Moore
Link to Moore audio
Link to Moore video
Link to Royals’ staff’s + stats
Link to Lorenzen comments
Link to MLB mud memo
Link to Matijevic game story
Link to Matijevic video
Link to story on Jeter’s 3000th
Link to ball/strike challenge video
Link to MiLB experimental rules
Link to news about the zone
Link to story on Cruz’s debut
Link to story on Madris’s debut
Link to Andy McCullough on Cain
Link to Stathead
Link to new Stathead feature explainer
Link to lineup-changes Stat Blast data
Link to losing P/last out Stat Blast data
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter account
Link to Forsch game story
Link to first DH story
Link to second DH story
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1865 story source
Link to first diamond image
Link to second diamond image
Link to history of spike use

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a broadcaster relatably mixing up Taylor Ward and Tyler Wade, the Dodgers “fixing” former Rockies pitcher Yency Almonte, a deep, perplexing rabbit hole (7:46) of baseball-themed CarShield commercials, the bat spike as the new bat flip, an umpire’s close call with a broken-bat shard, and the building backlash against position-player pitchers. After that (39:13), they welcome back former major leaguer and current Giants director of video coaching Fernando Perez to talk about how he got his gig with the Giants, what a video coach does, the advantages of the Giants’ giant coaching staff, the disintegrating distinctions between front office and field, the player-development variation among teams, how the Giants beat preseason projections by a record margin in 2021, the upsides and downsides of being in a difficult division, some veterans the Giants’ development philosophies have helped improve (including Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford), how coaching and player dev have evolved since his playing days, the next player-dev frontiers, the Giants’ anti-unwritten-rules approach, and how new technology and information have affected the pitcher-batter balance, plus detours into Joe Maddon’s mohawk, trick plays he wants to see, and the Joc Pederson–Tommy Pham fantasy-football dispute. Then (1:43:18) Ben ends with a Past Blast from 1864, a fun fact, and a few followups.

Audio intro: Small Faces, “Things Are Going to Get Better”
Audio interstitial: Ry Cooder, “Fernando Sez”
Audio outro: Isotopes, “Infield Fly”

Link to Petriello’s Almonte tweet
Link to Cameron Grove on Almonte
Link to Nick Groke on Almonte
Link to CarShield MLB ad playlist
Link to other CarShield ad playlists
Link to Vierling article
Link to Vierling homer off Hader
Link to CarShield Collegiate League wiki
Link to CarShield Field wiki
Link to Stubbs bat spike video
Link to Stubbs EW episode
Link to umpire bat-shard photo
Link to umpire bat-shard article
Link to umpire bat-shard video
Link to Nightengale tweet about Hinch
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Tigers
Link to McCarthy position-player P tweet
Link to live EW episode with Fernando
Link to Rob Mains on PECOTA and the Giants
Link to 2008 Rays mohawk story
Link to 2020 story on the Dodgers’ player dev
Link to story on the Giants’ new training facility
Link to 2020 story on the Giants’ coaching staff
Link to 2022 story on the Giants’ coaching staff
Link to Tim Kurkjian on bad baserunning
Link to Kapler’s unwritten-rules comments
Link to MLB.com on the Giants’ rewritten rules
Link to Ben Clemens on the Giants’ bunting
Link to Yaz deke video
Link to story about the outfield deke
Link to Coghlan leap video
Link to Susan Slusser on the Giants’ t-shirts
Link to Tom Ley on the Giants’ t-shirts
Link to 2019 Pham interview video
Link to latest Pham comments
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to Richard on the infield fly rule
Link to story on Houston’s immaculate innings
Link to video of the immaculate innings
Link to Sarah Langs’ immaculate-innings tweet
Link to list of three-pitch-strikeout streaks
Link to Clemens on three-pitch strikeouts
Link to 2016 Albies injury video
Link to Jayson Stark on second base’s location
Link to hyper-punny ad

