Author Archive: Ben Lindbergh

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rachel Balkovec becoming the first female manager in affiliated ball, Genevieve Beacom making her pro debut in Australia, and other women breaking baseball boundaries, then (13:20) conclude their “Measuring the Unmeasurable” series about studying difficult-to-quantify aspects of the sport by bringing on Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus and Rockies catcher AJ Lewis to discuss Rob’s research into racial bias in scouting and player promotions, the lack of Black catchers in MLB, AJ’s catching career and experience with inner-city baseball programs, ways to promote African-American participation in baseball, the demands of playing catcher compared to playing other positions, and more. Then (48:27) they talk to Shakeia Taylor about a recent study about the demographics of MLB managers, the unique nature of Dusty Baker, her reporting about the “Selig Rule,” ways to improve front-office diversity (and the different types of diversity), the impact of sabermetrics on hiring decisions, what MLB could learn from other leagues, the catcher-to-manager pipeline, and her SABR interview series.

Audio intro: Tommy Tutone, “Rachel”
Audio interstitial: Son Volt, “Catching On”
Audio outro: A Tribe Called Quest, “Mind Power”

Link to Times story about Balkovec
Link to Beacom debut video
Link to Beacom video interview
Link to article about Beacom
Link to Sara Goodrum news
Link to Jaime Vieira story
Link to story about Becky Hammon
Link to Rob on bias in player promotions
Link to Rob on Black catchers
Link to Claire Smith on Black catchers
Link to Jared Diamond on Black catchers
Link to story about AJ
Link to story about Rockies signing AJ
Link to story about Moller
Link to AJ’s Instagram
Link to AJ’s Twitter
Link to Ben and Rob on scouting bias
Link to Bryant’s list of Black catchers
Link to Bryant on Maxwell
Link to story on Black player percentage
Link to Rob on manager demographics
Link to Shakeia’s website
Link to Shakeia’s feature
Link to Selig Rule change story
Link to Global Sport Institute study results
Link to “Rediscovering America’s Pastime”
Link to study on Black player drain
Link to story on youth baseball cost
Link to Ballpark Figures series

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley continue their “Measuring the Unmeasurable” series about studying difficult-to-quantify aspects of the sport by bringing on Rob Mains of Baseball Prospectus to banter about ESPN’s new Sunday Night Baseball broadcasting plans and discuss Rob’s studies about competitive balance, team mobility and inequality, starter vs. reliever performance, the magnitude and history of the times-through-the-order penalty, the universal DH, injuries, and more. Then (50:25) they bring on the pseudonymous author of research blog Hareeb’s Hangout to talk about the potential pitfalls of baseball analysis, how baseball analysis compares to esports analysis, his history of betting on baseball, his studies on the cause of the TTOP, reliever sequencing, valuing closers, and the difficulty of fielding pulled balls, the proprietary data he wishes he had, and his recent research interests.

Audio intro: Neko Case, “Bracing for Sunday”
Audio interstitial: Math and Physics Club, “All the Mains Are Down”
Audio outro: The Muffs, “Where Did I Go Wrong”

Link to ESPN SNB press release
Link to Rodger Sherman on the Manning broadcast
Link to The Press Box on the Manning broadcast
Link to Jason Benetti Nerdcast tweet
Link to Rob on pitching to contact
Link to Rob on small-market teams
Link to Rob on relievers vs. starters
Link to Craig Edwards on relievers vs. starters
Link to Travis Sawchik on relievers vs. starters
Link to Rob on pitching and payrolls
Link to Rob on the times-through-the-order penalty
Link to Rob on the TTOP again
Link to Rob on 2021 injuries
Link to Rob on the DH and interleague play
Link to Rob on the universal DH
Link to Rob on team mobility and inequality
Link to Rob on 2021 mobility inequality
Link to post on Rocket League and pitcher velocity
Link to post on Rocket League viewership
Link to second post on Rocket League viewership
Link to MTG Arena post
Link to post on regression and linear weights
Link to second post on regression/linear weights
Link to study on the TTOP
Link to other study on the TTOP
Link to study on repertoire and the TTOP
Link to study on reliever sequencing
Link to BP piece on reliever sequencing
Link to study on Wins Above Average Closer
Link to study on pulling the ball
Link to Tango’s response to study
Link to Tango on playing center vs. corners
Link to Eno Sarris on playing outfield corners
Link to Mike Petriello on outfielders and spin

