This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the bad omen of a broken bat on an Ichiro Suzuki statue, whether Mason Miller is, at this moment, the best pitcher ever on a batter-per-batter basis, and how to label atypical pitches, then Stat Blast (30:00) about team promotional giveaways, age and debut gaps among MLB brothers, and switch-hitters who hit higher in the lineup from one side. Then (47:58) Ben talks to 88-year-old All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher Dolly “Lippy” Vanderlip about growing up as the lone girl in games against boys, joining the AAGPBL at age 15, playing for manager Jimmie Foxx, life on and off the field, the end of the league, how A League of Their Own revitalized interest in the AAGPBL, the impending launch of the Women’s Pro Baseball League, and more.

Audio intro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Moon Hound, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to broken statue video
Link to broken statue image
Link to Mariners joke tweet
Link to statue being fixed
Link to statue story summary
Link to Mariners wRC+ ranking
Link to three arms episode
Link to Wicker Man post
Link to highest K% for RP
Link to lowest FIP for RP
Link to Miller pitch-type splits
Link to Miller’s stats as a Padre
Link to Sheehan on Miller
Link to Padres-Rockies game story
Link to MLB SP stats
Link to MLB RP stats
Link to team RP stats
Link to Crizer on Imai
Link to MLB.com on Imai
Link to MLBN on Imai
Link to Imai’s Savant arsenal
Link to shuuto wiki
Link to 2025 promotions data
Link to team giveaway rates
Link to Sox giveaway expansion
Link to MLB brothers data
Link to Ben on Guerrero birthdates
Link to Art Fowler SABR bio
Link to switch-hitters info
Link to switch-hitters data
Link to “Hello, Dolly!” wiki
Link to Dolly’s wiki
Link to Dolly’s AAGPBL player page
Link to AAGPBL wiki
Link to WPBL wiki
Link to AAGPBL queer history
Link to Blair article 1
Link to Blair article 2
Link to Ball on extensions
Link to Paine on extensions 1
Link to Paine on extensions 2
Link to First Pitch site
Link to Grounds Crew Baseball site
Link to Mariners Stathead

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jorge Soler charging the mound against Reynaldo López and whether a team could dupe an opposing ace into getting ejected, Konnor Griffin’s extension becoming official, whether Jose Altuve is benefiting from the reshaped strike zone, a wave of MLB injuries, teams whose playoff odds have changed the most in the first two weeks of the season, Tony Vitello’s PR performance, the debut of brimless hats, a few follow-ups, and more.

Audio intro: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Cease vs. Ohtani game
Link to brawl story
Link to suspensions story
Link to Soler vs. López stats
Link to Bois database
Link to Bois spreadsheet
Link to “aggro” wiki
Link to Armadillidiidae wiki
Link to Dan S. on Griffin
Link to MLBTR on Griffin
Link to Olney’s deleted tweet
Link to Rosenthal on Griffin
Link to marriage/divorce stats
Link to Woodrum on the strike zone
Link to Seidler on Altuve
Link to wRC+ leaderboard
Link to batter challenges leaderboard
Link to Altuve called-strike rate
Link to Judge called-strike rate
Link to Altuve mistake-strike rate
Link to Judge mistake-strike rate
Link to five-year out-of-zone-strike rate
Link to five-year in-zone-ball rate
Link to Petriello on height 1
Link to Petriello on height 2
Link to banging-scheme player data
Link to report on Altuve’s sign-stealing
Link to FG post on recent injuries
Link to Dan S. on slow starts
Link to demure/mindful meme
Link to playoff odds changes
Link to Red Sox panic
Link to Breslow quote
Link to Ben on ex-player GMs
Link to most consecutive one-run losses
Link to Ben on dugout game-calling
Link to Vitello article 1
Link to Vitello article 2
Link to Vitello article 3
Link to Vitello article 4
Link to Vitello article 5
Link to Chapman/Schmitt clip
Link to Alcantara/McCullough story
Link to Rockies start story
Link to Sheehan on Caissie
Link to Walker’s hot start
Link to new City Connects
Link to White Sox giveaway hat
Link to mitre wiki
Link to Baumann post
Link to Rangers statue post
Link to Jake hat photo
Link to Jordan hat photo
Link to “Yankee with no brim” clip
Link to 2025 Jensen article
Link to new Jensen celly
Link to Jensen celly video
Link to May sunglasses clip
Link to Igawa post
Link to “sled dog” post
Link to Jackson photo 1
Link to Jackson photo 2
Link to 2025 Jackson HR
Link to MLBTR on Davitt
Link to Davitt on EW
Link to date blast image 1
Link to date blast image 2
Link to date blast image 3
Link to date blast image 4

