Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh talks to Defector’s David Roth about the Mets’ freefall in the standings, the extremely Metsy controversy surrounding multiple players giving the thumbs down to fans, and how the franchise still practices Wilpon-era self-sabotage. Then (46:18) Ben “benters” with Ben Clemens from FanGraphs about the post-sticky-stuff collapse of demoted Cleveland closer James Karinchak, the continued success of aged ace Adam Wainwright, and the consistent kind-of-good-ness of the still-contending Cardinals. Lastly (1:27:08), Ben (the first one) Stat Blasts about the most runs scored in a game with no earned runs, the longest streaks of consecutive pinch hitters, and the most outs made with runners in scoring position. Audio intro: Dinosaur Jr., "Thumb" Audio interstitial: Semisonic, "Get a Grip" Audio outro: 2nd Grade, "Sucking the Thumb" Link to David on the Mets Link to Ray Ratto on Steve Cohen Link to Deesha Thosar on the thumbs Link to NL East playoff odds graph Link to BP IL Ledger Link to early Mets thumbs downs Link to Deesha on the Mets’ apologies Link to Alderson’s statement Link to fan stress study Link to Operation Shutdown retrospective Link to Defector birthday party Link to tweet about Bens on podcasts Link to reliever championship belt article Link to The Athletic on Karinchak Link to Defector on Karinchak’s Instagram Link to biggest in-season K rate drops Link to Devan Fink on Richards Link to Ben L. on post-sticky-stuff offense Link to Karinchak’s 4-seam spin by game Link to Patrick Dubuque on Miley Link to Ben Clemens on the Cardinals’ records Link to Ben Clemens on Wainwright Link to Nathan Grimm on Wainwright Link to Mike Petriello on Wainwright Link to Wainwright on sticky stuff Link to Cardinals defense by pitcher Link to Timothy Jackson on RPM losers Link to Rob Arthur on RPM losers Link to list of all-unearned-runs games Link to story on 1987 Petralli game Link to info on consecutive pinch hitters Link to article on 1979 Mauch game Link to story on 2016 Rockies/D-backs game Link to data on most team outs w/RISP Link to data on most team LOB  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh talks to The Ringer’s Zach Kram about how the red-hot Yankees have salvaged their season, mounted their longest winning streak in 60 years, and put themselves in playoff position. Then (27:33) Ben brings on John Poff, former major leaguer and Stat Blast star, to discuss his brief big league career, walking away from the game, being a bookworm in baseball, playing before big salaries, the evolution of coaching, failure fueling art, his peripatetic post-baseball life, his career as a writer and poet, the racism he observed in the sport, bringing baseball to Native American reservations, and more (plus a postscript about Charlie Watts the drummer and Charlie Watts the infielder, and Vin Scully on catcher framing). Audio intro: The Rolling Stones, "Sway" Audio interstitial: The Rolling Stones, "Dancing With Mr. D" Audio outro: The Rolling Stones, "The Lantern" Link to Zach’s Yankees article Link to AL East playoff odds graph Link to longest Yankees winning streaks Link to Lindsey Adler on the Yankees Link to Jay Jaffe on the Yankees Link to Ringer MLB Show WS draft Link to Poff’s SABR bio Link to Poff’s piece on Donnie Moore Link to Stat Blast about Poff Link to Poff’s game against Sutter Link to Fernando Perez episode Link to Poff’s fundraiser Link to later Poff fundraiser Link to piece on salaries and ticket prices Link to Roger Angell on player salaries Link to Angell on player salaries and fans Link to Scully clip Link to Rob Harvilla on Watts Link to story on Watts visiting the NLBM Link to 1925 Watts photo Link to Watts’ B-Ref page  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh follows up on a Stat Blast that generated a lot of listener emails, then (13:04) talks to former major leaguer and current Angels catching coach José Molina about his unparalleled receiving skills, fooling umpires, the importance of framing compared to throwing, blocking, and game-calling, whether stealing strikes can be taught, aspects of catcher defense that still aren’t being measured, robot umps and electronic pitch-calling, Shohei Ohtani, the quarter-century reign of the Molina brothers, Yadier Molina’s