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what it means to be humbled, whether Joe Maddon’s mohawk could have caught on and caused a Shohawk had he not been fired, another point about Aaron Judge’s potentially historic home-run pace, a Byron Buxton fun fact, whether Buxton or Luis Arraez is a more entertaining hitter, Ozzie Albies’ fluky foot fracture, and a smart baserunning play by the Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman. Then (37:10) they answer listener emails about Pete Alonso ads for extended car warranties, Alejandro Kirk and the Blue Jays’ catching corps, line drives up the middle, whether the World Series winner is more likely to come out of either the AL East or NL West or the rest of baseball, and how splits by out count work, followed (1:16:19) by pedantic questions about swinging bunts, “contact hitting,” bloop hits, the baseball “diamond,” and “back-to-back-to-back” home runs, a Stat Blast (1:34:22) about power hitters who haven’t homered in consecutive plate appearances or at-bats, and a Past Blast (1:40:18) from 1863.

Audio intro: Willie Nelson, “Hard to Be Humble”
Audio outro: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, “Humble Me”

Link to Buxton fun fact article
Link to Albies injury video
Link to story about Albies foot fracture
Link to Jay Jaffe on Atlanta’s streak
Link to hamate-fracture study
Link to second hamate-fracture study
Link to later hamate-fracture study
Link to video of Cardinals play
Link to article on The Only Nolan
Link to first Alonso ad
Link to second Alonso ad
Link to info on Alonso accident
Link to Kershaw ad
Link to article on 30 Rock joke rate
Link to leaders in balls hit toward pitcher
Link to leaders in straightaway liners
Link to yearly BA on balls hit toward pitchers
Link to yearly BA on straightaway grounders
Link to 2022 catcher WAR leaders
Link to 2022 team catcher WAR
Link to Effectively Wild t-shirts
Link to Giants shirts
Link to Pham’s response
Link to Stathead
Link to new Stathead feature explainer
Link to Stat Blast results list
Link to article on Grace’s first slam
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1863 story source
Link to Jeff Fogle on getaway days
Link to Bill James on getaway days

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Maddon’s mohawk, the latest details about Mike Trout’s (and Tommy Pham’s and Joc Pederson’s) legendary fantasy football league, a rash of hidden-ball-trick attempts, the “old guy’s still got it” resurgences of Nelson Cruz and Joey Votto, how big a deal Aaron Judge’s potentially historic home-run pace should be, the two-way dominance and unsurpassed hard-hitting of the Yankees (including Matt Carpenter’s hot start with the team), the AL East hogging half of the AL’s prospective playoff berths, the excellence of José Ramírez, Tommy Edman’s breakout, Ben’s new peeve about a certain type of homer, the latest extremes in position-player pitching, Walker Buehler’s injury and the NL West race, the longest-ever collective winning and losing streaks by a division, the NL East race, the winning ways of the Braves and Ronald Acuña Jr., and the history of the “base hit,” plus a Past Blast from 1862.

Audio intro: Francis Lung, “Bad Hair Day”
Audio outro: Vanessa Peters, “A Good Judge”

Link to Maddon mohawk report
Link to 2008 mohawk story
Link to Gonzalez firing story
Link to Randolph firing story
Link to clip of Trout on ESPN
Link to Votto’s May 2 tweet
Link to Dan Szymborski on Votto
Link to story on Votto’s hot streak
Link to FG on-pace leaderboard
Link to expected HR leaderboard
Link to Stanton’s 120 mph homer
Link to Ben on Stanton in 2017
Link to list of hardest-hit balls
Link to Rosenthal on rebuilding Carpenter
Link to Ohtani HR off the wall
Link to Stark on position-player pitchers
Link to story on Higashioka’s homer
Link to Mike Fast on the slowest pitch
Link to Jay Jaffe on Buehler
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1862 story source

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Maddon’s firing, the impact and end of the Angels’ 14-game losing streak, and whether the Angels or Phillies are in a worse position for the future, Tony La Russa’s intentional walk on a 1-2 count, whether the weather and the humidor can explain MLB’s sudden upticks in fly-ball distance and home-run rate, the testing of experimental, legalized sticky stuff in the minor leagues, Hunter Greene’s rain-shortened run at a Statcast no-hitter, how the Cardinals and Rays played a nine-inning game in less than two hours, Joey Bart’s demotion and the wide range in the performance of this season’s promoted top prospects, the return of Stephen Strasburg (sort of), an update on Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich and observations about Alex Bregman, David Robertson, Sandy Alcantara, Willians Astudillo, and Tony Gonsolin and the Dodgers, the teaser for the latest TV adaptation of A League of Their Own, Angel Hernandez filing an appeal over his discrimination lawsuit, the Rays’ Pride Night debacle, a NYT crossword conflating plate appearances and at-bats, and pedantry about whether home-run hitters are actually on base, plus a Past Blast about 1861.

