Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about pitchers throwing a perplexing number of strikes to an unstoppable Aaron Judge, Judge’s sensational September, upcoming contract, and more, Shohei Ohtani’s pitching prowess, new pitches, and switch-hitting potential, Oneil Cruz’s recent surge, Yordan Alvarez and how much of slumps can be explained by nagging injuries, Max Scherzer and other pitchers getting pulled from in-progress no-hitters or perfect games, the continued excellence of post-peak Clayton Kershaw, the record quality-start streak of Framber Valdez, the bouncebacks of Shane Bieber and Yu Darvish, the record longevity of Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina as a pitcher-catcher duo, and the broken bones of Ozzie Albies and Chris Sale, plus updates on Fox’s flames and the sale of Twins.com, a Past Blast from 1905, and a few final followups.

Audio intro: 10cc, “Good Morning Judge”
Audio outro: The Inbreds, “Don’t Try So Hard”

Link to Judge’s 60th
Link to Judge and the Triple Crown
Link to Petriello on Judge’s season
Link to Craig’s judge homers thread
Link to September player zone rates
Link to September MLB zone rate
Link to tweet about Judge’s 5 Barrels
Link to wiki for multiple-alarm fire
Link to new Ohtani breaking ball
Link to new Ohtani sinker
Link to Ohtani FTX ad
Link to Cruz against deGrom
Link to Cruz’s shot into river
Link to BP on Cruz
Link to article on injured Alvarez
Link to Scherzer on being pulled
Link to article about May
Link to Stathead on hitless starts
Link to article on Framber’s QS streak
Link to Stathead on longest QS streaks
Link to article on Jack Taylor
Link to post on long pitching streaks
Link to Dan S. on Bieber and Nola
Link to Katie on Wainwright/Molina
Link to Sale’s 2022
Link to Albies’ 2022
Link to Jay Jaffe on Albies
Link to Sam on flames
Link to score bug EW episode
Link to Ben on Twins.com
Link to 1905 story source
Link to 1905 game
Link to info on gloves on field
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to 1906 pit story
Link to Sam on the pit
Link to Ashburn quote
Link to football grenade photo
Link to Bugs Bunny video clip

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about minor leaguers officially joining the MLBPA and what minor league unionization might do to the game’s distribution of revenue, follow up on Gold Gloves for utility players, toilet flappers, and Joey Meneses, discuss Jon Berti’s pursuit of 40 stolen bases, what pickoff-attempt restrictions will do to the running game, and why they don’t mind making things easier for runners, examine a Jake McCarthy attempted steal of home, give the Diamondbacks their due, and muse on the different types of steals of home, the potential of the terms “sayonara hit” and “hero interview,” and the homer-hitting prowess of Eugenio Suárez before answering additional listener emails about the effects of the rules changes on infielder offense and pitchouts, swinging twice at one pitch, attempting to get out of tagging up, why the raglan sleeve is associated with “baseball shirts,” deciding to go double or nothing after scoring, emergency backup pitchers, directional arrows projected on the field, and the virtues of teams being pretty good instead of great or terrible, plus musings on listeners learning they like Scott Boras and pitch-clock countdowns on score bugs, and a Past Blast from 1904.

Audio intro: Ducks Ltd., “It’s Easy”
Audio outro: Ryan Pollie, “Steal Away”

