Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unanticipated charms of podcast faves Willians Astudillo and Shohei Ohtani, Trevor Bauer’s (and the league’s) spin rates increasing despite MLB’s threatened foreign substance crackdown, the confounding behavior of the new, supposedly deadened baseball, and the news that the mound will be moved back and the “double hook” DH will be tested in the Atlantic League, follow up on the extra-innings automatic-runner rule and the difference between pitch framing and “slide framing,” and answer listener emails about MLB veterans being better people than players, what would happen if home run trots were optional, and whether two players could switch places without being noticed, plus a Stat Blast about the hitter-runner duos with the most runs plated.

Audio intro: Ian Fisher, "One Foot"
Audio outro: The Easybeats, "I’ll Find Somebody to Take Your Place"

Link to latest Shohei heroics
Link to Shohei shiver video
Link to Willians foul pop video
Link to Willians slide video
Link to Ben on Astudillo
Link to MLB 4-seam spin rate by year
Link to MLB slider spin rate by year
Link to Ben on foreign substances
Link to Ben and Rob on the ball in spring training
Link to Eno on the new ball so far
Link to HR/FB rate by season
Link to MLB.com on new Atlantic League rules
Link to Jayson Stark on new Atlantic League rules
Link to Ben on the starting pitcher protagonist
Link to 2019 EW interview with Atlantic Leaguers
Link to Ben on moving the mound back
Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past on Litwhiler
Link to Stat Blast data
Link to Eddie Robinson autobiography passage

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Musgrove‘s no-hitter and the significance of Musgrove snapping the Padres’ no-no-no streak, Tim Locastro breaking Tim Raines’s record for the most consecutive successful steal attempts to start a career, Ronald Acuña Jr. beating out a routine grounder and MLB’s “FieldVision” depiction of the play, the controversial call on (and replay review of) an Alec Bohm slide that ended the Philly-Atlanta Sunday Night Baseball game, Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama’s baseball heroes, and the two-way, all-around greatness of Negro Leagues great and five-time Hall of Famer Martín Dihigo. Then (47:56) Ben talks to Dihigo’s youngest son and biographer, Gilberto Dihigo, along with University of Illinois history professor (and Negro Leagues and U.S. Latino history scholar) Adrian Burgos Jr., about Dihigo’s legendary life and career, how he achieved two-way greatness, and whether the sport will ever see his likes again.

Audio intro: Son Volt, "Left a Slide"
Audio interstitial: The Baseball Project, "Phenom"
Audio outro: The Felice Brothers, "Hometown Hero"

Link to BP on Musgrove and Bohm
Link to Ben on the once-anonymous Padres
Link to Devan on Locastro
Link to story on Locastro and Raines
Link to Acuña grounder video
Link to Acuña FieldVision video
Link to Baseball Savant sprint speed leaderboard
Link to Bohm slide video
Link to Atlanta’s reaction to the Bohm call
Link to Dihigo’s Seamheads batter page
Link to Dihigo’s Seamheads pitcher page
Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past on Dihigo
Link to The Undefeated on Dihigo
Link to THT on Dihigo
Link to THT on two-way Negro Leagues greats
Link to Newsday on Dihigo
Link to MLB.com on Dihigo
Link to Dihigo’s SABR bio
Link to Gilberto’s Zoom background
Link to Gilberto’s YouTube channel
Link to YouTube documentary on Dihigo
Link to recording of “Elegía a Martín Dihigo”
Link to transcript of “Elegía a Martín Dihigo”
Link to Gilberto’s biography of his father
Link to Gilberto’s book Estrellas Por Siempre
Link to Adrian’s book Playing America’s Game
Link to Adrian’s book Cuban Star

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the seemingly building backlash to the extra-innings automatic-runner rule and Dusty Baker’s comments about anti-Astros heckling, then (19:51) bring on high performance coach Gary McCoy to discuss his epiphany about preventing player injuries, the importance of deceleration, how he helped a team in Taiwan have an injury-free season, the problems with innings limits and pitch limits, how MLB teams should be handling players in a season following a light workload, how and why teams are investing in sports science, how motion-tracking technology and artificial intelligence can help prevent injuries, and more.

Audio intro: Durand Jones & The Indications, "Make a Change"
Audio interstitial: Parquet Courts, "Picture of Health"
Audio outro: The Posies, "Take Care of Yourself"

Link to Ginny Searle on the automatic-runner rule
Link to Dusty on heckling
Link to Joe Lemire on Gary and the Brothers
Link to Gary’s LinkedIn page
Link to study on injury rates in 2020
Link to Mike Petriello on teams managing workloads
Link to J.J. Cooper on innings limits
Link to study on innings limits
Link to second study on innings limits

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs writer RJ McDaniel banter about a controversial walk-off hit by pitch call involving the Mets’ Michael Conforto, the early success of exciting Tigers Rule 5 pick Akil Baddoo, and unexpected fauna on the field, then conduct the second annual Effectively Wild Team Fun Draft, in which they draft all 30 teams in order of how fun they are to follow in 2021.

Audio intro: Dean Martin, "Just for Fun"
Audio outro: The Donnas, "Friday Fun"

Link to Conforto HBP video
Link to RJ on Baddoo
Link to RJ on the Coors Field cat
Link to cat Statcast video
Link to RJ on the angry goose
Link to first Team Fun draft
Link to Ohtani wave video
Link to Rosenthal’s Bauer report

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley convene an emergency podcast to discuss Shohei Ohtani’s exhilarating, terrifying, and historic Sunday Night Baseball performance against the White Sox (which veered from triumph to near-tragedy), touching on Ohtani’s titanic home run and resounding bat crack, the aesthetics of his stuff, his Statcast superstardom, his narrow escape from injury after a controversial move (or non-move) by Joe Maddon, and more, plus ruminations on Ty Buttrey’s farewell.

Audio intro: Jane’s Addiction, "Superhero"
Audio outro: Of Montreal, "Let’s Do Everything for the First Time Forever"

Link to video of Ohtani game
Link to video of Ohtani homer
Link to Baseball Savant Gamefeed page
Link to Sam on dropped third strikes
Link to video of 2005 Pierzynski play
Link to Fabian Ardaya on Ohtani’s spin rates
Link to Ohtani outing fun facts
Link to MLB.com Ohtani outing game story
Link to ESPN Ohtani outing game story
Link to Alden Gonzalez column
Link to list of pre-Ohtani games with no DH
Link to Gary Ashwill on Negro Leagues games
Link to Ardaya on Walsh
Link to Walsh’s helmet highlight
Link to SI piece about “as so often happens”
Link to story on leading off inning after great play

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about immersing themselves in Opening Day action, Opening Day highlights and oddities, early-season optimism, the divisive automatic-runner rule, the Francisco Lindor extension and why it matters so much for the Mets, the perception of players’ positive COVID tests today compared to last season, what they’re most looking forward to this season, and much more.

Audio intro: Hippo Campus, "Baseball"
Audio outro: Paul Weller, "Brand New Start"

Link to Sam on the automatic-runner rule
Link to Cabrera home run video
Link to Trout on his swing
Link to Jay Jaffe on Cabrera
Link to FanGraphs staff predictions post
Link to Ringer staff predictions post
Link to video of Turner/Bellinger play
Link to list of runners passing runners
Link to Yang’s Yankees scarf tweet
Link to Ben on the Lindor extension
Link to Reddit thread on Bally scorebug
Link to Ben on the ball in spring training
Link to latest Ringer MLB Show episode
Link to Darius Austin on preseason predictions

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the completion of the season preview series and the Marlins renaming Marlins Park “loanDepot park,” do a draft of current corporate-sponsored MLB ballpark names from least to most objectionable, and then preview the 2021 Dodgers (24:20) with Pedro Moura of the The Athletic and the 2021 Orioles (1:09:03) with Joe Trezza of MLB.com.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Toto, "We Made It"
Audio interstitial 1: Kiwi Jr., "Dodger"
Audio interstitial 2: Matthew Sweet, "Baltimore"
Audio outro: Gene Clark, "Opening Day"

Link to Ben on the Dodgers
Link to Andy McCullough on the Dodgers as champs
Link to Pedro on Lux
Link to Pedro on Bellinger
Link to Pedro on Seager
Link to Pedro on Bauer
Link to Pedro and Dennis Lin on Dodgers-Padres
Link to Zach Kram on the Dodgers-Padres race
Link to Joe on Mancini
Link to Joe on Santander
Link to Joe on the Orioles’ new Dominican facility
Link to Ben on Jannis and the knuckleball
Link to Ben on the Brennameme
Link to Ben on the new baseball