Audio intro: Nick Lowe, “14 Days”
Audio outro: Imperial Teen, “One Two”

Link to Jay Jaffe on Maddon
Link to Sam Blum on Maddon
Link to Rosenthal Q&A with Maddon
Link to Ohtani’s streak-ending highlights
Link to story about signature significance
Link to James Fegan on La Russa
Link to Ginny Searle on La Russa
Link to Ben Clemens on La Russa
Link to broadcast clip of La Russa IBB
Link to La Russa explanation video
Link to Seager 1-2 IBB
Link to Trout 1-2 IBB
Link to Ballpark Pal home-runs thread
Link to Alan Nathan on Twitter
Link to Mike Axisa on homers and Greene
Link to Evan Drellich on MiLB sticky stuff
Link to Sam on Statcast no-hitters
Link to Greene’s batted balls allowed
Link to short Rays-Cardinals game
Link to MLB.com on McClanahan
Link to pitcher pace leaderboard
Link to Jay on Bart’s demotion
Link to Ben on the minors-to-majors gap
Link to MLB.com on Strasburg
Link to David Laurila on Bregman
Link to Ben on Longoria
Link to Jay on Gonsolin
Link to Astudillo scoring video
Link to A League of Their Own teaser
Link to story about Hernandez’s appeal
Link to Hernandez at Umpire Scorecards
Link to Ginny on the Rays
Link to Emma’s crossword tweet
Link to tweet about NL Central losing streak
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1861 story source
Link to Cabrera’s spring hidden-ball trick

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With Meg Rowley on the road, Ben Lindbergh talks to a trio of guests. First (4:10), he’s joined by Mr. King, the creator of Northwoods Baseball Sleep Radio, to talk about baseball as ASMR, crafting a fictional league, broadcaster, and collection of players, replicating the soothing, white-noise sounds of a baseball broadcast, putting his listeners to sleep, and more. Then (34:32) Ben brings on coach and journalist John W. Miller to examine how the rise of private travel baseball clubs and pay-to-play tournaments has reshaped youth baseball and excluded some kids from the sport, discuss the ramifications from Little League to the major leagues, and propose some solutions. After that (1:18:12), former major leaguer (and former EW guest) John Poff rejoins, along with John Brave Bull and Ardyce Taken Alive from the Standing Rock Reservation, to talk about their histories, explain their efforts to bring baseball to kids at Standing Rock, and ask the EW audience for help (plus a reading of a Poff poem). Finally (1:50:05), Ben shares a baseball-history anecdote from 1860.

Audio intro: Julie Andrews, “Stay Awake”
Audio interstitial 1: Dave Dudley, “George (and the North Woods)”
Audio interstitial 2: Peter, Paul and Mary, “Right Field”
Audio outro: Raye Zaragoza, “Driving to Standing Rock”

Link to Baseball Sleep Radio website
Link to Baseball Sleep Radio on Spotify
Link to FG post on Baseball Sleep Radio
Link to the real Northwoods League
Link to Bloomberg on white noise podcasts
Link to The Universal Baseball Association
Link to old baseball broadcasts on YouTube
Link to old baseball broadcasts on archive.org
Link to GameChanger Plays Announcer post
Link to John Miller on youth baseball
Link to John on improving youth baseball
Link to Tom House baseball-size tweet
Link to McCutchen at The Players’ Tribune
Link to Pittsburgh Hardball Academy site
Link to info on the Dream Series
Link to RBI Baseball site
Link to article on commercializing youth sports
Link to data on youth sports participation
Link to John Miller’s baseball resume
Link to John Miller’s website
Link to John Poff’s SABR bio
Link to John’s first podcast appearance
Link to Poff Stat Blast episode
Link to Standing Rock Reservation wiki
Link to KLND website
Link to Community Alliance Group website
Link to John’s North Dakota Quarterly poems
Link to John’s GoFundMe fundraiser page
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1860 story source 1
Link to 1860 story source 2

