Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ichiro’s home run in his return to Seattle, the feasibility of intentionally allowing dingers, a John Jaso quote, and manager bobbleheads, then discuss the present and future use, abuse, and presentation of Statcast data. Audio intro: Prince, "Get Yo Groove On" Audio outro: The Jam, "Away from the Numbers"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jason Benetti, Andrew Triggs, Addison Reed and Odubel Herrera, C.B. Bucknor’s bad day, and Starling Marte’s suspension, then answer listener emails about the nature of fandom, dominance against a division rival, a billion-dollar payroll, Eric Thames’s hot start, transplanting an NPB team, catching up to favorite players from childhood, Mookie Betts’s strikeout-less streak, an RBI record, an unusual replay-review scenario, an extreme shift suggestion, and more. Audio intro: Sonic Youth, "Eric’s Trip" Audio outro: Pavement, "Starlings of the Slipstream"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the significance of some teams’ slow starts to the season, the slowest batter in baseball, and a curious coincidence on another show. Then they have a mini baseball econ class with FanGraphs managing editor Dave Cameron, who discusses the non-news about Carlos Correa’s contract, the surprisingly static price of mid-tier contract extensions, the death of the early-career superstar contract extension, and the culprit behind the players’ declining share of MLB revenue. Audio intro: Beck, "Already Dead" Audio interstitial: Rilo Kiley, "The Moneymaker" Audio outro: Gerry Rafferty, "Sign on the Dotted Line" Link to Dave’s first extensions article Link to Dave’s second extensions article  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Mike Trout topping the WAR leaderboard, Stephen Wright’s vulnerability to the elements, and baseball-player social media behavior, then talk about the increase in game times in 2017, the factors slowing pace of play, and the coming of the pitch clock. Audio intro: The New Pornographers, "Clockwise" Audio outro: Jefferson Airplane, "Won’t You Try/Saturday Afternoon"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan drop the no-Reds rule to banter about Michael Lorenzen and Joey Votto, then answer listener emails about a player who’s always in the rain, stats on baseball broadcasts, a curious scoreboard fun fact, the wave, early closer meltdowns, two framing hypotheticals, how many Kemps equals a Kiermaier, an extended draft drought, a Seinfeld trade proposal, and more. Audio intro: Bob Dylan, "Joey" Audio outro: The New Pornographers, "We’ve Been Here Before"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Mets’ starting rotation, a Keon Broxton sighting, and the five WAR leaders vs. the five WAR trailers, then talk to Rob Neyer about his oral history of Michael Jordan’s baseball career, how good Jordan was and could have been, the ways in which the Jordan experiment is misremembered, and how it differs from Tim Tebow’s current attempt, concluding with a discussion of the use and abuse of the 10-day DL rule. Audio intro: Golden Dogs, "Balloons" Audio interstitial: Kendrick Lamar, "Michael Jordan" Audio outro: Alice Cooper, "Sideshow" Link to umpire condom stomp video Link to Rob’s Michael Jordan oral history Link to Banished To The Pen’s Effectively Wild season simulation  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Keon Broxton and batting helmets, statistical soothsaying, and the two-way-player attempts of Michael Lorenzen and Christian Bethancourt, then discuss the early results of several preseason players and teams of interest. Audio intro: Son Volt, "Too Early" Audio outro: Parliament, "I Misjudged You"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jake Arrieta’s velocity loss, the league’s artificial velocity gain, and whether the Astros won the winter, then answer listener emails about topspin and the turf, the Mariners’ and Blue Jays’ 40th anniversaries/seasons, disagreeing with projections, intentional-walk predictions, Madison Bumgarner’s batting, the negative value of player mistakes, single-game double-play leaders, a pitcher who always throws strikes, forecasting final stat lines, and more. Audio intro: Coldplay, "High Speed" Audio outro: TLC, "So So Dumb"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the difficulty of keeping perspective on Opening Day events, the lone disagreement between their preseason predictions, and a common reader misconception about prediction “groupthink.” Then they talk to Astros Double-A catching prospect and trampoline survivor Garrett Stubbs about his childhood trampoline injury and still-crooked finger, his dramatically different rankings on stats-based and scouting-based prospect lists, how size affects his future as a catcher, how he learned to hit for power, how he and the Astros focus on pitch framing, and more. Audio intro: Drive-By Truckers, "Opening Act" Audio interstitial: Crooked Fingers, "Broken Man" Audio outro: Eleanor Friedberger, "Open Season" Link to Garrett Stubbs finger photo Link to Garrett Stubbs record popup catch  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the end of the offseason, a Canada-only Clayton Kershaw, and Drew Smyly’s health status, then discuss whether the advancement of technology and the latest sabermetric insights still favor defense over offense, or whether hitters have started to even the score. Audio intro: The Mountain Goats, "Balance" Audio outro: Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane, "April Fool"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source