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg getting vaccinated, the social dynamics of looser restrictions for vaccinated MLB players, an update on the infamous Tom & Jerry baseball scene, another baseball term named after a player, Willians Astudillo making the Twins, a few other players not making their respective teams, politicians’ performative fandom, Randy Dobnak and the future of contract extensions, and FanGraphs’ spring membership drive, then preview the 2021 Yankees (41:14) with Lindsey Adler of the The Athletic and the 2021 Pirates (1:19:54) with Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Danko/Fjeld/Andersen, "One More Shot"
Audio interstitial 1: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Yankee Go Home"
Audio interstitial 2: The Lemonheads, "Pittsburgh"
Audio outro: Golden Earring, "One Shot Away From Paradise"

Link to Lindsey on vaccinations and protocols
Link to Tom & Jerry baseball scene
Link to Hader tweets and 2018 ASG
Link to Laurila’s latest Sunday Notes
Link to video of Willians out at second
Link to Willians styling his homer
Link to Yang tweets
Link to reversible Mets/Yankees mask
Link to Tony Wolfe on the Dobnak extension
Link to Sam on contract extensions
Link to FanGraphs’ new contributors
Link to FanGraphs spring membership drive
Link to Travis on the “elbow spiral”
Link to Lindsey on the pitching workshop
Link to story on Kratz and García
Link to Brault’s showtunes album
Link to Ben on Keller’s 2020
Link to Jason’s interview with Nutting

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how the absence of the injured Eloy Jiménez will affect the White Sox, follow up on their discussions from the preceding episode about distracting on-field animals and baseball terms named after teams or players, then preview the 2021 Padres (19:37) with Dennis Lin of the The Athletic and the 2021 Rockies (1:03:17) with Nick Groke of The Athletic.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Todd Rundgren, "Don’t Hurt Yourself"
Audio interstitial 1: The Shazam, "Turnaround"
Audio interstitial 2: The Delgados, "If This is a Plan"
Audio outro: Landlady, "Western Divide"

Link to Jiménez injury video
Link to James Fegan on Jiménez
Link to 2009 air show story
Link to Harvard pigeon prank story
Link to seagull-assisted walk-off video
Link to rhea birds story
Link to BA story about Padres trades
Link to Dennis on the Tatis contract
Link to Dennis on Cronenworth and Grisham
Link to Zach Kram on the Dodgers-Padres rivalry
Link to Zach on the Dodgers/Padres vs. the NL
Link to Nick and Ken’s Rockies story
Link to David Roth on the Rockies
Link to Monfort’s 94-win projection
Link to Nick’s column about the Arenado trade
Link to Nick’s questions about the Arenado trade
Link to Nick on analytics department departures
Link to Nick on Bard
Link to Bobby Brown SABR bio
Link to NYT Bobby Brown obit
Link to story about Bobby and Eddie Robinson
Link to video of Bobby and Eddie
Link to WSJ story about Eddie

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Isiah Kiner-Falefa being mad at Meg (sort of), a billboard in Boston about Mookie Betts, MLB’s renewed attempts to crack down on foreign-substance use, and what an NHL referee oopsie says about umpire makeup calls and automated strike zones, then answer listener emails about whether the season preview podcast series influences their appraisals of teams, how baseball would be different if it weren’t different at all, the definition of a “Chicago,” exploits associated with certain teams, training geese to distract defenders, and the most disruptive form of wildlife to have on the field.

Audio intro: No Doubt, "Magic’s in the Makeup"
Audio outro: This is the Kit, "Greasy Goose"

Link to Kiner-Falefa tweet
Link to shortstop positional power rankings
Link to article on Kiner-Falefa’s positions
Link to story about Betts billboard
Link to report about foreign-substance memo
Link to Evan Drellich on the memo
Link to Ben on foreign substances
Link to foreign substances EW episode
Link to NHL ref hot mic comment
Link to NHL statement about ref
Link to article about NHL ref
Link to FiveThirtyEight study on NHL penalties
Link to article on umpires and close pitch calls
Link to another article on umps and close calls
Link to Russell Eassom on umps and calls by count
Link to Guy Molyneux on umps and calls by count
Link to John Walsh on umps and calls by count
Link to Steve Treder on strikeouts over time
Link to story on 2014 transfer rule kerfuffle
Link to SABR on the “Chicago”
Link to video of goose on the field
Link to Sam on the skunk in the outfield
Link to RJ McDaniel on the angry goose

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest spring exploits of Shohei Ohtani, the Royals extending Salvador Perez, rooting against injuries in spring training, and a mysterious former major leaguer known only as “Lewis,” then preview the 2021 Mets (37:09) with Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News and the 2021 Marlins (1:14:26) with Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Mark Knopfler, "Nobody Does That"
Audio interstitial 1: Radiohead, "Lewis (Mistreated)"
Audio interstitial 2: Queen, "Put Out the Fire"
Audio outro: Feist, "Get it Wrong, Get it Right"

Link to video of Ohtani’s two-way game
Link to Ben Clemens on the Perez extension
Link to Jared Diamond on the Royals’ humane behavior
Link to Rustin Dodd on the Royals’ anti-porn campaign
Link to “Lewis” Wikipedia page
Link to “Lewis” B-Ref page
Link to “Lewis” on the Stathead ERA leaderboard
Link to story about deGrom’s spring speeds
Link to Matt Kelly on deGrom’s velo in 2020
Link to Travis Sawchik on deGrom’s velo in 2020
Link to Deesha on Jared Porter
Link to article on the Mets’ defense
Link to Jordan on Kim Ng
Link to Stephanie Apstein on Kim Ng
Link to Jordan on the Marlins’ pandemic year
Link to story about Marlins security guard
Link to Realmuto cracking the fish tank

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley preview the 2021 Astros with Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and the 2021 Rangers (54:07) with Levi Weaver of The Athletic.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: The Felice Brothers, "T for Texas"
Audio interstitial: Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez, "Dirty Little Texas Story"
Audio outro: 2nd Grade, "Bye-Bye Texas"

Link to Michael Baumann on the aging Astros
Link to Chandler on Valdez
Link to Chandler on Álvarez
Link to Martino’s Astros book
Link to Drellich’s Astros book
Link to Levi on the Rangers and fan safety
Link to ESPN on the Rangers front office
Link to The Daily News on the Rangers front office
Link to story on Charley Pride Fellowship Program
Link to Levi on Young
Link to Levi on the Rangers’ rotation
Link to Ken Rosenthal report about Lynn
Link to Andrew Simon on Kiner-Falefa
Link to Levi on Kiner-Falefa
Link to Levi on Calhoun
Link to Levi on Arihara
Link to Levi on Dunning
Link to Levi on the first-base battle
Link to things Levi is looking forward to
Link to story about B-Ref being sued
Link to Baseball-Reference Stream Finder

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley attempt to make sense of unsightly spring training uniforms, then preview the 2021 Braves (08:42) with Grant McAuley of From The Diamond and the 2021 Mariners (45:27) with Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Ken Stringfellow, "Uniforms"
Audio interstitial: Anti-Flag, "20 Years of Hell"
Audio outro: Jethro Tull, "Uniform"

Link to Meg’s tweet about the Padres’ uniforms
Link to Uni Watch on the St. Patrick’s Day unis
Link to Mike Petriello on the Braves’ projections
Link to Petriello on Tatis/Acuña/Soto
Link to Craig Goldstein on Fried
Link to study on Cobb County
Link to Neil deMause on the Cobb County study
Link to From The Diamond
Link to BP Mariners preview
Link to Rodríguez homer video
Link to Ryan on the Rodríguez homer
Link to Ryan on Kelenic and Mather
Link to Ryan on Kelenic’s injury
Link to Ryan on Dunn and spring training clichés
Link to Dan Szymborski’s hitter bust candidates
Link to Ryan on Kikuchi
Link to Ryan on the pandemic and the M’s rebuild

