Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo, how long it takes to fall asleep, and international signings, then review the end of the NLCS, discuss the worst way to lose, forecast the legacy and future of the Brewers, and preview the Red Sox-Dodgers World Series matchup, including why the series is closer than it looks, the Mookie Betts conundrum, Clayton Kershaw vs. David Price, the status of Craig Kimbrel, the potential for bad blood, the Dodgers’ flexibility, the correlation between payroll and success, what makes an exciting World Series pairing, and much more.

Audio intro: The Roches, "You’re the Two"
Audio outro: Elliott Smith, "Coast to Coast"

Link to Kimbrel pitch-tipping article
Link to Ben’s Dodgers flexibility article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a wild week of playoff baseball, including all the action from Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS and Games 4 and 5 of the NLCS, Joe West’s infamous fan-interference call against the Astros, Andrew Benintendi‘s game-saving catch, Craig Counsell‘s Curly Ogden gambit with Wade Miley, Clayton Kershaw‘s bounceback start, spygate and sign-stealing, Manny Machado’s literal heel turn, Counsell’s fateful decision to pitch to Cody Bellinger, why playoff baseball would be boring if not for the suspense, and more, plus an addendum about the Red Sox winning the pennant and the whereabouts of Willians Astudillo.

Audio intro: The Dead Weather, "Hustle and Cuss"
Audio outro: The Band, "The High Price of Love"

Link to Jeff’s post about Joe West’s call
Link to Jeff’s post about sign-stealing
Link to Zach Kram’s post about Counsell’s strategy
Link to Ben’s post about how playoff baseball is different.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Game 3 of the NLCS, the apparent breakouts of Orlando Arcia and Brock Holt, Josh Hader as Poochie, why Yasmani Grandal and other playoff catchers can’t catch, whether a “cruising” pitcher is actually likely to keep cruising, and the 15th anniversary of Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Then (26:12) they bring on former Red Sox senior baseball analyst and Diamond Mind developer Tom Tippett to talk about how he started working for Boston, simulating the 2003 ALDS for Theo Epstein, simulating ALCS Game 7 for NESN, why Grady Little’s decision not to pull Pedro Martinez may not have been quite as bad as it seemed, how Boston’s subsequent success affects our perception of Game 7, the value of managers, how teams prepare for the playoffs, whether working in baseball is satisfying forever, and more.

Audio intro: Fionna Apple, "A Mistake"
Audio interstitial: Vitamin C, "Unhappy Anniversary"
Audio outro: Uncle Tupelo, "Fifteen Keys"

Link to post about catchers not catching
Link to Russell’s research about cruising pitchers
Link to MGL’s research about cruising pitchers
Link to MGL’s research about quick hooks
Link to Pedro’s recent comments on Game 7
Link to Tom’s Game 7 simulation article
Link to full Game 7 telecast
Link to Ben’s Game 7 retrospective

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the lack of non-playoff banter and discuss the first two games of each championship series, touching on Clayton Kershaw bias, Matt Barnes curveballs, the finer points of pitcher-batter matchup stats, Josh Hader as a starter vs. as a reliever, the upcoming games, and much more (including a Brandon Woodruff-filled snippet of last week’s Patreon-only broadcast).

Audio intro: The Black Keys, "Just Couldn’t Tie Me Down"
Audio outro: Fleet Foxes, "Ragged Wood"

Link to Jeff’s Barnes post

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the response to their writing about the demise of the starting pitcher, the sources of their unease about baseball’s bullpen takeover, and the difficulty of previewing playoff rounds, then set up and break down the Astros-Red Sox ALCS and the Dodgers-Brewers NLCS and revisit the dullness of the division series round. After the break (37:50), they bring on Britni de la Cretaz to discuss her feature for The Ringer about why women broadcasters are still severely underrepresented in play-by-play roles.

Audio intro: Miniature Tigers, "Like or Like Like"
Audio interstitial: Land of Talk, "Got a Call"
Audio outro: Shy Boys, "Champion"

Link to Ben’s bullpenning opinion piece
Link to Jeff’s bullpenning poll
Link to Ben’s 2017 Keuchel article
Link to Stripling pitch-tipping piece
Link to Britni’s broadcasting article
Link to Jenny Cavnar’s call
Link to Christina Kahrl interview

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about an engaging Game 4 of the ALDS and sum up the Red Sox-Yankees series, the end of Astros-Indians, and the ALDS as a whole. Then they answer listener emails about working the count and avoiding the bullpen, why broadcasts don’t give screen time to streakers, and the best type of playoff rent-a-player, plus a Stat Blast about shifts and line drives.

