Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley attempt to create a hierarchy of highlights, then (21:36) mark the midpoint of the regular season by reviewing the most salient storylines of the first half, the teams and players who’ve most underperformed or overperformed their preseason projections, and what they’re most looking forward to in the second half, plus a follow-up (1:12:25) on the evolution of official scoring and a Future Blast (1:23:00) from 2026.

Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ramírez steal
Link to Vierling slide
Link to Naylor throw
Link to Ben Clemens on those plays
Link to Sam on HR highlights
Link to preseason player projections
Link to projected-wins changes
Link to Chris Gilligan on the second half
Link to Paine on payroll and wins
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to under/overperformers sheet
Link to Ben on Ohtani
Link to Robert Orr on Acuña
Link to story on Carroll’s shoulder
Link to All-Star starters
Link to Kimbrel violations
Link to violations leaderboard
Link to MLB.com on first-half highlights
Link to Leitch on first-half surprises
Link to 2012 scoring appeals process
Link to scoring changes website
Link to listener emails database
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to MLBTR on the Chapman trade
Link to info on new uniforms

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Andrew McCutchen’s latest “furries” tweet, the Pirates playing through a high AQI and the need for a safety standard, Domingo Germán’s perfect game and the state of the Yankees, Yandy Díaz turning back into Ground Beef, Shohei Ohtani lapping his league and strangely struggling at the plate with two strikes, and the Orioles’ Pride Night, then (1:02:25) answer listener emails about pointing giant fans at the field, an official scoring decision on a Luis Arraez single, whether the Reds should have called up Elly De La Cruz sooner, whether contending teams should aim for playoff matchups with the Central division winners, and whether playing MLB The Show could affect a player’s IRL performance, plus (1:34:46) a Future Blast from 2026.

Audio intro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to latest “furries” tweet
Link to McCutchen “furries” explainer
Link to info on fursuit protectiveness
Link to AQI concerns
Link to Pirates’ game-delay tweet
Link to Sheehan on Germán
Link to Paine on the perfecto
Link to “Her?” montage
Link to Yankees offense post-Judge
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to xBAs from the perfecto
Link to longest sub-100-pitch-GS streaks
Link to list of perfectos
Link to perfecto pitch counts
Link to Félix-meme tweet
Link to Germán apology article
Link to other Germán apology article
Link to MLBTR on O’Hearn
Link to story about O’s Pride Night
Link to O’s Pride Night tweet
Link to O’s Pride Night montage
Link to The Athletic on the Rangers
Link to Yandy’s monthy splits
Link to Ben’s Ohtani article
Link to MLBTR’s Ohtani job listing
Link to combined WAR leaderboard
Link to wOBA with <2 strikes
Link to wOBA with 2 strikes
Link to story about Cameron and Félix
Link to info on Félix and fastballs
Link to more on Félix and fastballs
Link to even more on Félix and fastballs
Link to Passan on Pedro and Elly
Link to story about Metrodome fans
Link to Arraez play
Link to info on DiMaggio streak scoring
Link to MLB.com on Elly’s call-up
Link to MLBTR on Elly’s call-up
Link to Harris II’s Real 99 card
Link to listener emails database
Link to Rick Wilber’s website

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the three Taylor Wards, the truth and multiple untruths about Elly De La Cruz’s twin brother, the dominance of 20-year-old Eury Pérez and the Marlins’ usage dilemma, Luis Arraez’s plate predictions, MVP odds, and underestimation as a prospect, the Mets’ struggles and Buck Showalter’s morbid mind, the Orioles’ prospect cornucopia, the debut of part-time knuckleballer Matt Waldron, the Angels’ odd series loss and infield trades, how Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are like Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, why the anti-shift rules are increasing strikeouts, whether it’s bad for baseball that Rob Manfred acknowledged regret about his handling of the sign-stealing scandal, and the latest sign of the sports-betting apocalypse, plus a Future Blast from 2025.