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about weirdness and whimsy in spring training, the Giants and Cleveland playing an unnecessary bottom of the ninth (without umpires), the 22-pitch plate appearance between Jordan Hicks and Luis Guillorme, Jacob deGrom’s ever-escalating velocity, and two recent research pieces, then preview the 2021 Twins (23:33) with Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic and the 2021 Tigers (59:27) with Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Fruit Bats, "The Bottom of It"
Audio interstitial 1: Joel Plaskett, "Catch 22"
Audio interstitial 2: John Frusciante, "Central"
Audio outro: Will Butler, "Finish What I Started"

Link to story about Giants-Cleveland game
Link to Jesse’s Giants-Cleveland Twitter thread
Link to story about 22-pitch PA
Link to RJ McDaniel on the 22-pitch PA
Link to Forman tweet about timing the 22-pitch PA
Link to Russell Carleton on full-count fouls
Link to spring Statcast standouts
Link to story about deGrom’s spring speeds
Link to Matt Kelly on deGrom’s velo in 2020
Link to Travis Sawchik on deGrom’s velo in 2020
Link to Ben on moving the mound back
Link to Rob Mains on the modern TTO penalty
Link to Rob on the TTO penalty in the past
Link to Matt Trueblood’s Twins preview
Link to Aaron on impact Twins rookies
Link to Aaron on the playoff losing streak
Link to Aaron on the closer-less bullpen
Link to Aaron on Cruz
Link to Aaron on Colomé
Link to Aaron on Simmons’s defense
Link to Aaron on a Kirilloff extension
Link to Travis on Garver’s framing
Link to Dan Syzmborski on hitter bust candidates
Link to Evan on the Tigers’ spending
Link to Evan on Baddoo

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley pass the halfway point of their 30-team season preview series by previewing the 2021 White Sox with James Fegan of The Athletic and the 2021 Diamondbacks (46:45) with Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, plus a brief postscript on the career and retirement of Nick Markakis.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Parquet Courts, "Black and White"
Audio interstitial: The Hives, "Try it Again"
Audio outro: Nick Lowe, "Halfway to Paradise"

Link to Athletic article on teams developing velocity
Link to James on Kopech
Link to James on Crochet
Link to James on La Russa and team unity
Link to report about Reinsdorf and La Russa
Link to James on Vaughn
Link to James on Giolito
Link to James on Lucroy
Link to James on Cease
Link to Dan Szymborski’s bust candidates
Link to Szymborski’s breakout candidates
Link to Nick on Lovullo’s contract
Link to Jake Mailhot on Ketel Marte’s power
Link to highest-WAR seasons without an MVP vote
Link to highest-WAR careers without an MVP vote

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the new baseball format embraced by the Savannah Bananas, the experimental rules MLB is imposing at various levels of the minor leagues in 2021, and whether they would want to live in a ballpark (like a man who claims to have lived for three years in Veterans Stadium), then answer listener emails about whether this season’s spring training stats are more or less meaningless than usual, the ideal photo to represent baseball on the sport’s Wikipedia page, the definition of pitchability, whether the public’s perception of player mega-contracts has changed, whether this is the “tanking era” or the “superteam era,” and whether tanking is as bad as it’s cracked up to be, plus a Stat Blast about teams that scored the highest percentage of their total runs in one game.

Audio intro: Louis Prima, "Yes, We Have No Bananas"
Audio outro: Iron Maiden, "The Number of the Beast"

Link to story about the Bananas
Link to video about the Bananas
Link to MiLB rules changes announcement
Link to Jayson Stark on the new rules
Link to story about living in Veterans Stadium
Link to The Secret Apartment
Link to Dan Rosenheck on spring training stats
Link to Dan’s presentation on spring training stats
Link to Heyward photo from Wikipedia
Link to Alex Chamberlain on Hendricks
Link to A-Rod contract facts
Link to Zach Kram on the superteam era
Link to Ben on competitive balance and tanking
Link to Craig Edwards on competitive balance and tanking
Link to Craig on the 2019 competitive balance problem
Link to Stat Blast data

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB.TV repetition, Yadier Molina throwing out Jose Siri, teams opting to end innings early, the effect of Jarred Kelenic’s injury on the Mariners service-time controversy, the Astros signing Jake Odorizzi, and teams being more brazen about lowering their competitive balance tax assessments, then preview the 2021 Blue Jays (21:50) with Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic and the 2021 Giants (1:06:14) with Grant Brisbee of The Athletic.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Zeus, "At the Risk of Repeating"
Audio interstitial 1: Neil Young, "Far From Home"
Audio interstitial 2: Old & In the Way, "Old and in the Way"
Audio outro: Sloan, "Everything You’ve Done Wrong"

Link to sentient-baseballs email episode
Link to MLB Film Room
Link to Molina/Siri play
Link to Evans/Phillips face-off
Link to Ichiro/Cameron simulated game
Link to story about Kelenic’s knee injury
Link to rule about “rolling” innings
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Odorizzi signing
Link to Odorizzi contract terms
Link to drafts and competitions spreadsheet
Link to story on Kovalchuk’s 17-year deal
Link to story about Kovalchuk penalty reduction
Link to story about Blue Jays’ radio feed
Link to story about Blue Jays’ free agency premium
Link to Kaitlyn on where the Jays will play
Link to Kaitlyn on Vlad
Link to Dan on Vlad as a breakout candidate
Link to Kaitlyn on the Jays’ pitching depth chart
Link to Kaitlyn on the Jays’ new complex
Link to story on the Jays’ high performance department
Link to story on Biggio and the less lively ball
Link to Spin Rate podcast
Link to Ben Carsley on the Giants
Link to Matt Trueblood on Yastrzemski
Link to Grant on Yastrzemski
Link to the Giants’ giant coaching staff
Link to Andrew Baggarly on Alyssa Nakken
Link to Grant on the Giants’ old lineup
Link to Grant on the Giants’ rotation depth
Link to Grant in 2017 on AT&T Park offense
Link to Grant on Oracle Park offense in 2020
Link to Baggs & Brisbee podcast

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’s first home run and pitching appearance of spring training, follow up on their previous discussion about the abominable baseball scene in Tom & Jerry, and recap the results of a Baseball America study about the number of big leaguers (and good big leaguers) in the average farm system, then preview the 2021 Red Sox (31:32) with Alex Speier of The Boston Globe and the 2021 Reds (1:13:42) with C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Real Estate, "It’s Real"
Audio interstitial 1: The Style Council, "All Gone Away"
Audio interstitial 2: Cordovas, "Step Back Red"
Audio outro: Fiona Apple, "Red Red Red"

Link to Ohtani splitter GIFs
Link to story on Ohtani’s homer
Link to Fabian on Ohtani having fun
Link to Tom & Jerry clip
Link to actual Gordon fly ball
Link to Tom & Jerry director interview
Link to Baseball America prospects study
Link to earlier BA study about future all-stars
Link to Jeff on good players and prospects
Link to Jeff on good players who weren’t prospects
Link to Alex on Martinez rebuilding himself
Link to Alex on Cora
Link to Alex on Cordero
Link to Alex on Boston’s outfield
Link to Homegrown paperback
Link to Trent on Greene
Link to Trent in 2020 on Driveline
Link to Redleg Nation post on Reds’ unlucky offense
Link to Reddit post on Reds’ unlucky offense
Link to Trent on Farmer
Link to Trent on the Reds’ payroll
Link to Redleg Nation post on Votto’s adjustment
Link to Trent and Eno on Votto

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Justin Dunn’s offseason overhaul and the value of spring training clichés, the Brewers signing Jackie Bradley Jr., why Jake Odorizzi is still a free agent, where he’ll end up, and why he’ll decide the EW free agent contracts competition, and an abominable baseball scene from the new movie Tom & Jerry. Then (41:25) they bring on Sam Rosenthal and Joel Clarke of video game studio The Game Band, the creators of the viral online simulation league Blaseball, to talk about their baseball backgrounds, how they created Blaseball, how and why it took off, how the game works, its active fan community, its dedicated researchers, how they write the story and simulate games, how they make money, how to get into the game, the impact of the pandemic on the game, the demographics of its fans, player incinerations/resurrections, and more.