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley continue their “Measuring the Unmeasurable” series about studying difficult-to-quantify aspects of the sport by talking to Patrick Brennan about his studies on assessing player development at the major and minor league levels, the challenges of evaluating player development, the data he wishes he had, the most and least successful player development organizations, his work as the director of analytics for the Kansas State baseball team, analyzing pitch sequencing, and his baseball ambitions. Then (34:32) they bring on Pitcher List’s Grant Washburn to discuss his metric for measuring unpurchased wins, Wins Below Replacement Ownership, the importance of having a good owner, the data he couldn’t include, the owners who spend the least on player payroll relative to revenue, why having a high payroll isn’t always enough, saying “the MLB,” and more.

Audio intro: Billy Joel, “A Minor Variation”
Audio interstitial: The Legal Matters, “Minor Key”
Audio outro: Aerosmith, “Eat the Rich”

Link to Patrick’s study on MiLB player dev
Link to Patrick’s study on MLB player dev
Link to first Driveline study on player dev value
Link to second Driveline study on player dev value
Link to article on Patrick’s work with Kansas State
Link to Patrick’s study on pitch sequencing
Link to Ben on college player development
Link to Grant’s WBRO study
Link to Grant’s WBRO data

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fanatics purchasing Topps and MLB Network reportedly parting ways with Ken Rosenthal because of his criticism of Rob Manfred. Then (27:36) they kick off a series of episodes about measuring difficult-to-quantify aspects of the sport by talking to Cameron Grove about translating his study of astrophysics into baseball research, assessing pitchers’ stuff, the cause of the time through the order penalty, pitcher deception, catcher game-calling, tracking and analyzing pitchers’ motions from video, proprietary data he wishes he had, the behavior of the ball, and his baseball ambitions. Finally (1:12:00), they bring on Eric Chalek to explain how he developed Major League Equivalencies (MLEs) for Negro Leaguers and other pre-integration Black baseball players, how his MLEs help put those players’ careers in context, the challenge of assessing league quality, Josh Gibson’s and Satchel Paige’s MLEs, Cooperstown implications, and missing data.

Audio intro: Robert Plant, “Network News”
Audio interstitial 1: Jimi Hendrix, “Astro Man”
Audio interstitial 2: The New Pornographers, “Loose Translation”
Audio outro: The Delgados, “Ballad of Accounting”

Link to WSJ report on Fanatics/Topps
Link to EW episode about Fanatics/Topps
Link to report about Rosenthal and Manfred
Link to 2020 Rosenthal column
Link to Rosenthal tweet
Link to Cameron’s website
Link to DESI’s Wikipedia page
Link to Cameron’s pitch quality app
Link to Cameron’s TTOP tweet
Link to Cameron’s other TTOP tweet
Link to previous familiarity/fatigue research
Link to Cameron on pitcher workloads
Link to Ben on playoff familiarity
Link to Cameron on over/underperformers
Link to Cameron’s motion data
Link to Ben on pitching deception
Link to Cameron on game-calling
Link to Cameron on game-calling leaders
Link to Cameron on the ball’s behavior
Link to Alan Nathan on fly ball variation
Link to Cameron on umpiring difficulty
Link to Adam Darowski EW interview episode
Link to Adam’s interview with Eric
Link to 42 for 21 EW interview episode
Link to Eric’s 42 for 21 ballot
Link to Adam on post-integration stars
Link to Hall of Stats MLEs announcement
Link to Eric’s website
Link to Eric’s MLE method for hitters
Link to Eric’s MLE methods for pitchers

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss Ben’s decision regarding his Hall of Fame ballot, and how to handle Hall of Fame voting in the future. Then (38:05) they complete their series of discussions of Korean baseball drama Stove League by breaking down the last four episodes (13-16) and reflecting on the series as a whole.