Audio intro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ward scoreboard image
Link to Ward/Wade wiki
Link to tweet about Elly’s brother
Link to photo of Elly’s brother
Link to misinfo about Elly’s brother
Link to Elly’s “fastest man” quote
Link to Sam on Hamilton’s speed
Link to Ben Clemens on Pérez
Link to best 9-start starts
Link to clip of Schumaker
Link to player predictions wiki
Link to 2019 Twins top prospects
Link to Ben on HUaL
Link to Showalter quote
Link to rigor mortis quote
Link to Cohen tweet
Link to playoff odds
Link to tweet about Orioles prospects
Link to Jay on Waldron
Link to Waldron GIF
Link to Jannis on EW
Link to Ben on the knuckleball
Link to Langs tweet
Link to Dan S. on Angels trades
Link to Escobar citizenship
Link to episode on Escobar and Fogo
Link to Rob on the shift ban
Link to Lewie on the shift ban
Link to Manfred’s Time interview
Link to the WSJ on Shams
Link to Awful Announcing on Shams
Link to WaPo on gambling/sports media
Link to stretching article
Link to other stretching article
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Sam on single-game WAR

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Michael Baumann to banter about the Phillies’ outlier legal name, Dave Martinez and the dying art of the theatrical managerial ejection, the benching of Wander Franco, whether the Diamondbacks’, Reds’, and Orioles’ surprising seasons are attributable to MLB’s new rules, and whether bad bullpens are good for baseball, then (59:48) discuss a classic College World Series pitcher’s duel, the College World Series final, whether the Shohei Ohtani comps for Florida’s Jac Caglianone are warranted, college pitch-count controversies, Eric and Michael’s takeaways from the MLB Draft Combine, whether there are indications of a baseball bounceback among young Black athletes, whether the scouts suing MLB over age discrimination are likely to succeed (1:40:57), and more, plus (1:54:05) a Future Blast from 2024.

Audio intro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Cuda tweet
Link to latest Martinez ejection
Link to Martinez photo printout
Link to Martinez World Series ejection
Link to Wellman ejection
Link to NYT on ejections
Link to article on Nevin ejections
Link to article on Boone ejection
Link to article on Franco benching
Link to Freeman/Acuña comments
Link to story on Franco’s safe
Link to Stark on surprise teams
Link to FG BsR data
Link to BP BRR data
Link to BP BRR allowed data
Link to Patrick on bad bullpens
Link to Sam on the Royals’ pen
Link to BP on the Mariners’ pen
Link to Paine on payroll and standings
Link to Paine’s MANFRED scores
Link to pre-Skenes/Lowder story
Link to post-Skenes/Lowder story
Link to Betteridge’s law
Link to more on Skenes/Lowder
Link to Passan on Caglianone
Link to WSJ pitch-counts article
Link to Eric’s latest draft rankings
Link to ESPN on Black amateur players
Link to Eric’s Draft Combine footage
Link to scout lawsuit article
Link to other scout lawsuit article
Link to Regan lawsuit article
Link to squatting article
Link to stretching article
Link to other stretching article
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to article on Elly’s cycle
Link to MLBTR on Waldron
Link to article on qualified catchers