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Yastrzemski trying the “KK play,” the distinctive smell of rat urine, Buck Showalter making a mid-PA pitching change, Dave Roberts running afoul of a position-player-pitcher rule, the wording of the zombie-runner rule, Nick Pivetta’s near-miraculous mechanical adjustment, and Mike Trout’s slump, plus a baseball-history fact from 1859. Then (38:54) they talk to former Phillies front-office executive Lewie Pollis about how working for an MLB team became his dream job and why, several years after fulfilling that dream, he decided to walk away from it by changing careers—a choice with wide-ranging lessons to offer about work-life balance in baseball and beyond (plus a postscript).

Audio intro: The Walkmen, “This Job is Killing Me”
Audio interstitial: Ramones, “The Job That Ate My Brain”
Audio outro: Dan Bern, “Burned Out Case”

Link to Yaz play video
Link to play in full game highlights
Link to story about the “KK play”
Link to video of the “KK play”
Link to posts about unwritten rules of deking
Link to “rat urine” report
Link to Ben on mid-PA pitching changes
Link to Showalter pitching-change video
Link to article about the pitching change
Link to Mookie quote
Link to article on Girardi’s “Strategy”
Link to 2020 zombie-runner rule
Link to article about Roberts’ confusion
Link to 4/17 story on Pivetta’s mechanics
Link to 4/20 story on Pivetta’s mechanics
Link to other 4/20 story on Pivetta
Link to story on Pivetta’s turnaround
Link to EW episode about Trout going hitless
Link to story about the Angels’ losing streak
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1859 story source
Link to Lewie’s 2014 story on front-office pay
Link to Lewie’s Baseball Prospectus archive
Link to Lewie’s newsletter
Link to Lewie on leaving his dream job
Link to Lewie on the response to his essay
Link to “Great Resignation” wiki
Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Girardi’s firing and where the Phillies go from here, the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez extension, the dip in DH offense, and the trade deadline, then answer listener emails about MLB.TV highlights, the upside of ignoring playoff odds, getting plunked on a full count, things that haven’t happened in an MLB game, players being coached by their romantic partners, and what would happen if no one wanted to play catcher, plus a history tidbit from 1858 and a few followups.

Audio intro: Ezra Furman, “Wobbly”
Audio outro: Liz Phair, “Uncle Alvarez”

Link to MLB.com on the Girardi firing
Link to ESPN on the Girardi firing
Link to Andy McCullough on Girardi
Link to wobbly chair/squid is fried explainer
Link to MLB.com on the Alvarez extension
Link to Dan on extension candidates
Link to Dan on more extension candidates
Link to Dan on the trade deadline
Link to Passan on the trade deadline
Link to DH stats by season
Link to Russell Carleton on resting hitters
Link to story about DH and roster decisions
Link to FanGraphs WPA Inquirer
Link to Ben Clemens on Holmes
Link to Smeltzer interview video
Link to Smeltzer story
Link to subsequent Smeltzer story
Link to EW listener emails database
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to story about the Mets’ pitching machine
Link to video of the machine
Link to Ben on “perfect” pitching machines
Link to story about the Turner deke
Link to Turner deke video

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce the availability of new Effectively Wild T-shirts, then follow up on the latest, Mike Trout-related developments in the Tommy Pham–Joc Pederson fantasy-football/slap story as well as Josh Donaldson’s comments about his teammates not supporting him. After that, they banter about a home-run robbery that wasn’t, the homer hitting of Aaron Judge, a successful use of the “KK play” to deke a runner into leaving third base early, the return of MVP-caliber Mookie Betts, the Kevin Gausman vs. Robbie Ray debate revisited, unlikely contenders for the pitcher WAR lead (including Martín Pérez), and whether the Phillies are hopeless this season and long term, followed by the latest edition of Today’s Episode Number in Baseball History (plus a postscript).