Audio intro: Blood Red Shoes, “Count Me Out”
Audio outro: Sloan, “Your Dreams Have Come True”

Link to latest HoF election projection
Link to 2016 Ortiz comments
Link to 2020 Ortiz story
Link to first EW Stove League discussion
Link to second EW Stove League discussion
Link to third EW Stove League discussion
Link to Pengsoo Wikipedia page
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the retirement of Kyle Seager and the lockout implications of a recent report about player payrolls, then discuss an assortment of listener-nominated, team-centric topics that they had previously overlooked on the podcast in 2021.

Audio intro: Spooky Tooth, “Kyle”
Audio outro: Hockey Dad, “I Missed Out”

Link to list of most HR in final season
Link to Seager ovation video
Link to payroll report
Link to story about Ryu and Manoah
Link to Korean story on Ryu and Manoah
Link to Blooper/Duvall video
Link to more Blooper/Duvall videos
Link to Romine/Romine story
Link to Casali story
Link to second Casali story
Link to Flexen story
Link to Lindor/McNeil report
Link to Zimmerman ovation video
Link to story on Harrison’s taunting
Link to Suárez FanGraphs post
Link to story on Cruz callup
Link to Cruz highlights video
Link to Mauer/Morneau hockey video
Link to FanGraphs post on Robert
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their holidays, how the omicron variant is affecting sports and personal decisions, and how analyzing COVID case counts is (kind of) akin to analyzing baseball stats, discuss the pace and prominence of signings of former major leaguers by KBO and NPB teams, the results of 2021 interleague play, and Shohei Ohtani’s showing in a New York Times quiz about notable people from this year, and answer listener emails about minor league signings during the lockout, Ohtani’s Hall of Fame chances, redrafting Derek Jeter or Ichiro Suzuki, and an evolving Hall of Fame, plus a Stat Blast (1:22:30) about how long it took for every player from given MLB games to leave the league for good.

Audio intro: Vince Guaraldi, “The Great Pumpkin Waltz”
Audio outro: John Williams, “Duel of the Fates”

Link to Will Leitch on omicron and sports
Link to thread on omicron and boosters
Link to story on the week after Christmas
Link to MLBTR’s KBO posts
Link to MLBTR’s NPB posts
Link to Phantom Menace duel video
Link to Tom Tango’s league quality post
Link to year-by-year interleague records
Link to Russell Carleton on interleague records
Link to Rob Mains on interleague records
Link to Rob on NL DHs in 2022
Link to 2016 interleague roundtable podcast
Link to NYT notable people quiz
Link to Ohtani’s AP award
Link to story on Astros drafting Jeter
Link to Ichiro’s high school hitting appearance
Link to Ichiro’s high school pitching appearance
Link to Stat Blast inspiration thread
Link to 2014 Stat Blast game
Link to 2013 Stat Blast game
Link to 1945 Stat Blast game
Link to 1906 Stat Blast game
Link to 2009 Stat Blast game
Link to Drake LaRoche retrospective
Link to 2006 Stat Blast game
Link to 1949 Stat Blast game
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh concludes a short series of conversations with baseball content creators who work mainly in a medium other than writing or podcasting by talking to singer-songwriter Dan Bern about his origins as a baseball fan and musician, rooting for different teams at different times, his songwriting process, sneaking into Wrigley Field, composing his first baseball song, the tools of his trade, what makes a song a baseball song, the most fitting subjects for baseball songs, the best baseball songs by other artists, the pandemic’s impact on musicians, writing bespoke songs, appreciating multiple eras of baseball history, and more. Dan also performs his songs “Ballpark” (15:40), “The Year-By-Year Home Run Totals of Barry Bonds” (18:50), “Slowly Turn Around” (19:47), “Everything’s Better Than it Used to Be” (45:36), “This Side of the White Lines” (49:45), and “Seven Miles an Hour” (55:25).