Link to Evan on unionization
Link to Russell on minor league pay
Link to story on utility Gold Gloves
Link to story on Meneses interception
Link to Meneses letter
Link to Korky flapper sizing page
Link to Baumann on Berti
Link to Russell on the running game
Link to McCarthy steal attempt video
Link to BP on the steal attempt
Link to Altuve’s steal of home
Link to Ben C. on Arozarena running
Link to Ben on Murakami and Sasaki
Link to HR leaders since 2018
Link to pitchouts by season
Link to Sam on pitchouts
Link to Ben on pitchouts
Link to post on 2016 2B offense
Link to post on Moustakas at second
Link to story on shifting and infielders
Link to story on slowest possible pitch
Link to info on swing timing
Link to info on pitch timing
Link to story on Pence’s double hit
Link to raglan sleeve wiki
Link to story on baseball-shirt sexiness
Link to ESPN Daily on the EBUG
Link to Dodgers-Mets laser story
Link to EW listener emails database
Link to 1904 story source
Link to SABR game story
Link to Sol White’s book
Link to Rube Foster SABR bio
Link to 1904 World Series info
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk (4:09) to baseball agent and attorney Scott Boras, the founder, owner, and president of the Boras Corporation (as if you didn’t know who Scott Boras was), about his busiest days, his process for brainstorming metaphors, similes, and puns, his fondness for nautical analogies, other wordplay-related matters, the CBA, his agency’s evolving use of analytics and player-improvement techniques, the unionization of minor leaguers and the conditions he faced as a minor league player, exploiting loopholes, his origin story as a negotiator, whether he’d give it all up to have been a big leaguer, and more. Then (51:45) Ben and Meg discuss Boras’s career and Stat Blast (1:08:30) about Shohei Ohtani’s hitting on days when he pitches, plus (1:30:45) a double Past Blast from 1903.

Audio intro: Sparks, “Metaphor”
Audio interstitial: Dan Bern, “Negotiation”
Audio outro: Willie Nelson, “Still Not Dead”

Link to EW wiki page on Boras
Link to Jeff’s nautical analogies tweet
Link to USS San Diego quote
Link to Soto Star/Mission Bell quote
Link to 2018 Boras Mets lines
Link to Jay-Z Boras quote
Link to Boras Corp website
Link to 2000 Boras NYT story
Link to 2007 Boras NYT story
Link to A-Rod binder story
Link to Boras ESPN story
Link to story on Boras loopholes
Link to Boras MiLB stats
Link to Boras umbrella quote
Link to Verducci Boras/Gilbert story
Link to Dennis Gilbert wiki
Link to Travis Sawchik on agencies
Link to Stathead
Link to Stathead query
Link to Russell on tired pitchers
Link to Ohtani Stat Blast data
Link to TIME article on Ohtani
Link to MLB.com article on Ohtani
Link to Devan Fink on Ohtani hitting
Link to 1903 story source
Link to 1903 story source 2
Link to 1903 story source 3
Link to SABR game recap
Link to Boston Globe cartoon
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to 1939 article
Link to first 1907 article
Link to second 1907 article
Link to 1949 article
Link to Tallulah Bankhead wiki
Link to MLBPA news
Link to early Boras analogy episode

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the old-and-improved Albert Pujols, Mike Trout’s homer streak, the White Sox winning, Elvis Andrus making the A’s pay, James Karinchak’s inconclusive hair inspection, the Dodgers prematurely celebrating a clinching (and the concept of clinch creep), the puzzle of Cody Bellinger, and the retrospective puzzle of Edwin Díaz’s 2019, plus followups (53:48) on Carlos Correa, bigger bases, and shifting, listener emails (1:02:17) about bigger baseballs and/or bats, and a Past Blast (1:18:53) from 1902.

Audio intro: David Bowie, “Saviour Machine”
Audio outro: Fiona Apple, “Extraordinary Machine”

Link to hitting leaders since 8/10
Link to Stathead on big platoon splits
Link to story on Pujols and 697
Link to Pujols’ rolling wRC+
Link to Reddit thread on Pujols homers
Link to Jay Jaffe on Trout
Link to Trout HR streak story
Link to story on Andrus vs. A’s
Link to team SS wRC+ since 8/17
Link to TLR story
Link to Ben Clemens on Karinchak
Link to Rob Arthur on spin
Link to story on Dodgers mistake
Link to Reddit thread on Dodgers clinch
Link to Poscast episode on clinching
Link to Dan S. on Bellinger
Link to Eric Stephen tweet
Link to 2019 EW episode on Díaz
Link to Petriello’s shifting thread
Link to Rob Arthur on shifting
Link to EW listener emails database
Link to story about old bat sizes
Link to Eno Sarris on bats
Link to 1902 story source
Link to Hoy vs. Taylor SABR story
Link to Hoy’s SABR bio
Link to info on Hoy’s nickname
Link to Taylor’s SABR bio
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how the White Sox have played in Tony La Russa’s absence, then discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the rules changes coming to MLB in 2023: a pitch clock, restrictions on pickoff attempts and the shift, and bigger bases (with asides on a new WAR, Zack Greinke’s front-office acumen, and Ben’s hiccup cure). Then (52:40) they’re joined by historian Richard Hershberger for an in-person Past Blast from 1901, plus a long-term perspective on responses to times of rapid change in baseball, the sport’s cyclical nature, and more.