Audio intro: The Garages, "Empty Stadiums"
Audio interstitial: Josh Millard, "Let Me into the Blaseball"
Audio outro: The Garages, "Rogue Ump"

Link to Dunn story
Link to Ben’s BSOHL study
Link to Ben’s new pitches study
Link to David Laurila on Bradley
Link to Jay Jaffe on Odorizzi
Link to FA contracts draft stats
Link to Ben Clemens on Houston’s rotation
Link to Tom & Jerry clip
Link to actual Gordon fly ball
Link to Sonic the Hedgehog baseball scene
Link to Blaseball website
Link to the Blaseball wiki
Link to The Game Band intro Twitter thread
Link to Blaseball explainer video
Link to Polygon intro to Blaseball
Link to Polygon on Blaseball fans
Link to Vice on Blaseball
Link to Android Central on Blaseball
Link to Defector on Blaseball
Link to Cat Manning’s Blaseball primer
Link to the Los Angeles Times on Blaseball
Link to The Universal Baseball Association
Link to SIBR
Link to Blaseball Reference
Link to story on The Garages
Link to Blaseball Patreon page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about spring training games starting, Jeff Mathis batting cleanup in a spring training game (and once improbably batting fifth in a regular-season game), the latest reports about suspended Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway, the postponement of the start of the Triple-A season, the outlook for attendance in Texas, and Zack Greinke’s quest to join the exclusive 10-10 club for pitchers, then preview the 2021 Angels (26:23) with Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and the 2021 Royals (1:09:10) with Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Shovels & Rope (Feat. Brandi Carlile), "Cleanup Hitter"
Audio interstitial 1: Filthy Friends, "Angels"
Audio interstitial 2: Heart, "Treat Me Well"
Audio outro: Pavement, "Harness Your Hopes"

Link to 2012 Mathis game
Link to latest Callaway report
Link to Alderson comments about Callaway
Link to Passan report about Triple-A
Link to Rangers attendance story
Link to Greinke’s 10-10 quote
Link to Fabian on Ohtani’s offseason
Link to story about Angels’ GM hiring process
Link to story about Angels’ furloughs
Link to story about Pujols paying employees’ salaries
Link to Jared Diamond on the Royals treating people well

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jarred Kelenic’s beef with the Mariners about alleged service-time manipulation, then preview the 2021 Nationals (25:37) with Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post and the 2021 Cubs (59:43) with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Ty Segall, "Manipulator"
Audio interstitial 1: Gary Louris, "D.C. Blues"
Audio interstitial 2: Jason Isbell, "Chicago Promenade"
Audio outro: Van Morrison, "March Winds in February"

Link to USA Today article about Kelenic
Link to Mather video transcript
Link to Craig Goldstein on holding down prospects
Link to Jayson Stark on fixing service-time manipulation
Link to R.J. Anderson on the Bryant grievance
Link to Sahadev on the Darvish trade
Link to Sahadev’s interview with Breslow
Link to Sahadev on Kimbrel
Link to Sahadev on Arrieta
Link to Sahadev on the Cubs’ defense
Link to Alex Chamberlain on Hendricks
Link to Joe Sheehan on hitters in walk years
Link to Jesse on Schwarber getting squatty
Link to Jesse on Kieboom
Link to Jesse on Strasburg
Link to Jesse on Hand
Link to Buzz Saw

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley preview the 2021 Athletics with Alex Coffey of The Athletic and the 2021 Phillies (30:13) with Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: The Divine Comedy, "Come Home Billy Bird"
Audio interstitial: George Harrison, "Stuck Inside a Cloud"
Audio outro: The Apples in Stereo, "Play Tough"

Link to Alex on Beane
Link to Alex on players’ reactions to Semien leaving
Link to Ken Rosenthal on Semien’s exit
Link to Alex on Oakland’s offseason and finances
Link to Alex on the 1955 Mays/Aaron exhibition team
Link to Sam on the Phillies’ rebuild
Link to Matt on the Phillies’ revamped player dev
Link to Matt on the Phillies’ rebuilt bullpen
Link to Matt on Kingery
Link to Matt on Fuld’s promotion
Link to Matt on Dombrowski’s front office
Link to Matt on Harper and the Phillies’ offseason
Link to R.J. Anderson on Mathis
Link to Matt on the Phillies’ outfield failures
Link to Matt on the Phillies’ new roster

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fernando Tatis Jr. coining a term for his contract, a Bill James tweet about analytics, and Shin-Soo Choo leaving MLB to make his belated KBO debut, share Stat Blasts about all-over-30 lineups and players who’ve dominated one position in their franchise’s history, and then (32:39) bring on FanGraphs author RJ McDaniel to talk about the recently unearthed comments by Mariners president and CEO Kevin Mather that led to Mather’s resignation, how Mather’s comments may reflect more pervasive problems with attitudes toward players, how the Mariners and their fans will try to move on, how minor league contraction has affected baseball in Vancouver (and beyond), the Blue Jays’ active offseason, why Blue Jays broadcasts aren’t easily accessible, and more.

Audio intro: Semi Precious Weapons, "Statues of Ourselves"
Audio interstitial: Cotton Mather, "The End of the Line"
Audio outro: Gord Downie, "Vancouver Divorce"

Link to story about Choo signing with the Wyverns
Link to story about Choo playing in front of his family
Link to EW episode about sabermetrics breaking baseball
Link to Stat Blast data about over-30 lineups
Link to Stat Blast data about positional team titans
Link to Mather video
Link to Mather transcript
Link to Mariners statement about Mather’s resignation
Link to MLBPA statement about Mather
Link to report about past complaints about Mather
Link to report about Mariners wrongful termination suit
Link to RJ on Mather
Link to study on accents and employability
Link to Patrick Dubuque on Mather
Link to story about Mariners culture post-Mather
Link to RJ on the Northwest League
Link to Torao Ooka B-Ref page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about discordant college baseball uniform fonts, a piece by Blake Snell in The Players’ Tribune, and whether there’s a competitive advantage in making the bullpen less visible to the pitcher on the mound, then preview the 2021 Cardinals (15:13) with Will Leitch of MLB.com (and elsewhere) and the 2021 Cleveland baseball team (58:59) with Zack Meisel of The Athletic, plus a postscript about the underrated (and re-signed) Brett Gardner.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: The Essex Green, "Uniform"
Audio interstitial 1: William Prince, "Reliever"
Audio interstitial 2: The Essex Green, "Cardinal Points"
Audio outro: Devin Davis, "Giant Spiders"

Link to Meg’s tweets about uniforms
Link to Snell’s column
Link to Will on the Arenado deal
Link to NL Central roundtable with Will
Link to preorder Will’s novel
Link to Will’s newsletter
Link to Zack on Francona
Link to The Athletic bracket of new team names
Link to Zack on Rosario
Link to Zack on McKenzie
Link to Zack on Cleveland’s new middle infield
Link to Zack on Cleveland’s pitcher development
Link to EW episode about Cleveland’s pitching powerhouse
Link to The Selby is Godcast
Link to Yankees position-player WAR leaderboard
Link to Yankees WAR Runs DP+Baserunning leaderboard
Link to 2010-20 MLB position-player WAR leaderboard

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Baltimore Orioles trending on Twitter because of their 0.0 percent FanGraphs playoff odds, what that figure really signifies, and how teams tend to respond to pessimistic projections, then break down why the record-breaking 14-year extension signed by superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is a windfall for him, great news for fans of the Padres, and a boon to baseball. After that (35:10), they celebrate Prospect Week at FanGraphs by bringing on lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen to discuss his brand-new ranking of the top prospects in baseball, which organizations’ prospect strengths stand out, the potential of Wander Franco, Jasson Dominguez, and other intriguing talents, which prospects were most affected by the pandemic, whether there were any developmental upsides to playing at alternate sites, the upcoming draft classes, why Tatis was originally underrated, the now-complete career of Tim Tebow, and more.