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Ben Lindbergh addresses an interview upgrade on the preceding episode, chats with FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski about Luis Arraez’s chances of batting .400, Stat Blasts (22:36) about extremes in team winning and losing streaks, welcomes in David Lewis (28:00) for the final Past Blast, and talks to prolific science fiction (and baseball science fiction) author Rick Wilber (44:48) about being the son of big leaguer Del Wilber, his career and love for baseball and sci-fi, and the podcast’s forthcoming Future Blast series, plus a postscript (1:26:00) about Tyler Wells and Taylor Walls, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, Rob Manfred and public ballpark funding, contentious plays at the plate, and a new walk-up-music database.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Carleton interview episode
Link to MLB.com on Arraez
Link to Dan on Arraez
Link to Statcast park factors
Link to Foolish thread on AVG+
Link to AVG+ leaderboard
Link to story about Reds’ latest win
Link to Reds streak fun fact
Link to Ryan Nelson on Twitter
Link to longest in-season-streaks sheet
Link to more streaks data
Link to Past Blast EW wiki page
Link to 2023 Past Blast source
Link to Ben on the pitch clock
Link to Ben on the pitch clock again
Link to B-Ref’s new rules page
Link to Rickwood Field story
Link to Hinchliffe Stadium story
Link to first Dick Trueman episode
Link to second Dick Trueman episode
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Wilber’s baseball works
Link to My Father’s Game
Link to Del Wilber’s SABR bio
Link to Lucky Starr wiki
Link to Wade/Ward wiki
Link to Trout/Betts interview
Link to Trout/Ohtani at-bat
Link to Bochy ejection video
Link to Melvin ejection video
Link to the NYT on plate-blocking
Link to Heim’s replay-review gesture
Link to Manfred’s Time interview
Link to scholars survey on funding
Link to story on the Astros comment
Link to trade trees site
Link to trade values site
Link to thread on walk-up-songs site
Link to MLB walk-up-songs site
Link to The Walk-Up Database
Link to walk-up-site requests thread

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Ben Lindbergh and Russell Carleton of Baseball Prospectus banter about the return of Joey Votto, the suddenly exciting Cincinnati Reds, the NL Central and NL West races, and more, then (25:45) discuss several of the developments chronicled in Russell’s new book, The New Ballgame: The Not-So-Hidden Forces Shaping Modern Baseball, including the impact of the one-inning reliever, the expansion of baseball’s talent pool, the redefinition of positions, the strikeout conundrum, and the role of analytics in shaping the sport. After that (1:23:27), Ben honors the promotions of Votto and Bo Naylor by talking to Scott Crawford, director of operations for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, about the Hall’s latest induction weekend, its election process and criteria, the history of the Hall and baseball in Canada, the Hall’s collection and relationships with other Halls of Fame, the baseball landscape in Canada, and more, followed by a Past Blast (1:54:16) from 2022.

Audio intro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to record of EW guests
Link to video of Votto’s return
Link to Votto’s postgame interview
Link to MLBTR on Votto
Link to Krall comment
Link to Reds playoff appearances
Link to Reds depth chart
Link to team batting ages
Link to team pitching ages
Link to BaseRuns standings
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Russell’s book
Link to Arraez/Nomar fun fact
Link to Freeway Series fun fact
Link to Verducci on pitch-tipping
Link to Ben on bullpenning
Link to Ben on mid-PA pitching changes
Link to Ben on strikeouts
Link to Russell on strikeouts
Link to Eno Sarris on strikeouts
Link to Bill James on strikeouts
Link to Lewie Pollis on strikeouts
Link to Ben on super-utility players
Link to Ben on Dodgers positional fluidity
Link to Russell on position switches
Link to Russell on the invasive reliever
Link to Russell on reliever-like starters
Link to Ben on pitcher roster limits
Link to The Athletic player survey
Link to Dan S. on Naylor
Link to Canadian Baseball HoF website
Link to Canadian Baseball HoF wiki
Link to Walker’s photos
Link to Jenkins tweet about Votto
Link to French baseball glossary
Link to 2005 article on Doucet
Link to info on Chatham team
Link to info on class of 2023
Link to induction weekend account
Link to 2022 Past Blast source
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to Rickwood Field story

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’s latest exploits and career-best WAR pace, the Angels’ playoff hopes, Corbin Carroll’s physique, and Mickey Moniak’s fluky-but-fun hot streak, then (20:55) answer listener emails about how big a scandal it would be if Ohtani turned out to be two twins, when managers would choose to take in-game mulligans, and which stat should replace errors in the traditional line score, followed by a Meet a Major Leaguer segment (54:00) featuring Keaton Winn and Ricky Karcher (as well as Joe Jacques and Stan Musial), Stat Blasts (1:18:45) about Zack Greinke and the widest pitch-speed spreads and Jo Adell and the players with the biggest career gaps between their Triple-A and MLB production, plus a Past Blast (1:39:30) from 2021.