Audio intro: Phoenix, “1901”
Audio outro: Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses, “Change Is”

Link to La Russa report
Link to MLB story on rules changes
Link to ESPN story on rules changes
Link to info on infield dimensions
Link to Evan on player objections
Link to MLBPA statement
Link to episode on pitch clock history
Link to MLB BABIP by year
Link to Rob Mains on August offense
Link to Rob Arthur on spin
Link to Ben on banning the shift in 2015
Link to Jeff on banning the shift in 2018
Link to shift loophole idea
Link to Russell on banning the shift
Link to Justin Choi on banning the shift
Link to BA on the shift
Link to BA on the rules changes
Link to Justin Choi on banning the shift
Link to info on hiccups
Link to info on “intractable” hiccups
Link to article on Greinke in Milwaukee
Link to article on Greinke in L.A.
Link to article on Greinke in Arizona
Link to article on the new WAR
Link to other article on the new WAR
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to Richard’s SABR archive
Link to 1901 story source
Link to episode on 1889 relief experiment
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to Evan on voluntary recognition
Link to Michael Baumann on unionization
Link to Stengel HoF bio

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the late Queen Elizabeth II’s first baseball game, the latest on Joey Meneses and Juan Soto (and on Soto being booed!), an Albert Pujols/Willians Astudillo fun fact, a Mets/Yankees first-place race update, additional thoughts on Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, Paul Goldschmidt and the traditional Triple Crown vs. the “sabermetric” Triple Crown, and the great Rookie of the Year races between Julio Rodríguez and Adley Rutschman in the AL and between Spencer Strider and Michael Harris II in the NL, then (49:03) answer listener emails about Carlos Correa’s front-office chops and unwritten rules they actually like, plus a Past Blast (1:22:15) from 1900.

Audio intro: Dan Bern, “Queen”
Audio outro: Keith Richards, “Yap Yap”

Link to story about QE2’s first game
Link to other story about the game
Link to the game at B-Ref
Link to video of the Queen at the game
Link to The Naked Gun clip
Link to Reggie tweet
Link to Meneses/Soto graphic
Link to other Meneses/Soto graphic
Link to Meneses EW YouTube video
Link to post about Nats’ elimination
Link to article about Soto boos
Link to Uni Watch on booing
Link to Pujols/Astudillo tweet
Link to Sarah Lang’s Mets tweet
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Mets
Link to list of Triple Crown winners
Link to Ben Clemens on Judge
Link to Historic Achievement Award
Link to Strider screenshot
Link to Jeremy Frank tweet
Link to CBA details
Link tweet about Correa
Link to story about Correa
Link to Keuchel’s 2017 comments
Link to info on nose-thumbing
Link to list of unwritten rules
Link to Vlad’s comment on showboating
Link to Hang Up and Listen episode
Link to story on Rangers vs. Celtics
Link to EW emails database
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1900 story source
Link to story about 2023 rules changes

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a baseball (and softball) toilet flapper, discuss (13:32) the continued excellence of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani (and the benefits of celebrating both instead of elevating one over the other), follow up on the Angels’ shutouts, Mike Trout’s post-injury rebound, the MLBPA’s effort to unionize minor leaguers (38:09), players whose homer totals matched their uniform numbers (46:25), César Hernández’s homers (47:38), Dallas Keuchel’s disastrous denouement (51:14), the Frontier League’s record-setting Empire State Greys (57:38), the variability of check-swing strike call rates (1:00:27), Yankee Stadium’s noise level (1:04:16), and a playoff-seeding quirk’s potential for tanking (1:13:05), followed by additional discussion on Zac Gallen’s scoreless streak (1:22:01) and Joe Maddon’s thoughts on analytics and managing (1:26:35), plus a Past Blast from 1899 (1:46:42) and a few closing thoughts (1:50:30).