Audio intro: The Skygreen Leopards, “Selling T-shirts”
Audio outro: The Lemonheads, “It’s a Shame About Ray”

Link to FG post about t-shirts
Link to t-shirts
Link to C. Trent on Trout
Link to Andy McCullough on Trout
Link to MLB.com on Trout
Link to Donaldson comments
Link to tweet about Ohtani’s rescheduling
Link to Ohtani game story
Link to Ohtani non-robbery video
Link to Ben on homer robberies
Link to Dan Szymborski on Judge
Link to “ordinary effort” definition
Link to story about the “KK play”
Link to video of the “KK play”
Link to Ben on mid-PA pitching changes
Link to story about Ray and vaccination
Link to Shapiro’s comments
Link to Levi Weaver on Pérez
Link to Sports-Reference newsletter
Link to changes in playoff odds
Link to Girardi on his job
Link to Ken Rosenthal on Girardi’s job
Link to The Ringer’s preseason predictions
Link to RosterResource payroll page
Link to 1857 convention story
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1857 story source 1
Link to 1857 story source 2
Link to 1857 story source 3
Link to Shanghaiing wiki
Link to sticky wicket wiki
Link to story on crank/fan
Link to “good hair day” clip
Link to overheard Hallion clip
Link to Hallion hot-mic clip
Link to “ass in the jackpot” video

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Nick Castellanos’s uncanny tater timing, and then (4:43) Ben attempts to explain the Joc Pederson–Tommy Pham fantasy-football dispute (and resulting slap) to Meg. After that (44:42), they discuss the Reds’ resurgence, an umpire’s hot mic, updates on defensive-positioning restrictions and the forthcoming pitch clock, and whether the standings will present enough suspense this summer. Finally (1:19:42), they debut a new history segment about an event that took place in the year of the episode number and Stat Blast (1:24:00) about multiple starting pitchers debuting in the same game, an odd pinch-hitting appearance by Darin Ruf, and the most consecutive pitcher innings with the same pitch count (plus a postscript with a few followups).

Audio intro: The Scruffs, “Revenge”
Audio outro: Basic Plumbing, “Fantasy”

Link to Castellanos clip
Link to Ben on the Castellanos meme
Link to video of the slap
Link to first Pederson video
Link to second Pederson video
Link to Mercury News on the slap
Link to ESPN on the slap
Link to Cincinnati.com on the slap
Link to the NYT on the slap
Link to CBS sports on the fantasy dispute
Link to Gaslamp Ball post
Link to Oakley-Hill dispute story
Link to Pham stabbing story
Link to Pham vs. fans story
Link to Pham vs. Voit story
Link to Pham on the pandemic delay
Link to story on Pham’s slow start
Link to SI Pham profile
Link to Tampa Bay Times Pham profile
Link to Strickland vs. Harper story
Link to Mets rat vs. raccoon story
Link to hot-mic tweet
Link to Stark on rules changes
Link to FG Playoff Odds
Link to Joe Posnanski on the standings
Link to Marc Normandin on the standings
Link to New York Clipper, 8/9/1856
Link to New York Clipper box score
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to Stathead
Link to Stathead query about two-SP debuts
Link to Stathead query about Ruf’s PH Ks
Link to Cangelosi Stat Blast text
Link to Stat Blast pitch-count data
Link to Pérez’s record game
Link to Trout commissioner story
Link to 1985 Raines story
Link to other 1985 Raines story
Link to Raines bio excerpt
Link to glass delusion wiki
Link to Boswell on big innings
Link to James vs. Boswell story

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley answer listener emails about why we don’t see more hidden-ball tricks in MLB, why big leaguers practice fielding grounders between innings, comparing the careers of Paul Goldschmidt and Freddie Freeman, how baseball broadcasts should discuss domestic-violence suspensions, whether Rickey Henderson would still have stolen bases if he’d been inflicted with Glass Ass Syndrome, and whether teams could get more favorable calls by riding umpires even harder than they already do, then (58:01) field “How can you not be pedantic about baseball?” questions about hometown discounts for players who aren’t native to a town, who qualifies as a “phenom,” and pitches “on the corner,” followed by (1:08:53) Stat Blasts about pitchers who’ve lost to every current franchise and how patterns of starter wins and losses have changed, how often game times exactly match game start times, and whether Roger Angell was right about a bet in 1975.