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Carter Jensen’s several (inadequate) alarms and why big leaguers don’t oversleep more often, Artemis II, Daniel Susac as the sequel to Andrew Susac, the timing of Konnor Griffin’s call-up, the many ways to marvel at (and value) Jo Adell’s home-run-robbery spree, Patrick Corbin the Blue Jay, a quintessentially 2026 half-inning, and follow-up emails, plus (1:40:47) a postscript featuring an Afterball by Ben about national announcer stats.

Audio intro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “It’s Been Awhile”
Link to Jensen oversleeping story
Link to Pasquantino quote
Link to Jensen TikTok clip
Link to Russell on young baseball brains
Link to overview effect wiki
Link to Yankees/Marlins Artemis story
Link to Artemis wholesomeness
Link to Apollo and baseball story
Link to Susac’s nephew
Link to Baumann on Griffin
Link to MLBTR on Griffin
Link to Olney’s deleted tweet
Link to info on extensions and PPI
Link to Adell catch 1
Link to Adell catch 2
Link to Adell catch 3
Link to 2026 OF FRV laggardboard
Link to Adell’s DRS
Link to SIS on HR robberies
Link to Ben on HR robberies
Link to Ben on Trout’s 2011
Link to Ben on pre-WAR valuations
Link to Adell’s 2020 FARTBAT
Link to FARTBAT naming
Link to Angels-M’s box score
Link to FG post on Adell
Link to win probability tweet
Link to Tango on wall balls
Link to Tango on catch probability
Link to Adell photo
Link to article about Adell catch
Link to Trout’s Twitter reply
Link to Hunter on Adell
Link to “wallowing” wiki
Link to MLBTR on Corbin
Link to Jays SP projections
Link to Jays RR depth chart
Link to BP on Corbin
Link to BP on ATL-AZ inning
Link to Albies challenge
Link to 2016 Young quotes
Link to Grifol on the eclipse
Link to Theo “trade”
Link to Stokes-Lyon match
Link to Snicko wiki
Link to EW Episode 1875
Link to Calcaterra on Dirks
Link to Dirks Pull%
Link to Dirks HR spray chart
Link to HUAL episode
Link to USR broadcast database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about rookie batters’ blistering start to the season, then Stat Blast (10:15) about how long it typically takes for there to be no remaining teams that are winless or undefeated (or both), the latest a team won or lost by a margin that matched its record, and the seasons that featured the most Hall of Famers (at all, and in their primes). Then they talk to three listeners who created brand-new apps/sites that enhance the experience of following the season: Tristan Rodman of Baseball Scores (28:00), Zach Gines of First Pitch (46:45), and Ezra Thompson of Play-O-Graph (1:09:30), followed by assorted updates (1:26:58).

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

Link to freemium model announcement
Link to written explanation
Link to checksum explainer
Link to seasonal rookie batting lines
Link to 2026 rookie batting line
Link to 2026 rookie pitching line
Link to Baumann on Painter
Link to Kepner on the rookies
Link to aging curve research 1
Link to aging curve research 2
Link to Ben on 2015 rookies
Link to Ben on 2015 youth
Link to Fernandez debut game
Link to two-homer-debuts query
Link to winless/undefeated teams data
Link to 1894 game
Link to 1911 game
Link to 1986 game
Link to 1993 game
Link to 1996 game
Link to 2000 game 1
Link to 2000 game 2
Link to HoFers data
Link to HoFers graph
Link to Frisch VC info
Link to listener emails database
Link to Baseball Scores site
Link to Tristan’s site
Link to The Gagnés theme 1
Link to The Gagnés theme 2
Link to @dril tweet
Link to Angell quote
Link to First Pitch site
Link to NERD scores
Link to B-Ref Stream Finder
Link to Skubal-Gallen gamer
Link to Play-O-Graph site
Link to playograph wiki
Link to FotMob
Link to Moneyball clip
Link to Grounds Crew Baseball site
Link to The Number Wall site
Link to “meme” origins
Link to Yates press conference
Link to Orioles tap-off
Link to Crawford walk-off story
Link to pre-Artemis II batted balls
Link to Artemis II launch story
Link to xkcd comic
Link to Bucknor play story
Link to Bucknor play video
Link to Bucknor injury story
Link to Ben on forgotten counts
Link to Bois on forgotten counts
Link to Retrosheet forgotten counts
Link to video of Smith PA
Link to Smith PA on Gameday
Link to Alvarez PA on Gameday
Link to Chris’s Reddit post

