Effectively Wild Episode 1257: Being Baseball Ambassadors

Ben Lindbergh, Jeff Sullivan, and writer Rachael McDaniel banter about a Scott Boras quote about Bryce Harper, the hot streaks of Matt Carpenter and Ronald Acuña, an Ender Inciarte comment, aging in relation to baseball players, the cold streak of Luis Severino, and a possible old example of groundskeeping gamesmanship. Then (24:22) they bring on former major-league outfielder and current MLB Ambassador for Inclusion Billy Bean to talk about his evolving role at MLB, counseling former minor leaguer David Denson on coming out, MLB’s ongoing response to the discoveries of ugly old tweets by Josh Hader, Sean Newcomb, and Trea Turner, how fans should treat those players, why their tweets weren’t grounds for discipline, how hurtful attitudes evolve, the positives that can come from a bad situation, how clubhouse discourse has improved over time, baseball as a unifier, the Yankees’ standing in the queer community, the importance of pride nights and other inclusive initiatives, and more. Finally (1:09:57), Ben, Jeff, and Rachael reflect on the conversation with Bean and forecast the future, and Ben berates Jose Ureña for his hit by pitch.

Audio intro: The Decemberists, "The Engine Driver"
Audio interstitial 1: The Monkees, "Words"
Audio interstitial 2: Beach House, "Better Times"
Audio outro: The Isley Brothers, "The Pride (Part 1)"

Link to Jeff’s Carpenter post
Link to Matt Trueblood on Acuña’s evolution
Link to Zach Crizer on prospect promotions
Link to Mike Petriello on Severino
Link to Rachael on acceptance and baseball

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