Audio intro: Jim White, “Smart-Ass Reply”
Audio outro: Beams, “Break Glass”

Link to Double-A hidden-ball trick
Link to Retrosheet list of hidden-ball tricks
Link to MLB.com on Barrett
Link to Finding the Hidden-Ball Trick
Link to story on Goldschmidt’s 2013 nickname
Link to SI on Rickey’s SB technique
Link to first study on taking close pitches
Link to second study on taking close pitches
Link to pitcher leaderboard of teams lost to
Link to SP decision rates by year
Link to data on SP W/L correlations
Link to game times matching start times
Link to shortest game with matching times
Link to longest game with matching times
Link to list of longest regular-season games
Link to FG Roger Angell reading recs post
Link to Jay’s tribute to Angell
Link to “Agincourt and After”
Link to passage from “Agincourt and After”
Link to historical data on the Angell bet
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to Stathead
Link to EW listener emails database
Link to TOOTBLAN glossary entry
Link to FARTSLAM introduction
Link to FARTSLAM discussion
Link to FARTSLAM montage

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the apparent end of Mike Trout’s long-lasting SuperPretzel sponsorship, Willians Astudillo’s return to the majors, the Phillies’ fielding and a seeming surfeit of amusingly bad defensive plays across the league, the arrival of overall no. 1 prospect (and Orioles catcher) Adley Rutschman and how to tell when a prospect is really ready, the postponement of the 13-pitcher limit, the Yankees signing Matt Carpenter, different facial hair changing players’ appearances, the fallout from Josh Donaldson calling Tim Anderson “Jackie,” and Anderson’s great start to the season, plus a few followups.

Audio intro: Great Lakes, “End of an Error”
Audio outro: Joel Plaskett, “Tim”

Link to news about J&J and Dippin’ Dots
Link to 2012 SuperPretzel press release
Link to SuperPretzel website
Link to “I’m a Mac” actor-switch story
Link to EW SuperPretzel episode
Link to latest Phillies flub
Link to Craig Goldstein on the Phillies
Link to earlier episode about bad defense
Link to Nats’ two-run pickoff attempt
Link to study on slippery baseballs
Link to team defensive efficiency
Link to BP on scouting Rutschman
Link to Craig on the Rutschman callup
Link to Rutschman callup video
Link to Rodríguez callup video
Link to Ben on the record prospect crop
Link to 13-pitcher-limit news
Link to Ken Rosenthal on Carpenter
Link to 2019 Tim Anderson SI story
Link to James Fegan on Anderson
Link to Anderson game story
Link to Anderson’s subsequent comments
Link to Donaldson statement
Link to 2016 Donaldson profile
Link to Judge’s comments
Link to Cashman on Donaldson
Link to Bradford’s interview
Link to Bradford’s podcast
Link to article on Anderson’s swing decisions
Link to FiveThirtyEight forecasts page
Link to Tom Tango on regression mistakes
Link to Phil Birnbaum on regression mistakes

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to Kelly Pracht, the CEO and co-founder of predictive analytics startup nVenue, which has provided the real-time probabilities displayed on this season’s MLB Network-produced Friday Night Baseball broadcasts on Apple TV+. They discuss nVenue’s origin story, its sports-betting ambitions, its 100-plus-input machine-learning model, which factors are and aren’t predictive of performance, Ben and Meg’s misgivings about some of the displayed probabilities, and much more. Then (1:04:37) Ben and Meg bring on FanGraphs writer Ben Clemens to discuss the results of his study about how nVenue’s odds compare to a simplistic, one-factor model, and why they think the accuracy of the system matters.