Audio intro: Guns N’ Roses, "14 Years"
Audio interstitial: Hinds, "San Diego"
Audio outro: Matthew Sweet, "Coming Soon"

Link to @MLB playoff odds tweet
Link to Means on the Orioles’ playoff odds
Link to Ben Clemens on the Tatis extension
Link to Big League Advance EW interview episode
Link to Sportico on Tatis and BLA
Link to Ken Rosenthal on Tatis and BLA
Link to Eric’s Top 100-ish prospects
Link to Kevin on pandemic-hampered prospects
Link to Eric and Kevin’s 2022 picks to click
Link to Eric’s draft rankings
Link to story about Daniel Lynch
Link to NASA Perseverance press release
Link to Pinstriped Prospects Dominguez tweet
Link to Fernando Perez EW interview episode

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the beginning of the ninth annual Effectively Wild team-by-team season preview series, discuss a trio of players (Justin Turner, James Paxton, and Jake Arrieta) who re-signed with their most recent or former teams, and preview the 2021 Rays (16:01) with Adam Berry of MLB.com and the 2021 Brewers (57:25) with Will Sammon of The Athletic.
2021 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG

Audio intro: Camera Obscura, "Do it Again"
Audio interstitial 1: The Bats, "The Rays"
Audio interstitial 2: Bombadil, "Wisconsin Wedding"
Audio outro: The Rembrandts, "End of the Beginning"

Link to recap of 2020 team predictions
Link to Jared Diamond on the Rays’ executive tree
Link to Eric Longenhagen’s Rays prospects list
Link to Ben on the opener and Yarbrough
Link to Ian Malinowski on Yarbrough’s arb case
Link to Tony Wolfe on Yelich
Link to Will on Burnes
Link to Will on Williams
Link to Marc Carig on Williams
Link to Jake Mailhot on Williams
Link to Will on Lindblom
Link to Will on Wong and Hiura

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the de-naming and possible renaming of the minor leagues, the Andrew Benintendi trade and the state of the Royals, and what they would add to SABR’s list of the 50 most noteworthy moments in the evolution of baseball analytics over the past 50 years, then (30:00) bring back NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Systems Engineer (and baseball fan) Shannon Towey to discuss adopting the Dodgers, the Mets’ offseason, the physics of baseball, the upcoming landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars, the purpose of the Mars 2020 mission, her role in communicating with the rover, why Mars has had a busy month, the importance of planetary protection, future Mars missions, and much more.

Audio intro: The Killers, "My List"
Audio interstitial: Styx, "Mission to Mars"
Audio outro: Rainbow Kitten Surprise, "Mission to Mars"

Link to new minor league structure
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Benintendi trade
Link to SABR’s analytics list
Link to story about Pitcher Abuse Points
Link to Victor Wang’s research
Link to Sam on Steve Boros
Link to the history of “three true outcomes”
Link to Ben on AVM Systems
Link to Ben on the Yankees discovering framing
Link to Shannon’s first EW appearance
Link to Shannon’s website
Link to Mars 2020 mission website
Link to Ben on planetary protection
Link to Mars Helicopter page
Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about having baseball on the brain and the NL Central’s measly World Series odds, then answer listener emails about umpire underwear and repeated pants-splitting, an eccentric baseball billionaire who wants his son to break Cy Young’s career wins record, whether they would pitch a big-league game in exchange for Trevor Bauer’s single-start salary, Nelson Cruz and the Hall of Fame character clause, what percentage of teams have a Hall of Famer, what Pirates fans can look forward to, whether time off in 2020 may help pitchers in the long run, whether Red Sox fans should heckle Manny Machado, and whether and why we’re seeing a golden age of shortstops, plus a Stat Blast about the Angels’ rotation and the other least productive positions on teams over the past five seasons.

Audio intro: Pulp, "Underwear"
Audio outro: Elvis Presley, "Patch it Up"

Link to Ben Clemens on the playoff odds
Link to 1936 Retrosheet pants-splitting play log
Link to 1939 pants-splitting story
Link to 1964 pants-splitting photo
Link to 1966 pants-splitting story
Link to 1974 pants-splitting story
Link to 1976 pants-splitting story
Link to 1988 pants-splitting story
Link to 1990 pants-splitting story
Link to Sam on being embarrassed in a game
Link to Allan Travers SABR bio
Link to Pedroia-Machado play
Link to Grant Brisbee on Pedroia and Machado
Link to Pedroia on the Machado slide
Link to Travis Sawchik on the golden age of shortstops
Link to Travis on the new shortstop power profile
Link to Ben on the Infante signing
Link to Stat Blast least productive positions data
Link to Lindsey Adler on MLB’s new policies

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the incredible longevity of Dodgers Spanish-language voice Jaime Jarrín (who’s outlasted his own son in the broadcast booth), break down the new, universal-DH-less health and safety protocols for the 2021 season and MLB’s adjustments to the baseball’s construction, the Elvis Andrus–Khris Davis trade and the unprecedented positional profile of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna signing and the biggest surprises on the FanGraphs Playoff Odds page, then (57:34) talk to Andrea Williams about her new book Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues, covering the career of the only woman in the Hall of Fame, how Andrea’s background informed her approach to the book, integration’s effect on the Negro Leagues, the lasting legacies of segregation and Black Baseball, MLB recognizing the Negro Leagues as major leagues, and other underappreciated Black baseball titans.

Audio intro: Cat Stevens, "Father and Son"
Audio interstitial: The Tragically Hip, "Ahead By a Century"
Audio outro: Kiwi Jr., "Undecided Voters"

Link to story about Jarrín
Link to video about Jarrín
Link to press release about 2021 protocols
Link to Ken Rosenthal on the 2021 protocols
Link to The Athletic report on the baseball
Link to AP report about the baseball
Link to SI report about the baseball
Link to Emma Baccellieri on baseball changes
Link to Eric Longenhagen on the Andrus-Davis trade
Link to Jake Mailhot on Kiner-Falefa
Link to Andrew Simon on Kiner-Falefa
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Ozuna signing
Link to FanGraphs Playoff Odds page
Link to Craig Goldstein on the Braves’ PECOTA projection
Link to buy autographed copies of Baseball’s Leading Lady
Link to publisher listing for Baseball’s Leading Lady
Link to Manley’s Hall of Fame page
Link to Clinton Yates on the Negro Leagues
Link to Shakeia Taylor on Manley
Link to SABR Analytics Awards voting

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest developments for their minor league free agent draft teams, then discuss the Dodgers signing reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer to an unexpected and unusually structured record contract, touching on the good and bad of Bauer, the incredible Dodgers-Padres arms race, and much more. Then (39:04) they draft their favorite responses to a recent viral tweet about the best, worst, and weirdest beliefs about baseball.

Audio intro: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "Trevor Forever"
Audio outro: T. Rex, "Dandy in the Underworld"

Link to Ben Clemens on the Bauer signing
Link to Bauer’s announcement video
Link to Bradford Doolittle on Bauer
Link to Sarah Griffin’s tweet
Link to article about Dandy

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the Rockies’ press conference about the Nolan Arenado trade and GM Jeff Bridich claiming the belt as the game’s most-maligned GM, then discuss Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway’s suspension and Andrelton Simmons’ comments about his mental state in 2020, analyze the Twins re-signing Nelson Cruz and signing Alex Colomé, the Rays reuniting with Chris Archer, the Reds adding Sean Doolittle, and the Brewers landing Kolten Wong, touch on A.J. Preller’s promotion and extension and examine the potential conflict between Theo Epstein’s MLB consultancy and his new private-equity job, and conclude with a Stat Blast about the incredible consistency of Leroy Stanton.

Audio intro: Earth Girls, "Only Human"
Audio outro: Matthew Sweet, "Split Personality"

Link to Emma Baccellieri on the Rockies
Link to Marc Carig on the Rockies
Link to Nick Groke on the Arenado trade
Link to story about Monfort’s 94-win prediction
Link to Ben Clemens on Arenado’s new deal
Link to The Athletic report about Callaway
Link to Ginny Searle on Callaway
Link to Jeff Passan on Drew Robinson
Link to Jeff Fletcher on Simmons
Link to Kevin Goldstein on the Cruz signing
Link to Clemens on Cruz last September
Link to EW episode about Cruz
Link to Tony Wolfe on the Archer signing
Link to Ben on the Archer trade
Link to story about Archer’s sinker usage
Link to report about Epstein’s new gig
Link to Dan Fox on platoon splits
Link to Stanton’s career splits page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the Nolan Arenado trade from the Rockies’ and Cardinals’ perspectives, reflect on the Rockies’ rudderless state, touch on a few more minor transactions (Alex Cobb to the Angels, Didi Gregorius to the Phillies, and Eddie Rosario to Cleveland), remember the career of the now-retired Dustin Pedroia, and touch on the latest exchanges between MLB and the MLBPA about when to start the season (with a postscript about late-breaking news).