Hall of Fame case, and more. After that (44:19), Ben talks to R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports about the lead-up to and aftermath of the Atlantic League’s midseason move of the mound to 61 feet, 6 inches, touching on the early offensive effects, how pitchers and hitters have compensated, why pitchers nearly revolted, the need for a Lab League, the prospects of moving the mound back in affiliated ball, and the debate about who gets to decide how the sport will evolve (plus a postscript about robot-ump perceptions and a long Padres-Dodgers game). Audio intro: Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Molina" Audio interstitial: Phish, "Mound" Audio outro: Del Amitri, "In the Frame" Link to framing runs leaderboard Link to Molina’s advanced catching stats Link to Molina tweet about framing Link to Max Marchi on Molina in 2012 Link to Ben on Molina in 2012 Link to Ben on Molina in 2013 Link to Ben on Molina framing Brett Lawrie Link to Ben on framing at Grantland Link to Ben on Molina framing GIFs Link to Ben on the Yankees and framing Link to Ben on the evolution of framing Link to Ben on framing and the Hall Link to Ben on Yadi’s hidden value Link to post about Yadi’s extension Link to Foolish Baseball on Yadi Link to EW episode about game-calling Link to Bengie Molina’s book Link to R.J.’s Atlantic League article Link to Rob Arthur’s Atlantic League article Link to Jayson Stark’s Atlantic League article Link to Ben on moving the mound back Link to ASMI study on moving the mound back Link to 2021 Atlantic League footage Link to 2019 Atlantic League EW episode Link to Pinstriped Prospects on the robo zone Link to the New Yorker on robot umps Link to thread on the Atlantic League zone Link to thread on the Low-A Southeast zone Link to Haniger interview Link to study on robot-ump perceptions  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s post-concert encounter with a podcast listener, Miguel Cabrera’s 500th home run and the future of the 500-homer club, the latest sighting of Tom’s enigmatic message to Caitlyn at Great American Ball Park, the Rockies possibly promoting a GM from within (again), and a few pennant race updates, then meet major leaguers Packy Naughton and Griffin Jax and share Stat Blasts about whether managers are more likely to make the outgoing pitcher or the incoming pitcher issue an intentional walk, and Yam Yaryan and the players who hit a walk-off for their only career home run. Audio intro: The Coral, "In the Rain" Audio outro: Paul Weller, "Moon on Your Pyjamas" Link to rainy concert video Link to pajama jeans commercial Link to video of Cabrera’s 500th homer Link to fun facts about Cabrera’s 500th Link to video of Cabrera’s first homer Link to latest Tom/Caitlyn message Link to video of Wade homer Link to video of Cronenworth homer Link to report about Bill Schmidt Link to Mike Petriello on the Yankees Link to Joel Sherman on the Yankees Link to article about Naughton Link to article from February about Jax Link to article about Jax’s call-up Link to Jax tongue video Link to Stat Blast data on all IBB Link to Stat Blast data on pitching-change IBB Link to PosCast episode about earned runs Link to article about Yaryan’s nickname Link to tweet about “the grink” Link to article on yams vs. sweet potatoes Link to Criscione’s SABR bio Link to catcher using mask to touch ball Link to Stat Blast data about walk-offs  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on a conversation about protective headgear for pitchers by discussing softball face masks, then banter about whether MLB necessarily needs a legalized sticky substance or a pre-tacked ball, and attempt to unpack a distressing message from “Tom” to “Caitlyn” on the video board at a Reds game. Then (37:47) they talk to ESPN reporter Dan Hajducky about a shocking week for the booming sports card industry, highlighted by Fanatics securing exclusive card licenses with MLB, the MLBPA, and other major leagues and unions, baseball institution Topps losing its strangehold on MLB cards and scuttling its plans to go public, and a record-breaking sale of a Honus Wagner T206 card. Audio intro: Sweet, "Tom Tom Turnaround" Audio interstitial: Lunchbox, "Tom, What’s Wrong?" Audio outro: Boat, "Topps" Link to FAQ about softball face