Audio intro: Remember Sports, “Odds Are”
Audio interstitial: Sunflower Bean, “Beat the Odds”
Audio outro: The Rock*A*Teens, “Count in Odd Numbers”

Link to Friday Night Baseball details
Link to nVenue’s website
Link to article about nVenue fundraising
Link to SportTechie on nVenue
Link to SportTechie on nVenue again
Link to D Magazine on nVenue
Link to InnovationMap on nVenue
Link to nVenue YouTube video
Link to nVenue on PitchBook
Link to nVenue on Crunchbase
Link to Emily Bender on AI
Link to machine learning wiki
Link to overfitting explainer
Link to SABR on machine learning
Link to “reach base probability” tweets
Link to Ben Clemens’s nVenue study
Link to Ben’s study data
Link to Brier score wiki
Link to league count splits

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley pay tribute (for the umpteenth time) to the great Roger Angell, who died at 101 on Friday, then banter about which underperforming hitters are most in need of the kind of breakout game that slow-starting Trevor Story had this week. After that (21:41), they bring on listener and top-tier Patreon supporter Aaron Hartman to discuss his Effectively Wild, baseball, and betting origin stories, answer listener emails about umpire punch-out calls in the robo-umps era, quantifying clutchness at lower levels, and the most tortured fan bases in MLB, then (1:00:09) do a “How can you not be pedantic about baseball?” segment on ground-rule doubles, the infield “corners,” “scoreless” games, postseason stats, and walk-offs, and Stat Blast (1:26:10) about Mike Clevinger and pitchers facing players they were traded for, the longest strings of identical plate appearances for back-to-back batters, and the pitchers most helped or hurt by their bullpen support.

Audio intro: Neil Young, “Roger and Out”
Audio outro: Band of Horses, “Heartbreak on the 101”

Link to New Yorker Angell obit
Link to NYT Angell obit
Link to Angell SABR bio
Link to Tom Verducci Angell profile
Link to EW episode on Angell’s centennial
Link to centennial episode transcript
Link to Angell book interview episode
Link to Angell mentions on the EW wiki
Link to Patrick Dubuque on Story
Link to MLB.com on Story
Link to Robert Orr on Semien
Link to MLB.com on Gorman and Liberatore
Link to news about the Cardinals’ callups
Link to BP on Gorman
Link to BP on Liberatore
Link to article on debut dates for HoFers
Link to ground-rule double info
Link to MLB ground rules
Link to William Safire on walk-offs
Link to etymology of walk-off homers
Link to 2021 MLB walk-off montage
Link to EW email questions database
Link to Stathead
Link to player pairs with same 4 on-base events
Link to Duck Soup mirror scene
Link to rate of multi-player trades by decade
Link to Ben on pitchers vs. ex-catchers
Link to Stat Blast data on inherited runners
Link to Aaron’s Instagram
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to article on trendiest names
Link to baby-name comparison tool

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the rabidity of opossums and Eugenio Suárez‘s keepie-uppie skills, then discuss the White Sox offense and Tony La Russa’s rationale for batting Andrew Vaughn ninth, Max Scherzer’s oblique injury, and the possibility of a Juan Soto trade, before meeting major leaguers (53:30) Logan Gillaspie (Orioles) and Brandon Hughes (Cubs), and Stat Blasting (1:06:26) about the rapid Tyler/Taylor takeover of MLB player names.

Audio intro: We Are Scientists, “I Don’t Bite”
Audio outro: Kiwi Jr., “Tyler”

Link to the Human Society on opossums
Link to Wildlife Habitat Council on opossums
Link to Opossum Society FAQ
Link to press-box opossum pic
Link to story about press-box opossum
Link to possum vs. opossum definitions
Link to Reddit thread on Suárez
Link to La Russa comment on Vaughn
Link to Tango’s response
Link to Ben on batting pitchers eighth
Link to Jeremy Frank on Garcia
Link to Frank on Garcia again
Link to Scherzer news
Link to deGrom update
Link to Olney on Soto
Link to report on Soto extension offer
Link to Mark Feinsand on trade candidates
Link to video of Gillaspie’s debut
Link to MASN on Gillaspie’s debut
Link to Camden Chat on Gillaspie
Link to 2018 Gillaspie signing story
Link to FB group thread on Gillaspie
Link to Ben on the Salina Stockade
Link to The Only Rule Is it Has to Work
Link to story on Hughes’s debut
Link to video of Hughes’s debut
Link to Hughes fun fact
Link to Longenhagen on Hughes
Link to Tyler Holton story
Link to Stat Blast data on player names
Link to SSA baby names site
Link to The Bob Emergency, Part 1
Link to The Bob Emergency, Part II
Link to Tyler Kepner on Tylers
Link to Stathead on worst second-half tOPS+
Link to Stathead on second-half ERA rises
Link to 1995 article on Green, P. 1
Link to 1995 article on Green, P. 2