Audio intro: Keith Richards, "Something for Nothing"
Audio outro: Pllush, "Stuck to You"

Link to Ben Clemens on the Arenado deal
Link to discussion about blockbusters
Link to story about the Rockies’ front office
Link to Bridich’s comments about beat writers
Link to story about Monfort
Link to Jake Mailhot on the Rosario signing
Link to report about MLB-MLBPA negotiations
Link to Twitter thread about MLB-MLBPA negotiations
Link to report about Callaway

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the quirks and cancellation of a long-lost (and recently rediscovered) baseball successor to arcade hit NBA Jam called Power-Up Baseball, then discuss the Cubs signing Joc Pederson and the Cardinals bringing back Adam Wainwright and (probably) Yadier Molina, share a Stat Blast about where Wainwright and Molina rank among the most prolific pitcher-catcher combos of all time in terms of total starts, break down Nick Madrigal’s chances of achieving the “very reachable” (according to Madrigal) milestone of 3,000 hits, and celebrate Ken Griffey Jr.’s hiring as a senior advisor to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, then answer listener emails about whether contract incentives could encourage players to adopt data-driven approaches, how Mike Trout could tank his career WAR while continuing to play, and how to make baseball as bad as possible while preserving the core structure of the sport.

Audio intro: Echo & the Bunnymen, "Lost and Found"
Audio outro: Lindisfarne, "Together Forever"

Link to article about Power-Up Baseball
Link to video of Power-Up Baseball
Link to Google Doodle baseball game
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Wainwright signing
Link to Stat Blast data about batteries
Link to player turnover study
Link to Madrigal’s comments
Link to age-based baselines for 3000-hit club
Link to MLB.com story about Griffey
Link to list of Trout hypotheticals
Link to Meg on Trout hypotheticals
Link to Francoeur with big glove
Link to Francoeur with big glove again
Link to Craig Edwards’ farewell post
Link to FanGraphs job posting

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs author Ben Clemens break down the Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, and Tommy La Stella signings, the Steven Matz trade, and Masahiro Tanaka’s decision to return to NPB’s Rakuten Eagles (with digressions about Japan’s tradition of awarding the uniform number 18 to aces and the greatness of Hiroki Kuroda) before explaining what the internet-driven inflation of GameStop stock has to do with the Mets, why Billy Beane isn’t leaving the A’s after all, and why teams are so intent on treating the competitive balance tax threshold as a salary cap. Then (57:32) they’re joined by Dr. Barton Smith, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Utah State University, to discuss how the Hawk-Eye component of MLB’s Statcast system is enabling new breakthroughs in pitch design, the concepts of seam-shifted wake and spin mirroring, which pitchers and teams are on the cutting edge, why some earlier analysts were wrong about pitching, whether hitters can counter the latest advances, what we still don’t understand about pitching, the increasing complexity of player evaluation, and how this all relates to foreign substances and the baseball’s surface.

Audio intro: The Shazam, "Squeeze the Day"
Audio interstitial: Buzzcocks, "Wake Up Call"
Audio outro: Heatmiser, "Wake"

Link to Ben Clemens on the Semien signing
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Simmons signing
Link to Tony Wolfe on the La Stella signing
Link to Tony on the Matz trade
Link to Brendan Gawlowski on the Tanaka signing
Link to Jim Allen on the Tanaka signing
Link to Rob Arthur on MLB FA going to Japan
Link to Slate’s GameStop stock explainer
Link to report about Steve Cohen’s losses
Link to report about Beane’s bid
Link to report about Oakland’s offer to Semien
Link to Andy McCullough on the CBT
Link to Marc Normandin on the CBT
Link to Hawk-Eye introduction
Link to Ben’s primer on the seam-shifted revolution
Link to Alan Nathan on late break
Link to Nathan on active spin
Link to Barton’s seam-shifted wake explainer
Link to Barton’s video about seam-shifted wake
Link to BP article on seam-shifted wake
Link to Driveline study on seam-shifted wake
Link to Tom Tango on seam-shifted wake
Link to Eno Sarris on seam-shifted wake
Link to Eno on spin mirroring
Link to Michael Augustine on spin mirroring
Link to Mike Petriello on spin direction
Link to Tango on spin direction
Link to Tango on gyro spin
Link to report about defamation lawsuit

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Willians Astudillo’s award-winning heroics in the Venezuelan Winter League, then discuss the Phillies re-signing J.T. Realmuto, the Blue Jays signing Marcus Semien, the Nationals signing Brad Hand, the Padres signing Jurickson Profar, the Yankees trading for Jameson Taillon and assembling a skilled but injury-prone rotation, the Red Sox acquiring Adam Ottavino, Enrique Hernández, and Garrett Richards, the promising pennant races in the NL West and AL East, the latest labor battle and threat of a postponed start to the season (and a season without an NL DH), the news that no players were elected to the Hall of Fame, and the future of Hall of Fame voting and discourse. Lastly (1:03:53), they talk to Bradford William Davis of the New York Daily News about how Hank Aaron was eulogized, why Aaron’s historical significance went well beyond his stats, and how he should be remembered.

Audio intro: TUNS, "My Memories"
Audio interstitial: Sloan, "Suppose They Close the Door"
Audio outro: Waylon Jennings, "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way"

Link to Young’s ABL pitching appearance
Link to Rob Arthur on less active free agency
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Realmuto signing
Link to Craig Edwards on Semien as a bargain
Link to Edwards on the Hand signing
Link to Ben Clemens on the Profar signing
Link to Dan on the Taillon trade
Link to Dan on the Ottavino trade
Link to Tony Wolfe on the Hernández signing
Link to Ken Rosenthal on league/union negotiations
Link to Alex Coffey on the Cactus League letter
Link to Jay Jaffe’s crowdsourced ballot
Link to Jay on the Hall of Fame voting results
Link to New York Times story on HoF voting
Link to Wall Street Journal story on HoF voting
Link to Andy McCullough’s HoF survey
Link to Marc Carig on HoF voting neuroscience
Link to Verducci voting video
Link to Bradford on Aaron
Link to Howard Bryant on Aaron
Link to Claire Smith on Aaron
Link to Lex Pryor on Aaron
Link to Stephanie Apstein on Aaron
Link to Demetrius Bell on Aaron
Link to 1994 interview with Aaron
Link to another 1994 interview with Aaron
Link to the AJC on Aaron’s activism
Link to Henry Grabar on Aaron’s secretary
Link to Aaron’s memoir

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley reflect on the on-field feats, statistical records, and larger legacy of baseball icon Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron, who died on Friday at age 86. Then (25:47) they talk to Joe Lowry of Prospects Live about the ongoing boom in baseball cards, touching on why 2020 fueled a surge in sports-card collecting, how baseball cards have changed since the ’80s and ’90s, the finer points of breaking, box wars, and prospect cards, the demographics of current card collectors, digital cards, how to get back into baseball cards after a hiatus from the hobby, and more.

Audio intro: The Baseball Project, "They Don’t Know Henry"
Audio interstitial: Chuck D, "It’s So Hard to See My Baseball Cards Move On"
Audio outro: Gene Clark, "Home Run King"

Link to New York Times Aaron obit
Link to Washington Post Aaron obit
Link to Howard Bryant’s Aaron obit
Link to Claire Smith on Aaron
Link to Joe Posnanski on Aaron
Link to Michael Baumann on Aaron
Link to Zach Kram on Aaron’s stats
Link to Neil Paine on Aaron’s stats
Link to Posnanski’s Baseball 100 entry on Aaron
Link to Dayn Perry on Aaron
Link to Matt Trueblood on Aaron’s mid-career shift
Link to Jay Jaffe on Aaron’s home-run rate
Link to Aaron’s neutralized stats
Link to story about Aaron’s philanthropy
Link to Craig Wright on Aaron as a second baseman
Link to Wright on the last Negro Leaguer to make MLB
Link to story on record Mantle card sale
Link to Emma Baccellieri on the baseball-card boom
Link to Andy McCullough on Phil Hughes
Link to Joe on card collecting in 2020
Link to Joe on prospect cards
Link to Joe on Jasson Dominguez
Link to Joe on card breaking
Link to Joe on box wars
Link to Slate on digital baseball cards

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Alex Rodriguez’s ubiquity on non-baseball broadcasts and then discuss George Springer signing a franchise-record contract with the Blue Jays, Michael Brantley re-signing with the Astros, and José Quintana signing with the Angels, touching on how the Jays compare to their AL East rivals and what the team may do next, Springer’s track record and how he’ll age, Toronto’s run at Brantley, why Springer has escaped some of his former team’s sign-stealing stigma, how the Astros stack up post-Springer, the Cubs’ soft-tossing, poorly projected rotation, the NL Central’s inactivity, and when it’s appropriate for fans to take breaks from or forsake their teams. Then they answer a listener email about working in baseball and reevaluating a dream job and conclude with a Stat Blast about the longest time elapsed between the same player’s World Series hits.

