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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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mets, the Padres, and the AL Central, Jacob deGrom’s UCL, Mike Trout’s slow (by his standards) start, and a Phillies pitch-clock controversy, then (23:32), in honor of Elly De La Cruz, draft the 26 best MLB players under 25 years old (see link below to vote!), followed by a Past Blast from 2017 (1:13:54), closing banter about the Blue Jays and Red Sox DFAing Anthony Bass and Matt Dermody, respectively (1:17:22), and updates.

Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Rosenthal on the Mets
Link to story on Phillies pitch clock
Link to Sam Blum on Trout
Link to Jay on Trout
Link to Ben on deGrom
Link to Baby Gronk explainer
Link to giant baby meme
Link to Elly’s prediction
Link to Statcast on Elly
Link to EW drafts/competitions
Link to listener voting form
Link to MLBTR on Bass
Link to Toronto Star on Bass
Link to The Athletic on Dermody
Link to Bloom on Dermody
Link to Dermody’s Twitter likes
Link to 2017 Past Blast source
Link to other Past Blast source
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to Blaseball EW episode
Link to article on end of Blaseball
Link to Greinke EW episode
Link to new Greinke stories
Link to Diekman EW episode
Link to BP on Diekman
Link to Judge fence article
Link to Yankees super-error
Link to Ohtani vs. RHP sweepers
Link to Ohtani vs. LHP sweepers

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s voice, the arrival of Elly De La Cruz, the similarities between the up-and-coming Reds and Pirates, whether we need a “super-error,” Aaron Judge’s ball- and wall-smashing abilities, the plights of Alek Manoah and Stephen Strasburg, the wonder of Luis Arraez, whether this year’s trade deadline will be dead, follow-ups on the Angels’ catchers, Ben Joyce’s fastball, and Albert Pujols’s employment, how the pitch clock could affect players’ stamina in the second half, and more, plus a Past Blast from 2016 (1:34:00) and a few updates (1:38:25), including thoughts on Jacob deGrom’s diagnosis.

Audio intro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Alex Eichler, “Wild Shift”

Link to MLBTR on Elly
Link to Rosenthal/Judge interview
Link to Red Sox/Rays play
Link to Sox errors montage
Link to FARTSLAM post
Link to Knoblauch FARTSLAM
Link to Stark on Judge
Link to story on Judge and the wall
Link to McCray catch video
Link to Judge dachshund video
Link to Judge/Rizzo doxie article
Link to Judge/Rizzo doxie shirt tweet
Link to Judge/Rizzo doxie shirt photo
Link to Manoah gamer
Link to MLBTR on Manoah
Link to Dan S. on Manoah
Link to Halladay’s rebuild
Link to Strasburg article
Link to Baumann on Arraez
Link to B-Ref baserunning page
Link to xWOBA overperformers
Link to xBA overperformers
Link to Arraez’s 2019-22 BA-xBA
Link to Arraez fun fact 1
Link to Arraez fun fact 2
Link to Arraez fun fact 3
Link to Arraez fun fact 4
Link to Young on the deadline
Link to MLB.com on the deadline
Link to team catcher offense
Link to highest-FA% pitchers
Link to BP on Joyce
Link to MLBTR on Pujols
Link to Blum on Pujols
Link to 2016 Past Blast source
Link to MLB committee report
Link to early-2016 Ben article
Link to mid-2016 Ben article
Link to baseball drag values
Link to De La Cruz gamer
Link to Clemens on HFA
Link to Judge fence article
Link to MLBTR on deGrom
Link to deGrom interview video

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Shohei Ohtani is throwing too many sweepers to opposite-handed hitters, the MLB debut of flamethrowing Ben Joyce, the extreme walk/strikeout stylings of George Kirby and Spencer Strider, the states of the Central divisions, the offense and defense of Ke’Bryan Hayes, the return of Jon Singleton, whether the pitch clock is responsible for this season’s uptick in attendance, and the taken-for-granted greatness of Mookie Betts, answer listener emails about baseball’s version of a hockey goon, players singing during the seventh-inning stretch, and whether it would make umpires more accurate to give them a PitchCom device, plus a Past Blast (1:18:33) from 2015.

Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ohtani sweeper RV vs. RHB
Link to Ohtani sweeper RV vs. LHB
Link to sweeper leaderboard
Link to Ohtani pitch usage
Link to SP sweeper usage
Link to Ben C. on sweepers
Link to Ohtani sweeper HR vs. LHB
Link to Joyce’s debut
Link to Joyce pitch speeds
Link to story on Joyce’s record pitch
Link to Strider/Kirby spreadsheet
Link to Kirby command plot
Link to Kirby fun fact
Link to Strider fun fact
Link to Herbstreit Reds Twitter war
Link to Hayes’s defensive ratings
Link to MLBTR on Singleton
Link to annual attendance
Link to 2023 team attendance
Link to spring ratings story
Link to early-season ratings story
Link to Ben on the pitch clock
Link to Mookie gamer
Link to FG WAR leaderboard
Link to hockey enforcer wiki
Link to Brault EW episode
Link to Jeff on Brault
Link to Brault’s album
Link to Brault’s OF conversion
Link to Alberto singing
Link to EW emails database
Link to 2015 Past Blast source
Link to other 2015 source
Link to TORIIHTW book website
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to Dan S. on pitcher zStats

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s 500th EW episode, the architectural concept of the “Thomasson,” a forthcoming HBO documentary about Barry Bonds, the rebound of Juan Soto, common misconceptions about WAR, the declines of Noah Syndergaard and Kris Bryant, the NL West, MLB broadcasting Padres games, an MLB-MLBPA ad deal, a rules update, Francisco Álvarez’s defense, the return of Jordan Walker, Shohei Ohtani’s bat grip, a slowdown in injuries, and a D-III team that wins with HBPs, plus a Past Blast from 2014 (1:32:52), player responses to the Dodgers’ Pride Night, and follow-ups.

Audio intro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Thomasson thread
Link to Thomasson wiki
Link to Thomasson at B-Ref Bullpen
Link to Thomasson podcast episode
Link to Bonds doc info
Link to A-Rod doc story
Link to A-Rod gum disease segment
Link to Trout/Griffey FB thread
Link to FG’s WAR explainer
Link to Syndergaard quote
Link to Syndergaard hypnosis story
Link to December Syndergaard story
Link to FG on Syndergaard’s 2022
Link to Rumpelstiltskin wiki
Link to MLBTR on Bryant
Link to Ben C. on MLB/DSG
Link to Sheehan on MLB/DSG
Link to Ginny Searle on MLB/DSG
Link to MLB-MLBPA partnership
Link to more info on partnership
Link to Ben C. on new rules
Link to Sheehan on new rules
Link to Jay on Álvarez
Link to MLBTR on Walker
Link to Ohtani tweet
Link to injuries tweet
Link to Jake on Misericordia
Link to 2014 Past Blast source
Link to other 2014 source
Link to David Lewis’s Twitter
Link to David Lewis’s Substack
Link to story about Pride Night
Link to story about player comments
Link to Buckley column
Link to “allies” lineup
Link to Abreu/Acton tweet
Link to hot mic video

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