masks Link to list of softball face masks Link to Columbia Missourian on face masks Link to the OU Daily on face masks Link to Columbia Daily Tribune on face masks Link to The Oklahoman on face masks Link to Kelly Barnhill tweet about face masks Link to history of first batting helmets Link to history of modern batting helmets Link to video of Lynn ejection Link to Rob Arthur on sticky stuff effects Link to the L.A. Times on Olympic baseballs Link to Reuters on Olympic baseballs Link to first Caitlyn/Tom message Link to second Caitlyn/Tom message Link to Craig Goldstein on Caitlyn/Tom Link to Ben on the Castellanos meme Link to Dan’s Topps/Fanatics report Link to WSJ Topps/Fanatics report Link to Sportico on the Topps merger Link to Dan on the T206 sale Link to Emma Baccellieri on the card boom Link to earlier EW card-boom interview Link to Dan’s website  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Germán Márquez and the ethics of diarrhea disclosure, stretched pitching staffs that were supposed to be deep, the Orioles and Diamondbacks competing for MLB’s worst record, a somewhat deceptive salary floor in MLB’s economic proposal (and the future of the ongoing CBA talks), Mets owner Steve Cohen’s critical tweet about his team’s underperforming bats, Chris Bassitt’s injury and protecting pitchers from line drives, Freddie Freeman’s cycle, and Shohei Ohtani’s latest two-way day and improved pitching. Audio intro: The Roches, "Runs in the Family" Audio outro: Ezra Furman, "Haunted Head" Link to Defector on Marquez’s diarrhea Link to Meg on Bradley’s diarrhea Link to Park’s diarrhea video Link to Ben Clemens on the Padres Link to FanGraphs farm system rankings Link to report about MLB economic proposal Link to JJ Cooper thread on salary cap/floor Link to Travis Sawchik on a payroll floor Link to EW episode with former MLBPA exec Link to Steve Cohen tweet Link to Mets hitting coach’s reaction Link to Mets manager’s reaction Link to Ray Kroc story Link to Jay Jaffe on Bassitt Link to story on Tyler Zombro Link to story on Brandon Patch Link to 2016 MLB story on pitcher headgear Link to 2016 ESPN story on pitcher headgear Link to 2016 story on mandating helmets Link to 2017 story on protective cap inserts Link to Freeman’s cycle video Link to Freeman’s cappucino story Link to Twitter thread about “Cyclones” Link to Vlad’s emoji response Link to Ohtani’s homer celebration Link to Ohtani vs. Tigers video  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on a recent observation about a baseball-related line in Twilight, then banter about petards, Ben’s latest trip to see Shohei Ohtani at Yankee Stadium, Tyler Gilbert’s improbable no-hitter, the playoff hopes of the Padres, Reds, and Giants (and reshuffling in the NL East and AL East), the lows and highs of heckling, the Rockies’ historic home-road splits, Michael Schur adapting Field of Dreams for Peacock and the near future of baseball TV shows, Carter Stewart making his NPB debut and Kumar Rocker’s future, whether John Olerud would be a two-way player today, and Joey Votto’s revamped plate approach, plus a postscript on fun facts about sequences of wins and losses. Audio intro: Chip Taylor, "Same Ol’ Story" Audio outro: The Beach Boys, "Heads You Win–Tails I Lose" Link to Davis catch Link to Cole’s reaction to Ohtani Link to Lindsey’s Gallo tweet Link to article on seats moving farther from the field Link to Ben on Gilbert’s no-hitter Link to Twitter thread about man shouting “Dinger” Link to Neil Paine on the Coors Field hangover effect Link to Nick Groke on the Coors Field hangover effect Link to all-time team home/road splits data Link to xkcd comic about 2020 Link to story on Schur and Field of Dreams Link to Schur EW episode Link to story on Offerman and A League of Their Own Link to story on Offerman’s Field of Dreams critiques Link to stream Stove League Link to Jim Allen on Stewart and Rocker Link to box score from Stewart’s NPB debut Link to ESPN on Olerud as a two-way player Link to list of John Olerud Award winners Link to first page of 1990 Olerud article Link to second page of 1990 Olerud article Link to Mike Petriello on Tatis’s position switch Link to FanGraphs post on Tatis as an outfielder Link to Ben on the rise of multiposition players Link to Verducci on Votto Link