Audio intro: The Tragically Hip, "You’re Everywhere"
Audio outro: Lou Reed, "My Friend George"

Link to thread of A-Rod photos
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Springer signing
Link to Dan on playoff odds changes
Link to Jeff on Springer’s contact in 2017
Link to Jeff on the 2017 Astros’ new-look lineup
Link to sign-stealing data
Link to Ben on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to Rob Arthur on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to second BP study on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to Bill Petti on sign-stealing effectiveness
Link to Tony Wolfe on the Quintana signing
Link to Russell Carleton on starting-pitcher handedness
Link to R.J. Anderson on MLB brain drain
Link to Ben on going from a front office to the media
Link to Adam Ott’s website
Link to Stat Blast spreadsheet
Link to Russell on postseason experience

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss ESPN’s report about Mets GM Jared Porter’s harassment of a female reporter when Porter worked for the Cubs in 2016, Porter’s subsequent firing by the Mets, Mets president Sandy Alderson’s comments about Porter’s hiring, the limitations of assessing character, the obstacles media members who aren’t cis men encounter in male-dominated environments like baseball, how MLB can help prevent continued incidents such as this one, and more. Then (52:45) they banter about the Blue Jays preceding their George Springer splash by signing Tyler Chatwood and Kirby Yates, the Padres trading for Joe Musgrove, the potential for widespread six-man rotations in 2021, and the Nationals signing ex-Cubs Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber, plus a postscript about late-breaking news, including the death of Hall of Famer Don Sutton.

Audio intro: Golden Smog, "He’s a Dick"
Audio outro: Idles, "Never Fight a Man With a Perm"

Link to ESPN report about Porter
Link to Deesha Thosar on Porter
Link to Brittany Ghiroli on Porter
Link to Ken Rosenthal on Porter
Link to Ben Clemens on Musgrove
Link to Ben Clemens on six-man rotations
Link to Sportsnet on Chatwood
Link to Tony Wolfe on Chatwood
Link to Jake Mailhot on Yates
Link to Patrick Mooney on Lester
Link to largest career WAR differences
Link to 1975 article about baseball perms
Link to Jon Weisman on Sutton

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on DJ LeMahieu and which remaining free agents might be bound for Toronto, follow up on their previous discussion about bagged milk and tax implications for free agency, marvel at LeMahieu’s unique invulnerability to the shift and his unlikely career trajectory, and examine his fit and future with the Yankees. Then they break down MLB’s hiring of Theo Epstein as a consultant regarding on-field matters (touching on Epstein’s potential as a savior of the sport, the obstacles he faces, what his future might hold, and more) and answer a listener email about attending games alone.

Audio intro: The Beatles, "Blue Jay Way"
Audio outro: Eliza, "Alone & Unafraid"

Link to Sportsnet on the Jays missing out again
Link to Happ on bagged milk
Link to bagged milk explainer
Link to Petriello on Lemahieu and shifts
Link to 2017 outfield shift against LeMahieu
Link to Jay Jaffe on LeMahieu re-signing
Link to Jay on LeMahieu and Yankee Stadium
Link to 2020 wOBA-xwOBA leaderboard
Link to Jeff on LeMahieu on 2018
Link to Jeff on LeMahieu and Jeter
Link to Theo Epstein press release
Link to Sahadev Sharma on Theo’s new job
Link to Joe Posnanski on Theo
Link to Theo on his hiring practices
Link to Tango on walks and the strike zone
Link to Craig Edwards on making baseball better

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays missing out on several free-agent or trade targets, then answer listener emails about whether fans feel pride in their division/league, the history (and future) of fundamental changes to baseball technique, how many championships one would win if transported back to 2000 and appointed as GM of the Mariners, and how well pitchers would hit with metal bats, plus a Stat Blast about the public’s “pent-up demand” for post-pandemic baseball.

Audio intro: Roy Orbison, "Almost"
Audio outro: Gillian Welch, "Wayside/Back in Time"

Link to Blue Jays Nation on the Jays missing out
Link to Andrew Stoeten on the Jays missing out
Link to story about free agents and Toronto
Link to story about Toronto’s new turf
Link to Bobby Wallace SABR bio
Link to Jeff on the decline of the windup
Link to Jeff on good players who weren’t top prospects
Link to Jeff on stars who weren’t top prospects
Link to NPR on pent-up demand
Link to MLB attendance averages
Link to Hannah Keyser on lapsed fans
Link to longest pitcher home runs
Link to info on semantic satiation
Link to story on Miller Park Way
Link to story on milk bags

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why the free-agent market has been both slow-moving and fairly lucrative for the players who’ve signed, the White Sox inking closer Liam Hendriks, whether the White Sox are the American League’s front runners, the latest report that the season will start on time, napping, MLB’s plans for fans in the stands, why MLB owners aren’t pursuing expansion, the league’s next broadcast contract with ESPN, a rumored extension for Fernando Tatis Jr., the legacy of the late Tommy Lasorda, and the recent direction of the podcast.

Audio intro: The Bangles, "Mixed Messages"
Audio outro: Dion, "(I Used to Be A) Brooklyn Dodger"

Link to Craig Edwards on the Hendriks signing
Link to report about the season starting
Link to report about health and safety standards
Link to expansion story
Link to Craig on MLB’s TV revenue
Link to Meg on Bradley
Link to Meg on Lind
Link to Outsports story on Lasorda
Link to Outsports on Lasorda and Minnie Miñoso
Link to New York Times story on Lasorda’s son
Link to Jay on Lasorda

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the six-player blockbuster trade headlined by Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco, touching on Cleveland’s decision to cut costs by dealing two fan favorites and the face of the franchise, how much better Lindor makes the Mets, and more, then banter about NPB ace Tomoyuki Sugano re-signing with the Yomiuri Giants and the latest revelations about the use of foreign substances by MLB pitchers, before bringing on philosophy professors (and Effectively Wild listeners) Justin Coates and Ben Lennertz (53:49) to tackle the ethics of Hall of Fame voting and examine how philosophy can guide voters, the merits of the character clause, how to handle cheaters, the problems of past precedent and differing off-field offenses, and how they would vote.

Audio intro: Margo Price, "Do Right By Me"
Audio interstitial: Paul McCartney and Wings, "Get on the Right Thing"
Audio outro: The Magnetic Fields, "’86 How I Failed Ethics"

Link to Ben on the Lindor deal
Link to Rob Mains on Lindor and Cleveland
Link to story on Steve Cohen
Link to Kyodo News story on Sugano
Link to Jim Allen on Sugano
Link to Harkins foreign substance story
Link to Ben on foreign substances
Link to EW interview about foreign substances
Link to Ken Rosenthal’s Hall of Fame ballot
Link to story about Schilling’s latest comments
Link to EW interview with Jay Jaffe
Link to Craig Calcaterra on the Hall of Fame

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the re-naming of Miller Park and the good and bad of ballpark naming rights, the improbable beginning of Phil Niekro’s career and what it says about the downsizing of the minor leagues, an intriguing projection of the outcome of the Padres-Dodgers NL West race, Boog Sciambi calling Cubs games and the difference in affection for local and national broadcasters, whether the absence of in-game video in 2020 really hurt hitters, the extent to which the rules and rosters for the 2021 MLB season are still in flux, and a questionable baseball-related scene from the new season of the Netflix series Cobra Kai.

Audio intro: Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, "The Miller’s Will"
Audio outro: Dream Wife, "Sports!"