Audio intro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ohtani’s oppo homers
Link to Ohtani oppo graphic
Link to Ohtani’s Statcast record
Link to story on Ohtani’s series
Link to Ohtani’s HR lead
Link to Blum’s bat tweet
Link to Ohtani’s streak
Link to Neil Paine on Ohtani
Link to Ohtani sweepers by start
Link to Ohtani sweepers vs. LHB
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Angels wRC+ leaders
Link to The Athletic on Moniak
Link to minor league chase leaders
Link to MLB swing-rate leaders
Link to article on Carroll
Link to Dan Bern’s Ohtani song
Link to Canseco conspiracy
Link to Atlantic League EW episode
Link to Craig/Báez play
Link to Minor’s 200th strikeout story
Link to other Ben on line scores
Link to modern box score story
Link to EW emails database
Link to list of saves in debuts
Link to MLB.com on Winn’s debut
Link to McCovey Chronicles on Winn
Link to story on Giants bullpen WAR
Link to toothpaste/Sriracha tweet
Link to Karcher interview
Link to Karcher pitch plot
Link to Karcher article 1
Link to Karcher article 2
Link to Karcher article 3
Link to Karcher article 4
Link to Jacques call-up article 1
Link to Jacques call-up article 2
Link to Jacques debut play
Link to Jacques interview
Link to Jacques other interview
Link to Musial/Jacques query
Link to Musial story
Link to 2023 new debuts
Link to Topps Now cards
Link to pitch-speed-spread leaders
Link to new Greinke stories article
Link to EW episode on Greinke stories
Link to active-pitcher spreads
Link to Simon pitch spreads
Link to Padilla pitch spreads
Link to consecutive-pitches Stat Blast
Link to Lucas Apostoleris on Twitter
Link to Triple-A/MLB gaps spreadsheet
Link to Triple-A/MLB hypothetical email
Link to intra-season AAA/MLB gap Blast
Link to Ben on the majors/minors gap
Link to Kenny Jackelen on Twitter
Link to Home Run Challenge press release
Link to Home Run Challenge leaderboard
Link to donate to Home Run Challenge
Link to 2021 Past Blast source
Link to Ben on moving the mound
Link to Ben/Rob on the results
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley review the most disappointing teams of 2023, ultimately anointing one team as the most disappointing and trying to identify which of the contenders for the “most disappointing” title is most likely to turn things around by the end of the season. Then (32:21) they discuss A’s fans’ reverse boycott, the seemingly sealed deal for the A’s to move to Las Vegas, the viability of Vegas as an MLB market, commissioner Rob Manfred’s maddening comments about all of the above, the 20th anniversary of Moneyball coinciding with the A’s ugly exit from Oakland, the legacy of the book, and more, plus a Past Blast (1:17:56) from 2020.

Audio intro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to preseason playoff odds
Link to preseason playoff odds changes
Link to Sheehan’s run differential tweet
Link to Sheehan on the Jays
Link to Petriello on Kiermaier
Link to A’s winning streak story
Link to MLBTR on Nevada votes
Link to FG on the reverse boycott
Link to The Athletic on the reverse boycott
Link to BP on the reverse boycott
Link to Manfred’s comments
Link to Oakland mayor’s response
Link to Tim Kawakami on Manfred
Link to Defector on Las Vegas
Link to Sheehan on Las Vegas
Link to Ken/Evan on front-office spending
Link to Sam Schultz thread
Link to Sam Schultz EW episode
Link to R.J. on front office unionization
Link to Ben/Rob’s 2016 study
Link to 2020 follow-up study
Link to Moneyball Act info
Link to info on Kotick cameo
Link to Michael Lewis on SABRcast
Link to 2020 Past Blast source
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to MLBTR on the governor signing
Link to Manfred’s Pride Night comments
Link to SABRcast book episode
Link to Ringer-Verse gaming episode