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joey Wiemer, Colt Emerson’s contract, the concept of “sticking at shortstop,” and pre-arbitration (and pre-debut) extension trends, then (29:11) answer listener emails about A.J. Preller trading himself, Harrison Bader and the press conference threshold, plotting to prevent a switch-hitter from batting from both sides, no-selling a World Series ring ceremony, giveaway promotions at every game, a Craig Kimbrel PitchCom hypothesis, the top five MLB owners, pitch-count limits in a World Series perfect game bid, technical fouls in baseball, the aesthetic appeal of platooning, and lifetime .500 franchises.

Audio intro: Garrett Krohn, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Baumann on Wiemer
Link to MLB.com on Wiemer
Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to “small sample” song
Link to Voros’ Law
Link to “WDJDD?” (short)
Link to “WDJDD?” (long)
Link to MLBTR on Emerson
Link to Nichols’ Law of Catcher Defense
Link to Passan tweet about Emerson
Link to FG post on Pratt
Link to Sam on extensions
Link to Bader story
Link to Seinfeld “sponge-worthy” clips
Link to Kiri on promotions
Link to “Things Fitting Perfectly Into Other Things”
Link to Meg on the baseball penalty box
Link to Diamondbacks bullpen story
Link to “Maddux” stat
Link to Ben on ex-player execs
Link to franchise W-L records
Link to listener emails database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Trout’s hot start, Dub Gleed’s (nick)name, the challenge system as a mainstream sensation, several tactical considerations, listener emails, premature conclusions, and pedantic points after a weekend’s worth of ABS action, Munetaka Murakami’s early slugging, a Brewers call-up and extension, NBC’s broadcast crews, and more, plus a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Philip Tapley and Michael Stokes, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to the other ABS
Link to Gleed trade story
Link to challenge system tweet 1
Link to challenge system tweet 2
Link to Ben on the challenge system
Link to Sam on the challenge system
Link to UmpScorecards data
Link to Rosenthal on the challenge system
Link to Passan on the challenge system
Link to ABS system wiki
Link to FG community blog
Link to Petriello on 2025 ABS data
Link to team ABS leaderboard
Link to ABS dashboard
Link to ABS player leaderboard
Link to Crizer on the challenge system
Link to debutant dingers query
Link to 2026 debutant dingers
Link to Murakami NPB analysis
Link to Murakami fun fact
Link to Reds Opening Days story
Link to Shelton ejection clip
Link to Bucknor story
Link to Bucknor challenges
Link to Bucknor scorecard
Link to Bucknor story
Link to Cora ejection
Link to ABS and manager ejections info 1
Link to ABS and manager ejections info 2
Link to ABS and manager ejections info 3
Link to Quero call-up info
Link to MLBTR on Pratt
Link to FG Brewers list
Link to Sam on check swings
Link to AP on Benetti
Link to MLBTR on Pratt
Link to listener emails database
Link to “burn the ships” wiki
Link to article about Syracuse team

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the pleasures of and precedents for the historic rookie performances on Opening Day, the pains of Netflix’s Opening Night broadcast, an Opening Day disaster for Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz, and a bird near Carson Benge, Freddie Freeman’s gameday fit, a perplexing (un?)fun fact about the Phillies and Jhoan Duran, why players don’t always challenge when they “should,” Nico Hoerner and Shane Baz extensions, baseball movies being back (thanks to Tom Hanks), and more, plus a Stat Blast (1:28:40) about Black Ink streaks and a postscript (1:37:14) featuring a follow-up and a few bonus Blasts.