Link to story about American Family Field
Link to story about NHL division sponsors
Link to story about insurance company advertising
Link to Jay Jaffe on Niekro
Link to Craig Wright on Niekro’s origin story
Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past
Link to post about Niekro baseball cards
Link to Ben on the knuckleball’s future
Link to EW interview about the remaking of the minors
Link to Dan on the Padres’ projection
Link to story about Boog and the Cubs
Link to The Athletic story on in-game video
Link to Cobra Kai video
Link to Ben on the baseball scene in Elementary
Link to story about Whitecaps B-roll
Link to Anchorman 2 clip
Link to EW interview about Moneyball and Pitch
Link to EW interview about Twilight
Link to Jay on Foley’s
Link to story about Foley’s memorabilia

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the official retirement of Phil Hughes, the joy of anticipating top prospects and watching them debut, the sobering reality of players their age starting to retire, a report that the 2021 season is likely to start on time, and a control group for their minor league free agent draft, then (31:40) talk to former Dodgers general manager Dan Evans about how he hired new Marlins GM Kim Ng when he worked for the White Sox and Dodgers, how she distinguished herself as an intern and gained greater responsibility, how to stand out in an MLB front office, why Ng had to wait so long for a GM job, how teams can diversify front offices and ensure that more minority candidates are promoted into positions of power, how the GM role has changed, and how Ng will run the Marlins.

Audio intro: The Who, "1921"
Audio interstitial: Mates of State, "A Control Group"
Audio outro: Courtney Barnett, "Kim’s Caravan"

Link to Hughes’ retirement announcement
Link to video of Hughes’ 2007 debut
Link to 2007 BP top prospect list
Link to Andy McCullough on Hughes’ second career
Link to study on top-prospect production
Link to Jon Tayler on Strasburg’s debut
Link to The Athletic report on the 2021 season
Link to minor league free agent draft results
Link to EW interview with Jen Wolf
Link to Dan’s Sports Management Worldwide page
Link to Dan on Kim Ng
Link to Lindsey Adler on Kim Ng
Link to Olivia Witherite on Kim Ng
Link to Marc Carig on Kim Ng
Link to Jen Mac Ramos on Kim Ng
Link to Jake Mailhot on Kim Ng
Link to Rachael McDaniel on Kim Ng

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the experience of podcasting about baseball in 2020, what purpose they think the Hall of Fame serves, and whether they would consider giving up their Hall of Fame ballots, then ring in the new year by extending an old tradition and conducting the eighth annual Effectively Wild Minor League Free Agent Draft, in which they select 10 minor league free agents each and compete to see whose roster will accumulate the most MLB playing time in 2021.

Audio intro: First Aid Kit, "New Year’s Eve"
Audio outro: Death Cab for Cutie, "The New Year"

Link to Craig Calcaterra on the Hall of Fame
Link to Jeff Passan on Hall of Fame voting
Link to list of minor league free agents
Link to Justin Hollander interview episode
Link to last year’s draft results
Link to this year’s draftees

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffe (the author of The Cooperstown Casebook) discuss Jay’s experience as a first-time Hall of Fame voter, the case of Curt Schilling, weighing on-field contributions and off-field transgressions, the players on Jay’s ballot, the candidacies of Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield, Omar Vizquel, and others, adjusting the baseline for Hall of Fame starting pitchers, Jay’s predictions for this year’s voting results, a preview of the upcoming Cooperstown classes, the record number of Hall of Fame players who died in 2020, how to better honor baseball greats while they’re still alive, the Hall of Fame ramifications of reclassifying the Negro Leagues as major leagues, and more.

Audio intro: Guided By Voices, "High Five Hall of Famers"
Audio outro: The Felice Brothers, "Cooperstown"

Link to Jay’s ballot post
Link to The Cooperstown Casebook
Link to Jay on this ballot’s big questions
Link to the HoF Ballot Tracker
Link to Jay on Schilling
Link to Craig Calcaterra on Schilling
Link to Zach Hayes on Schilling
Link to Jay on Vizquel
Link to The Athletic report on Vizquel
Link to Sam on Pettitte
Link to Jeff Snider on Hall of Famer deaths
Link to Jay on Allen
Link to story on overlooked Negro Leaguers
Link to story on reclassification and Cooperstown

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen convene to discuss the latest epic Padres transaction spree (in which San Diego traded for Blake Snell and Yu Darvish and signed Ha-seong Kim 김하성), touching on A.J. Preller’s penchant for frenetic activity, the Padres’ rebuilt rotation and crowded infield, the prospect packages going to the Rays and the Cubs, the state of the stacked Rays and Padres farm systems, why the Rays traded Snell, what dealing Darvish signifies for the Cubs, salary dumps vs. cost-cutting competitive trades, whether the Padres can catch the Dodgers, and much more.

Audio intro: Bring it On (Original Broadway Cast Recording), "It’s All Happening"
Audio outro: The Posies, "All in a Day’s Work"

Link to Ben Clemens on the Snell trade
Link to Brendan Gawlowski on the Kim signing
Link to Eric on the Rays’ system
Link to Eric on the Cubs’ return for Darvish
Link to Craig Edwards on the Darvish trade
Link to Ben on Preller’s trades
Link to Ben on the formerly nondescript Padres
Link to FanGraphs farm system rankings

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Ben Lindbergh talks to Jacky Bing-Sheng Lee, translator of the traditional Chinese edition of Ben’s book The MVP Machine, Hyunsung Kim, translator of the Korean edition of The MVP Machine, and Brendan O’Connor, assistant professor and linguistic anthropologist at the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University, about the challenges of translating a baseball book from English into other languages, how Jacky and Hyunsung got jobs in baseball and became translators, the ascendance of the CPBL and the KBO on the international stage, linguistic “borrowing” in baseball, the cultural conversations surrounding baseball bilingualism, the greatness of Korean baseball drama Stove League, and much more.

Audio intro: Field Music, "Share the Words"
Audio outro: Joel Plaskett, "So Many Words"

Link to Jacky’s post in the Facebook group
Link to Jacky’s baseball blog
Link to Hyunsung’s list of American baseball books available in Korean
Link to Chinese edition of The MVP Machine
Link to Brendan’s ASU faculty page
Link to Brendan’s Sapiens article
Link to Part 1 of Sung Min Kim’s KBO series
Link to Part 2 of Sung Min Kim’s KBO series
Link to stream Stove League
Link to paperback English edition of The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why MLB reportedly isn’t interested in short-term expansion and an observation about Tyler Glasnow, Martin Shkreli, and Cillian Murphy, then review the accuracy of last year’s annual ESPN MLB insiders survey, predict and assess the responses to the just-released, latest edition of the survey, answer a listener email about the cutoff for “young” players, and share a Stat Blast about Byron Buxton and the lowest on-base percentages by league-average hitters (plus an addendum on the longest baseball player Wikipedia pages).

Audio intro: Oasis, "Stay Young"
Audio outro: The Just Joans, "No Longer Young Enough"

Link to Stark’s story about Dombrowski
Link to story about NBA expansion
Link to Sam on the Crasnicks in 2012
Link to Sam on the Crasnicks in 2014
Link to last year’s Rogers MLB insiders survey
Link to this year’s Rogers MLB insiders survey
Link to Ben on young hitters and aging curves
Link to lowest OBP list
Link to lowest OBP+ list
Link to longest baseball player Wikipedia pages

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about ballpark renaming, follow up on their discussion about managers getting fired for their actions in a single game, discuss how the history of baseball’s sabermetric movement predicts the trajectory and ramifications of analytics use in football and other sports, and reflect on the significance of the Phillies hiring Sam Fuld as their new general manager, what the return of ex-player high-ranking execs may portend for front-office diversity, and Fuld’s lengthy Wikipedia page, then (51:15) talk to Driveline Baseball hitting intern and college baseball player Luisa Gauci about her multi-continent baseball odyssey from Australia to the U.S., her quest to bring data-driven development to women’s baseball, rewriting the scouting scale, why she’s determined to keep playing baseball, her work at Driveline, hitting technology vs. pitching technology, and more.

Audio intro: Mattiel, "Just a Name"
Audio interstitial: Of Montreal, "It’s Different for Girls"
Audio outro: Neuseiland, "Write it Down (Radio Sonic)"

Link to article about the Coliseum’s new name
Link to 2003 Grady Little article
Link to Ben on revisiting the Grady Little game
Link to EW episode about sabermetrics breaking baseball
Link to EW football vs. baseball analysis interview
Link to football Multisport Sabermetrics Exchange episode
Link to The Athletic on the new Phillies front office
Link to story on the GM demographics shift
Link to Breslow interview
Link to Jalen Rose analytics comments
Link to Jackie Bradley Jr. tweet
Link to article about front-office hiring
Link to Fuld’s Wikipedia page
Link to Lookout Landing article
Link to Luisa’s scouting scale presentation
Link to Baseball For All website

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