Effectively Wild Episode 1702: Just a Bit Outside

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why “Zombie Runner,” not “Manfred Man,” remains their preferred term for the automatic runner, zombies in general, position player pitchers vs. pitcher hitters, the benefits of forfeits, the increasing rate of pitcher hitters not attempting to put the ball in play, MLB’s bad timing with NFTs, the minor league sticky substance crackdown, and the death of Mike Marshall and the chances of ever seeing another pitcher like him. Then (42:04) they talk to Ethan Singer, the creator of the @UmpScorecards Twitter account and UmpScorecards.com, about how and why he started tracking umpire accuracy, how his audience grew, why assessing umpire performance is complicated, how his methodology has evolved, accuracy vs. consistency, team-level umpiring metrics, fan anger at umps, what the robo zone could look like, his new-feature plans, and more.

Audio intro: Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, "Runner"
Audio interstitial: The Jazz Butcher, "Zombie Love"
Audio outro: Marbles, "Out of Zone"

Link to Bradley PA
Link to Walker PA
Link to data on pitchers not swinging
Link to story about the NFT bubble
Link to story about Gehrig NFT
Link to story about NFTs’ environmental impact
Link to story about minor league suspensions
Link to Joel Sherman on foreign substances
Link to Passan on Marshall
Link to Russell Carleton on pitching roles
Link to Umpire Scorecards on Twitter
Link to Umpire Scorecards website
Link to Ethan’s website

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