Audio intro: The Lumineers, “Flapper Girl”
Audio outro: The Long Blondes, “You Could Have Both”

Link to flapper wrapper photo
Link to Korky flapper page
Link to Hugh Laurie “Corky” montage
Link to article on Clemens and Ohtani
Link to article on Ohtani’s autograph
Link to team shutout leaders
Link to Russell on Ohtani’s WAR
Link to final Frontier League standings
Link to Greys interview episode
Link to lowest pro winning percentages
Link to Evan’s unionization update
Link to list of highest ERAs (min. 60 IP)
Link to Bill James on grounder longevity
Link to Rob Neyer’s response to James
Link to @would_it_dong for Hernández
Link to video of Hernández’s HR
Link to article on Hernández’s HR
Link to Stat Blast on Hernández
Link to Craig Finn tweet
Link to Rob Mains on playoff seeding
Link to Joe Sheehan on playoff seeding
Link to Dan Szymborski on Gallen
Link to Michael Ajeto on Gallen
Link to team OAA leaderboard
Link to “OAA behind pitcher” leaderboard
Link to Maddon’s comments
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1899 story source
Link to Richard Garner primate research
Link to Barzun baseball essay

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and listener/Patreon supporter Nathan Valentine banter about Nathan’s dual team fandom, then answer listener emails (9:58) about Aaron Judge’s lead over the next-most-prolific HR hitter, handing out awards for all of MLB rather than each league, Jhoan Duran and defining an “off-speed” pitch, what constitutes actually visiting a stadium, and whether certain players might lose some motivation after signing a long-term extension, plus “How can you not be pedantic about baseball?” questions (54:11) about saying “after the final out,” “playing DH,” and “hitting safely,” Stat Blasts (1:08:20) about David Peterson and pitcher three-true-outcome outings, Ross Stripling and the fewest pitches to get through the first time through the order, Yadier Molina and seasons where a player had a higher age than wRC+, players with the highest matching HR totals and jersey numbers, and two-out-batting records, and a Past Blast (1:26:28) from 1898.

Audio intro: Aimee Mann, “It’s Not Safe”
Audio outro: Willie Nelson, “Valentine”

Link to Ben’s article on Meneses
Link to Meneses walk-off video
Link to Statcast HR leaderboard
Link to Judge’s expected HR by park
Link to Joe Sheehan on Judge
Link to Zach Kram on Judge
Link to Ben on Stanton in 2017
Link to article on PED Era HR leaders
Link to Russell on league differences
Link to Duran video
Link to Pavlidis on Duran
Link to Apostoleris on Duran
Link to pitch-type-name matrix
Link to pitch-type guessing game
Link to Ben Clemens on sweepers
Link to Timmy Trumpet story
Link to Players’ Tribune piece
Link to tweet about hitting safely
Link to Stathead
Link to Ryan Nelson on Twitter
Link to Peterson TTO game
Link to Mathews TTO game
Link to Stripling EW episode
Link to Adcock game
Link to Age>wRC+ sheet
Link to post on Levey’s MVP vote
Link to 2021 Braves game
Link to 1954 Dodgers game
Link to EW listener emails database
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1898 story source

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the annual promotion of Terrance Gore as a harbinger of the changing seasons, the modest September roster expansion and the arrivals or returns of Gunnar Henderson, Oswald Peraza, and Billy Hamilton, an umpire caught swearing on a hot mic (4:45), whether the Yankees could actually lose their lead in the AL East (7:59), the continued torrid hitting of Joey Meneses (20:09), the offensive potential of MLB games in Mexico City (21:34), an interruption (22:02) for a real-time reaction to Meneses’s walk-off homer, and two Past Blasts from 1897 (30:10). Then (46:57) they talk to Evan Drellich, senior writer for The Athletic, about the MLBPA’s effort to unionize the minors, touching on why the announcement was such a surprise, why this campaign is happening now, what will happen next, how a union of major and minor leaguers would work, potential points of conflict and agreement, how the sport could change, how far minor league advocacy has come, the league’s response, what the unionized minors might mean for Rob Manfred, and Jeff Luhnow’s sneaky phone deletions.