Audio intro: The Avett Brothers, "All My Mistakes"
Audio outro: Tame Impala, "New Person, Same Old Mistakes"

Link to Sanchez sac fly
Link to the Jon Bois “Field Stormers” series
Link to Jeff’s post about Cleveland vs. Houston
Link to Ben’s Yanks-Sox story
Link to Ben’s bullpenning opinion piece

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Scott Oberg and the difference between good and bad balk calls, the Brewers sweeping the Rockies and the state of playoff bullpenning, the Astros juggernaut, Dodgers vs. Braves, Ronald Acuna’s grand slam, and the new Clayton Kershaw, the anomalous playoff performances of Kershaw and David Price, the Yankees’ sluggers and the appeal of balls knocked out of the ballpark, and more.

Audio intro: Built to Spill, "Gone"
Audio outro: Joel Plaskett, "Gone, Gone, Gone"

Link to Oberg balk
Link to Sam on balks
Link to Acuna grand slam
Link to Gary Sanchez homers
Link to Glenallen Hill homer
Link to Mark McGwire homer
Link to the .247 shirt

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the difficulties of postseason scheduling, both opening games of the NLDS, a better bullpen game by the Brewers, the Rockies’ decision to pitch to Mike Moustakas, what Christian Yelich is doing differently, the composition of the Braves and the depth of the Dodgers and Astros, and Chis Sale’s history of fading down the stretch, then answer listener emails about what would happen to a manager who consistently lost in the World Series, why teams haven’t shuffled their lineups in response to the opener, Madison Bumgarner (and every other hitting pitcher) vs. Chris Davis, how quickly stats could distinguish between Chris Davis and Khris Davis, and awarding fans for throwing balls at baserunners, plus a Stat Blast about 100-loss teams beating 100-win teams.

Audio intro: The New Pornographers, "Three or Four"
Audio outro: Pink Floyd, "Free Four"

Link to Jeff’s Yelich post
Link to Ben’s Sale article
Link to the .247 shirt

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan review the saber-savvy ESPN broadcast of the NL wild card game, relive the highs, lows, and pivotal/memorable moments of both wild card games, defend the bullpen game from an analytical standpoint (and criticize it from an aesthetic standpoint), and ruminate about every division series matchup. For the first time in ages, they do not discuss Willians Astudillo, although he’s always in their hearts.

Audio intro: Broken Bells, "October"
Audio outro: Amy Winehouse, "October Song"

Link to Hechavarria catch
Link to Baez-Arenado hug
Link to Jeff’s Ottavino post
Link to Jeff’s Betances post
Link to Ben’s Sale article
Link to research on the “times through the order” penalty
Link to the .247 shirt

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a wild end to the regular season, including the season’s final Willians Astudillo update (maybe), endings for Joe Mauer, David Wright, and Mike Scioscia, Khris Davis batting .247 again, the Orioles’ final ignominy, surgery for Shohei Ohtani, final regular-season stats about strikeouts, hits, homers, and fastball velocity, Jeff Wilpon’s incredible comments, an unprecedented two-tiebreaker day, the upcoming wild card games, and more. Then they bring on White Sox and ESPN broadcaster Jason Benetti to discuss ESPN 2’s alternative, stat-slanted broadcast of the NL wild card game, the future of sabermetric broadcasts, and playoff storylines and commentating cliches, and Ben talks to baseball-book author and math and statistics professor Jim Albert about the odds of Davis finishing with the same batting average in an unprecedented four consecutive seasons.

Audio intro: The Replacements, "When it Began"
Audio interstitial 1: T. Rex, "Jason B. Sad"
Audio interstitial 2: The Neighborhood, "24/7"
Audio outro: The Postal Service, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"

Link to Mauer catching video
Link to Wilpon comments
Link to Jim Albert’s homepage
Link to new edition of Analyzing Baseball Data with R

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