Audio intro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to freemium model announcement
Link to written explanation
Link to 2026 new debuts
Link to RE24 query
Link to 2026 RE24 players
Link to 1914 RE24 players
Link to 1938 RE24 players
Link to 1950 RE24 players
Link to RE24 glossary
Link to B-Ref RE24 leaders
Link to total bases query
Link to 2026 TB players
Link to 1938 TB players
Link to 1.000 OPS query
Link to 2026 1.000 OPS players
Link to 1901 1.000 OPS players
Link to 1938 1.000 OPS players
Link to Dick Crutcher bio
Link to Baumann on the rookies
Link to “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”
Link to first White Sox game
Link to Marchand on the Netflix game
Link to Bonds story
Link to Bonds at Rickwood game
Link to 180-degree rule
Link to FG post on Skenes
Link to Ben on the Pirates and A’s
Link to Pirates HR celebration
Link to Benge on the bird
Link to Freeman post 1
Link to Freeman post 2
Link to Stark post
Link to Sam post
Link to Phillies home closers query
Link to Phillies road closers query
Link to Phillies OD home games
Link to Phillies OD road games
Link to home OD saves by team
Link to Kruk comment
Link to Tango on location uncertainty
Link to Petriello on catcher challenges
Link to Ben’s catcher research
Link to MLBTR on Hoerner
Link to MLBTR on Baz
Link to upcoming FA class
Link to Hanks movie announcement
Link to Hanks typewriter collection
Link to Night Swim wiki
Link to Caught Stealing wiki
Link to Eephus EW interview
Link to Ben on Rogue One and Andor
Link to Black Ink info
Link to Black Ink data 1
Link to Black Ink data 2
Link to Ben on Trout’s Black Ink
Link to blowout 1
Link to blowout 2
Link to blowout 3
Link to blowout 4
Link to blowout 5
Link to blowout 6
Link to blowout 7
Link to blowout 8
Link to Vinay’s data
Link to 1930 game
Link to Sam on record talent
Link to Davy on Mets basestealing
Link to Newsday on Mets basestealing
Link to story on Richardson and Riley
Link to listener emails database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the number of Opening Days/Nights at the start of the regular-season schedule and how long they think the challenge system will last, review some of their favorite offseason transactions, and do their annual draft of all 30 MLB teams in order of how fun they’ll be to follow this season.

Audio intro: The Spaghettis, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Craig on Opening Days/Nights
Link to broadcast dilemma
Link to Ben on the challenge system
Link to Ben on the labor situation
Link to champing/chomping
Link to Rogers tattoo story
Link to Langs Giants stat
Link to pod duration calculator
Link to Adames challenge reaction
Link to EWStats site
Link to freemium model announcement
Link to written explanation

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Randy Arozarena making up with Cal Raleigh, the response to their announcement of the podcast’s new freemium model, whether they would try to issue the official first ball/strike challenge in MLB history, the challenge system vs. the pitch clock, several straggling WBC topics (the Team Italy espresso machine auction results, great TV ratings, a Team USA strawman, reframing the hierarchy of high-level baseball competition, projecting future WBCs, and a non-called shot, plus NPB “ghost wins”), how Ben’s anti on-field-front-office-meddling rant resonated with readers, why Kevin McGonigle and JJ Wetherholt made Opening Day rosters and Konnor Griffin (and John Brebbia) didn’t, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cristopher Sánchez extensions, and how politicians should talk about sports fandom if they want to sound authentic.

Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “hierarchy of power” supercut
Link to Arozarena statement
Link to freemium model announcement
Link to written explanation
Link to EWStats site
Link to espresso auction
Link to Jac jersey auction
Link to WBC TV ratings
Link to Rosenthal comments
Link to Webb quote
Link to Acuña quote
Link to Kay comments
Link to McLean/Holmes story
Link to NPB “ghost win” story
Link to NPB “ghost win” tweet
Link to NHL overtime rules
Link to Ben on front-office meddling
Link to Ben on the foul lines
Link to The Athletic on Griffin
Link to Pirates hitter projections
Link to MLBTR on Brebbia
Link to FG post on PCA
Link to profane PCA profile
Link to FG post on Sánchez
Link to FG post on Strider
Link to Mamdani quote
Link to Adams cap
Link to de Blasio cap
Link to Hillary caps story 1
Link to Hillary caps story 1
Link to “trash revolution” story
Link to HUAL on Mamdani
Link to statue prizes
Link to MLFAD picks
Link to Meg on HUAL
Link to observer effect wiki
Link to four playoff teams article

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce a new freemium model for the podcast: From now on, one of their three episodes a week will be available only to Patreon supporters. In this PSA, they lay out their reasons for making the change and explain how it will work. You can also read a written explanation here.

Link to subscribe via Patreon
Link to written announcement

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