Audio intro: James Taylor, “Migration”
Audio interstitial: Todd Rundgren, “Long Flowing Robe”
Audio outro: Billy Bragg, “There is Power in a Union”

Link to Gore EW episode
Link to story on swallow migration
Link to Dan S. on Henderson
Link to hot-mic ump
Link to Rob Mains on winning by losing
Link to story on Ohtani homer
Link to Trivino jersey story
Link to story on Meneses homer
Link to MLB.TV offer
Link to Ben on baseball in Mexico City
Link to MLB on the Mexico City series
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1897 knuckler story source 1
Link to 1897 knuckler story source 2
Link to @OldBaseballNews account
Link to NYT story on bathrobe
Link to Emslie’s SABR bio
Link to bathrobe story 2
Link to bathrobe story 3
Link to bathrobe story 4
Link to bathrobe story 5
Link to bathrobe story 6
Link to bathrobe story 7
Link to bathrobe story 8
Link to bathrobe story 9
Link to bathrobe story 10
Link to bathrobe story 11
Link to Evan on unionization
Link to Evan’s Clark Q&A
Link to Evan’s ILR expert Q&A
Link to Gallup poll on unions
Link to Winning Fixes Everything
Link to Luhnow book excerpt
Link to Rodger Sherman Yankees tweet

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s habitual misappraisal of checked swings and the potential for automated checked-swing calls, then discuss the potential unionization of the minor leagues via minor league players joining the MLBPA, Nationals rookie replacement Joey Meneses outplaying Juan Soto and Josh Bell since the trade deadline, Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, and the AL Cy Young and MVP races, the Brewers’ and Padres’ results since the Josh Hader–Taylor Rogers trade, the potential postseason teams with the most sympathetic narratives for neutral rooters, Dallas Keuchel and the long tail of a former Cy Young winner’s career, the Angels’ surprisingly high shutout total, an Albert Pujols fun fact, John Smoltz’s communication breakdown, the return of soaring spin rates, a record-setting Mickey Mantle card, New York number retirements for Paul O’Neill and Willie Mays, and the reinvented stance of the late John Wockenfuss, plus two Past Blasts (1:36:32) from 1896 and a few followups.

Audio intro: Kurt Vile, “Check Baby”
Audio outro: Nick Drake, “Joey”

Link to checked-swing rule explainer
Link to SIS study on checked swings
Link to Ben on checked swings
Link to Tipping Pitches T-shirt
Link to MLBTR on unionization efforts
Link to Ohtani’s postgame comment
Link to team RP WAR since 8/2
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Hader trade
Link to SIS on Hader
Link to Michael Ajeto on Hader
Link to Robert Orr on Hader
Link to highest ERAs w/29+ saves
Link to team shutout leaders
Link to Pujols record article
Link to Ben Clemens on Smoltz
Link to Rob Arthur on spin rates
Link to 2022 offense by month
Link to story on the Mantle card
Link to EW episode on memorabilia
Link to Yankees WAR leaderboard
Link to story on the Mets and Mays
Link to Craig Wright’s story series
Link to Wright on Wockenfuss
Link to video of Wockenfuss
Link to BSG imitation of Wockenfuss
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1896 story source
Link to first source on Pond
Link to second source on Pond
Link to third source on Pond
Link to Pond/sweater story
Link to Pond’s SABR bio
Link to Fox 96 mph screenshot
Link to Fox 97 mph screenshot
Link to Dan S. on head-to-head records

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