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about two of the worst defensive plays of the season, which came courtesy of the Tigers and Nationals, Albert Pujols pitching and walking, the Pirates winning without a hit (but with one correct prediction), and the breakout of Taylor Ward; answer listener emails about banning gray uniforms, baseball jugglers, listing pitchers’ batting handedness in the universal-DH era, vetoing shifts and pitching changes, and catchers squatting too close to hitters; then Stat Blast (1:08:55) about the most consecutive trades made by one team, the best one-day home and road records, and the most back-to-back homers in a season by teams and players, before reflecting on how the (o)possums in the press box in Oakland may get along with their feral-cat neighbors (plus a few postscript updates).

Audio intro: The Society of Rockets, “Error Era”
Audio outro: Chip Taylor, “The Possum Hunter”

Link to video of Twins-Tigers play
Link to video of Nats-Marlins play
Link to WaPo on the Nats’ defense
Link to team Defensive Efficiency
Link to Tigers’ dropped popup
Link to Nationals’ botched rundown
Link to xWOBA leaderboard
Link to Sam Blum on Ward
Link to Dan Szymborski on Ward
Link to Tyler Kepner on Tylers
Link to Jay Jaffe on the hitless win
Link to García’s prediction
Link to story on VanMeter’s prediction
Link to tweet about VanMeter’s prediction
Link to story about Pujols and Gonzalez
Link to Sam on Pujols not walking
Link to Allen juggling on SI cover
Link to video of Peña juggling
Link to video of Guillorme juggling
Link to video of Dietrich juggling
Link to other video of Dietrich juggling
Link to article about Olympic juggling
Link to Jeff on catcher’s interference rates
Link to EW email questions database
Link to Stathead
Link to Stat Blast data on back-to-back HR
Link to MLBTR on Ford trades
Link to story about Schwarber as bench coach
Link to tweet about Wilson as coach
Link to press-box possum pic
Link to Opossum Society FAQ
Link to possum vs. opossum definitions
Link to tweet about Morel’s called shot
Link to video of Nats’ latest misplay(s)

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a wave of baseball ads for cryptocurrencies and NFTs coinciding with crashes in the crypto and NFT markets, injuries to Bryce Harper and Clayton Kershaw, the dominance of the Dodgers, Yankees, and (especially of late) Astros, the early NL West race, Robinson Canó getting a job as Jarred Kelenic loses one, the Mariners’ player development and the franchise’s future, the managerial line of succession and an unlikely player-manager scenario, and Devin Williams and the limits of effective wildness, plus three “How can you not be pedantic about baseball?” terminology questions about describing scoring and strikeouts and recalling players, and a few closing followups.

Audio intro: Joan Armatrading, “Down to Zero”
Audio outro: The Byrds, “Take a Whiff on Me”

Link to story about crypto sell-off
Link to story about crypto/NFT crash
Link to more on the crypto/NFT crash
Link to luna crash explainer
Link to Nationals tweet
Link to Ad Age story about Nats tweet
Link to Marlins NFT press release
Link to MLB/MLBPA NFT press release
Link to MLB’s Gehrig NFT
Link to Ohtani crypto press release
Link to Harper injury news
Link to Kershaw injury news
Link to fun fact about Astros
Link to Jay Jaffe on Yankees homers
Link to BaseRuns records/run differential
Link to Jay on the Canó signing
Link to Kelenic news
Link to Mariners prospect list
Link to EW email questions database
Link to effectively wild pitchers spreadsheet
Link to 2018 story about emergency goalie
Link to 2018 episode about emergency goalie
Link to FanGraphs on emergency catcher rules
Link to SI on emergency catcher rules
Link to Ohtani prankster story

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