Audio intro: Dan Bern, “When My Buckner Moment Comes”
Audio outro: Dan Bern, “Merkle”

Link to Dan’s website
Link to Dan’s song store
Link to Dan on Bandcamp
Link to Dan on Facebook
Link to Dan’s Doubleheader album on Spotify
Link to Dan’s Rivalry album on Spotify
Link to NYT piece on Doubleheader
Link to Dan’s 10,000 Crappy Songs podcast
Link to Dan’s discography
Link to Dan’s lyrics
Link to press coverage of Dan
Link to “Ballpark”
Link to “The Year-By-Year Home Run Totals of Barry Bonds”
Link to “Slowly Turn Around”
Link to “Everything’s Better Than it Used to Be”
Link to “This Side of the White Lines”
Link to “Seven Miles an Hour”
Link to “The Golden Voice of Vin Scully”
Link to EW episode about baseball music
Link to Ben on Get Back
Link to Neil Young’s “Old Black”
Link to Conan’s old-timey baseball video
Link to EW episode about old-timey baseball
Link to EW episode about discovering sports late
Link to Patreon trivia contest
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh continues a short series of conversations with baseball content creators who work mainly in a medium other than writing or podcasting by talking to painter Graig Kreindler about Noah Syndergaard, Nick Adenhart, and the best way to pay tribute to past players via uniform number, how Graig got started as a baseball fan and artist, how he began to unify the two hobbies into a calling and career, the combination of inherent ability and practice, the tools of his trade, parting with completed pieces, how his portraits draw on but differ from photographs, his rigorous research process (and the heightened challenge of researching Negro Leagues players), blending preparation and passion, correcting mistakes, his artistic aspirations, his favorite paintings, and much more.

Audio intro: The High Llamas, “Painters Paint”
Audio outro: The Band (Feat. Bob Dylan), “When I Paint My Masterpiece”

Link to Sam Blum on Adenhart and Syndergaard
Link to first EW episode about number tributes
Link to Graig’s website
Link to Graig on Instagram
Link to YouTube video about Graig
Link to NYT piece on Graig
Link to Sports Collectors Digest on Graig
Link to Todd Radom on Graig
Link to National Review piece on Graig
Link to Graig’s Negro Leagues Project gallery
Link to Graig’s “large works” gallery
Link to Murderer’s Row (1927 Yankees)
Link to The Dutch Master (Johnny Vander Meer)
Link to Foreign Reinforcement (Josh Gibson)
Link to Big Sam (Sam Thompson)
Link to Advice From the Big Kid (Ruth)
Link to In a Fog (Ernie Banks)
Link to Graig’s Bautista bat flip
Link to Tom Shieber EW interview
Link to Tom’s Baseball Researcher site
Link to history of perspective in art
Link to NFTs explainer
Link to EW episode about discovering sports late
Link to Patreon trivia contest
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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Ben Lindbergh kicks off a short series of conversations with baseball content creators who work mainly in mediums other than writing or podcasting by talking to YouTuber Bailey Freeman of Foolish Baseball about the Mets hiring Buck Showalter and the challenge of evaluating managers, how many bases Rickey Henderson would steal today, Bailey’s origins as a baseball fan and video maker, his process for picking topics and producing videos, watching videos vs. reading articles or listening to podcasts, MLB’s video policy, how he and his videos have evolved, the tools of his trade, which baseball footage he wishes he had, his YouTube influences and recommendations, being beholden to algorithms, and much more.

Audio intro: Lucinda Williams, “Foolishness”
Audio outro: Superchunk, “Foolish”

Link to Foolish Baseball YouTube channel
Link to Foolish Bailey YouTube channel
Link to Bailey’s Patreon page
Link to Bailey’s latest Ohtani video
Link to Bailey’s Bleier video
Link to Bailey’s Henderson video
Link to Bailey’s Verlander video
Link to Bailey’s two-way revolution video
Link to Bailey’s Locastro video
Link to Bailey’s Simmons video
Link to Bailey’s Mathis video
Link to Bailey’s spring training video
Link to Bailey’s Yankees/Twins video
Link to Bailey’s Barajas video
Link to Summoning Salt YouTube channel
Link to Jomboy Media YouTube channel
Link to SportStorm YouTube channel
Link to YourFriendKyle Twitch channel
Link to history of perspective in art
Link to article about players peeing on hands
Link to Patreon trivia contest
Link to stream Stove League via Viki

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