to Vieira’s record-breaking pitch Link to win-loss sequence data  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Field of Dreams Game, “playing catch” vs. “having a catch,” scouting baseball movies, and a quibble with baseball in Twilight, answer listener emails about extending the Field of Dreams Game concept to other settings (and other baseball movies), the aesthetics of no-doubt dingers and wall-scrapers, saving the ball from a fluky first hit, and the difficulty of comparing per-game stats and statistical qualifiers across seasons with and without COVID-related rules, plus Stat Blasts on the players who’ve been called up and sent down most often in a single season and the longest streaks of matching results for two teams (and additional thoughts on Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Jo Adell, Jacob deGrom, the Dodgers’ division odds, trading catchers, and links on the show page). Audio intro: Cub Scout Bowling Pins, "Heaven Beats Iowa" Audio outro: The Ladybug Transistor, "Broken Links" Link to Field of Dreams Game highlights Link to Field of Dreams Game ratings Link to Field of Dreams EW episode Link to potential future settings for games Link to Take Me In to the Ballgame podcast Link to Twilight EW episode Link to Tom & Jerry baseball scene Link to expected home runs leaderboard Link to video of Burger’s first hit Link to Sam on ERA qualifiers Link to FanGraphs Playoff Odds Link to Craig Goldstein on Adell Link to most optioned/recalled players Link to Gerald Schifman on options use Link to Eric Stephen on often-optioned players Link to EW episode with Oliver Drake Link to list of longest matching W-L streaks Link to data on trade rates by position Link to Ohtani on his pitching potential Link to Ohtani WPA tweet  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an Alek Manoah semi-fun fact, a day without any starters going deep into games, economical outings by Adam Wainwright and Corbin Burnes, Cody Bellinger’s bat, a legal decision involving the Phillie Phanatic that may have implications beyond baseball, Joey Gallo feeling small, and the cost of Ray’s lost corn crop in Field of Dreams, then (34:01) talk to writer and editor Danny Funt about his recent deep dive into the relationship between sports media and sports betting, and how the big business of legalized gambling could reshape the way baseball is covered, broadcast, and played. Audio intro: The Coral, "Song of the Corn" Audio interstitial: Grateful Dead, "Candyman" Audio outro: The Notorious B.I.G., "What’s Beef?" Link to tweet about six-inning starts Link to origin of “The Maddux” Link to Dan on Bellinger Link to Phanatic story Link to Gallo quote Link to corn math thread Link to Danny’s story Link to Forbes on ballpark sportsbooks Link to story on the Yankees and betting Link to Bloomberg on sports betting Link to USA Today on baseball betting Link to story on gambling-related threats Link to Evander Kane story Link to MLB.com Blue Jays betting story Link to Jim Margalus on baseball betting Link to Jacob’s DraftKings tweet  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their imperfections, follow up on flying horses, Justice Blackmun omitting Mel Ott from Flood vs. Kuhn, and a possible defense of pitcher hitters, then assess the state of the standings and playoff races, contemplate a position change for Fernando Tatis Jr., discuss the Field of Dreams Game, and consider a point in favor of robot umps and signs of spin-rate resurgence. Audio intro: David Bowie, "Win" Audio outro: Oh Pep!, "The Race" Link to article about how horses fly Link to article on Blackmun and Ott Link to Ben on pitcher hitters/position-player pitchers Link to post on Canseco pitching Link to video of Holt pitching Link to post on slowest possible pitches Link to thread on slowest possible pitches Link to FanGraphs Playoff Odds Link to Mike Petriello on the Mets’ offense Link to Petriello on the Jays’ offense Link to Justin Choi on the Jays Link to Rob Mains on team mobility Link to Rob Arthur on the absence of superteams Link to article on Tatis in the outfield Link to Field of Dreams episode Link to paper on umpire discrimination Link to thread about umpire discrimination Link to tweet about resurgent spin  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source