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani leading MLB in WAR and the number of times his hitting has leapfrogged his pitching or vice versa, the EW audience’s verdict on who won the pod’s recent 26-under-25 draft, the suddenly-quite-competitive A’s-Royals race for the worst record in baseball, a painful ending to a college playoff game and the evolving conversation about pitch counts for college starters, the pitch clock’s impact on performance and injuries, one potential downside to the pitch clock reaching NPB, the Diamondbacks’ “victory vest,” and The Athletic’s layoffs and the state of sports media, plus a Past Blast from 2019.

Audio intro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ohtani’s first homer
Link to Ohtani’s second homer
Link to MLB.com on tired Ohtani
Link to The Athletic on tired Ohtani
Link to FG WAR leaderboard
Link to B-Ref WAR leaderboard
Link to 26-under-25 draft
Link to draft voting results
Link to Carroll/Henderson awards
Link to Royals/A’s post
Link to Rob Mains on mobility
Link to tweet about college game ending
Link to college TOOTBLAN
Link to college dropped ball
Link to Cooper on pitch counts
Link to Jake on Mathews
Link to longer thread on Mathews
Link to Romano’s quote tweet
Link to 2016 study on college workloads
Link to 2018 college workloads study
Link to Dan S. on the pitch clock
Link to Jim Allen on the NPB clock
Link to report on the NPB clock
Link to victory vest story
Link to MLB’s Realmuto tweet
Link to “cyclone” tweet
Link to hockey’s “three stars”
Link to FG’s three players of the game
Link to WaPo’s The Athletic report
Link to FOS The Athletic report
Link to 2017 story about The Athletic
Link to Axios media newsletter
Link to 2019 Past Blast source
Link to 2015 robot-ump game
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to MLBTR on the Nevada vote
Link to Pujols hiring post

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Patreon supporter Reggie Deal banter about Reggie’s background as a baseball fan and Effectively Wild listener, his email correspondence with MLB and Rob Manfred, accessibility issues he’s encountered while following baseball as a blind person, and A’s fans’ upcoming “reverse boycott” event, then (22:25) answer listener emails about angry Aaron Boone earning the Yankees more favorable calls, MLB players providing in-game entertainment, how different baseball would be if it were more like Wii Sports, Esteury Ruiz, Luis Arraez, and riding a single standout skill to award consideration, ridiculously large batting helmets, and which .500-ish team is most likely to make the playoffs. Then (1:19:51) they Stat Blast about players who hit home runs of dramatically differing lengths on the same day, the longest team streaks without a left-on-left homer, and Anthony Rendon and other players whose teams hit better with runners in scoring position when they were in the lineup, plus a Past Blast (1:40:44) from 2018.

Audio intro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to story about radio and Audacy
Link to Reggie’s Manfred letter
Link to National Beep Baseball Association
Link to EW Beep Baseball interview
Link to Rooted in Oakland website
Link to Rooted in Oakland tweet
Link to thread on Yankees calls
Link to story on Boone’s ejections
Link to ejection rates over time
Link to manager ejection totals
Link to manager ejection rates
Link to EW Episode 1855
Link to Wii Sports baseball footage
Link to Robert Orr on Arraez
Link to Arraez at Baseball Savant
Link to AVG+ leaders
Link to Sam on Hamilton
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to listener emails database
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Topps Now Cards
Link to Zavala’s two homers
Link to Aquino’s three homers
Link to Jay Cuda tweet
Link to L-L/R-R HR spreadsheet
Link to Nevin/Rendon article
Link to BA w/RISP spreadsheet
Link to Hulse’s fouls
Link to Ryan Nelson on Twitter
Link to 2018 Past Blast source
Link to Nathanson’s website
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to Billy Joel’s “Pressure”

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