Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s recovery from illness and her ongoing emotional distress as a postseason spectator, then share their takeaways from the first two games of each ALDS and the first game of each NLDS. After that (51:15), Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie joins to talk about how he’s handling postseason stress, his thoughts on the Mariners season and playoff performance so far, the team he would root for if he weren’t an M’s fan, and whether he’d write a Mariners victory song, plus a postscript (1:31:15) on how Guardians fans are feeling.

Audio intro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Langs on Yesavage
Link to Ben on first-year pitchers
Link to Passan on Roki’s reinvention
Link to FG post on M’s-Tigers G2
Link to DCFC’s Mariners post
Link to 2011 interview about DCFC’s name
Link to “Ichiro’s Theme”

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Ben Lindbergh brings on Michael Baumann, who immediately makes Ben regret it by subjecting him to a lyrical ode to Effectively Wild inspired by the Taylor Swift song “Wood.” Then they play “College Baseball Player or Make and Model of Car?” before recapping the three decisive Game 3s of the wild card round (with an emphasis on the absurdity of the Guardians’ immediate elimination after their historic AL Central comeback, a bad call on Xander Bogaerts, the heroics of Cam Schlittler and Ryan McMahon, and converting from Red Sox fandom to Yankees fandom) and ranking the four division series matchups. Then (1:15:44) Ben talks to Tigers TV broadcaster Jason Benetti about calling the team’s 2024 comeback and 2025 collapse, how to process their reprieve from elimination after a historic blown lead, players to pay attention to in the ALDS, and naturally, John Brebbia.

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)”
Audio interstitial: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “Wood” lyrics
Link to reliever familiarity effect
Link to call on Bogaerts
Link to Padres postgame video
Link to Padres frustration
Link to ump scoreboard
Link to Schlittler fun facts
Link to Schlittler pitches piece
Link to Jeter catch
Link to McMahon catch
Link to Schlittler’s mom’s account 1
Link to Schlittler’s mom’s account 2
Link to article about Schlittler’s family
Link to Ben on first-year pitchers
Link to Ben on the Brewers and Jays
Link to 2024 Benetti appearance
Link to Brebbia EW episode
Link to Benetti’s podcast
Link to Cal award

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Ben Lindbergh brings on Hannah Keyser and Zach Crizer of The Bandwagon to banter in a hopefully not-immediately-dated way about the first two days of playoff action, including the Dodgers dispatching the Reds, Dave Roberts using “Strategy,” Aaron Boone’s perceived mismanaging, the flamethrowing Mason Miller and a playoff-pitch-speed conundrum, and more, plus conversation about how teams with byes are trying to stay ready, the league’s many managerial openings, whether running the Rockies is a good gig, the Rafael Devers trade in retrospect, and the best teams to bandwagon, followed (1:33:54) by a postscript.

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

Link to The Bandwagon
Link to Episode 2105
Link to Hannah on the Phillies’ prep
Link to Phillies intrasquad game
Link to Ichiro scrimmage story
Link to Ben on the mid-PA pitching change
Link to Girardi on “Strategy”
Link to 2024 “Strategy” episode
Link to Vesia one-pitch K
Link to Vesia scoring quirk
Link to Anderson tweet about Miller
Link to article about Miller
Link to Miller video
Link to fastest postseason pitches
Link to fastest regular-season pitches
Link to Eno on playoff pitch speeds
Link to The Ringer’s postseason storylines
Link to Obama anger translator sketch
Link to Crochet vs. LHP tweet
Link to The Bandwagon on Boone
Link to Chisholm dive
Link to Cora’s follow-up
Link to Breslow on Devers
Link to Diamond tweet
Link to Sarris tweet
Link to Baggarly on Posey
Link to MLBTR on the Rockies
Link to manager vacancies
Link to Arrested Development meme
Link to DeLauter debut article
Link to DeLauter debut play
Link to Lemon/Bearden kiss
Link to article on the kiss
Link to 1991 Mets article
Link to streaks data
Link to SB distribution graphs
Link to SB distribution data
Link to Sacramento A’s jersey
Link to Keown on the A’s

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their plans for playoff livestreams and an MLB attendance announcement, then recap the highlights of the last weekend of the regular season and discuss what excites them about the playoffs. Along the way, they rank the collapses of the Astros, Tigers, and Mets and banter about trade-deadline do-overs, playoff-clinching walk-offs, Game 162 incentives, whether tiebreakers are fairer than tiebreaker games, a smart save by a first-base coach, the scariest October teams relative to the regular season, the AL wild card matchups, two Alex Cora quotes, the potential for first-time champions, and more, plus follow-ups.

Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Josh Busman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to livestreams sign-up
Link to MLB press release
Link to attendance stats
Link to year-over-year attendance
Link to Marte robbery
Link to Rafaela triple
Link to Sam on walk-off triples
Link to Trout homers
Link to Trout streak
Link to Alomar Jr. intervention
Link to Kayfus walk-off
Link to Norby quote
Link to Mets/Marlins history
Link to MLBTR on Alonso
Link to Cora quote
Link to haters meme
Link to FG staff predictions
Link to preseason playoff odds
Link to other Cora quote
Link to mid-May Gleyber pull rate
Link to May 12 Gleyber game
Link to first-year postseason starters
Link to MLBTR on Toboni
Link to lowest K%+
Link to Adames dinger
Link to Episode 2350

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mariners clinching the AL West, the benefits and drawbacks of MVP debates, the power of great players to enhance a season for spectators, the Cardinals’ and Giants’ reciprocal eliminations, the near-extinction of the 200-inning pitcher, the Nationals’ new head of baseball ops, and how predictive a track record of adept drafting is. Then (53:15) they answer listener emails about whether a player could/should ever challenge a ball/strike call that went their way, whether increased pitcher injuries have contributed to the lack of great teams, sticky-stuff inspections on broadcasts, how many pitches it takes to evaluate a pitcher, whether/why baseball managers incur fans’ wrath more than other sports’ coaches, whether teams are turning fewer double plays than they used to, and Trey Yesavage’s many 2025 teammates, plus (1:40:47) a postscript.

Audio intro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to 2015 MLB promo
Link to Ben on Judge vs. Ohtani
Link to Giants elimination story
Link to Cardinals elimination story
Link to pitcher IP leaderboard
Link to preseason pitcher IP projections
Link to Passan on Toboni
Link to MLBTR on Toboni
Link to WaPo on the Nats
Link to Ben on pitcher injury rates
Link to Ben on pitcher workloads
Link to Rodón quote
Link to MLB GIDP%
Link to Jays tweet
Link to quote-tweet
Link to Kenny Jackelen
Link to 2025 teammate leaders
Link to single-season teammate leaders
Link to listener emails database
Link to BP on Blalock
Link to Blalock leaderboard
Link to highest ML ERA (min. 55 IP)
Link to highest ML ERA (min. 100 IP)
Link to FG wOBA values
Link to BP location research
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Darowski update

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the delights of the last week of the regular season, the Dodgers’ bullpen problems, and what kind of compromise the challenge system is, then (43:09) answer listener emails about where the warning track extends, the easiest day at the office for a batter, a player who exclusively hits one single per game, whether MLB front offices are Bayesian or frequentist, the relative strength of the AL and NL, and ticky-tack tags, plus (1:37:08) a postscript.

Audio intro: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Skubal error clip
Link to MLBTR on Fry
Link to Tigers/Guardians game story
Link to MLBTR on Sasaki
Link to D-Backs/Dodgers game story
Link to Sheehan on challenges
Link to Goldstein on challenges
Link to Posnanski on challenges
Link to warning track definition
Link to Arenado play
Link to Stanton post
Link to Sam on NoPAPH
Link to NoPAPH by year
Link to 2025 NoPAPH
Link to Yount incident
Link to FG wOBA values
Link to Bayesian inference wiki
Link to frequentist inference wiki
Link to Marlins listing
Link to multiple Marlins listings
Link to Guardians listing
Link to Red Sox listing
Link to Rockies listing
Link to Angels listing
Link to Mets listing
Link to Springer tag
Link to Cameron on sliding 1
Link to Cameron on sliding 2
Link to listener emails database
Link to 2014 F1 story
Link to pitwall explainer

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the standings and stakes of an unexpectedly wild last week of the regular season, whether there’s such as a thing as a playoff team that can’t make a deep run, why Cal Raleigh is the player of the year regardless of whether he wins MVP, whether it still makes sense to say that fan-favorite players will never have to buy a meal/drink in their team’s city, the unique celebrations of Pirates pitcher Dauri Moreta, the official arrival of the ABS challenge system, the Marlins calling pitches from the dugout, the extent to which coaches should influence games, and Mike Trout’s barehand catch with a fan.

Audio intro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ben on the last week
Link to latest HUAL episode
Link to Jay on playoff permutations
Link to largest lost leads
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to BaseRuns standings
Link to team payrolls
Link to The Phantom Menace scene
Link to player of the year award
Link to historic achievement award
Link to FG mailbag
Link to Moreta video
Link to Moreta nickname story
Link to challenge system explainer
Link to Marlins story 1
Link to Marlins story 2
Link to 2016 Dodgers story
Link to Trout article/video
Link to Petriello post

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about 2025’s record number of 25-25 players and whether the current power/speed version of the sport is rendered any less impressive by its recent rule-change origins, the historic pre/post-All-Star break splits of Julio Rodríguez and whether the Mariners can help him become less of an extreme slow starter/fast finisher (phrasing?), the lockstep seasons (and recent slumps) of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ceddanne Rafaela, the impending retirement (and on/off-field legacies) of Clayton Kershaw, and MLB’s new Amateur Recovery Period Policy, plus follow-ups (1:21:31) on a few of those topics.

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)”
Audio outro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to power-speed fun fact
Link to Opta Sports wiki
Link to Opta EW interview
Link to power-speed number
Link to power-speed by season
Link to ’87 HR spike info
Link to more on ’87 spike
Link to 2025 SB leaders
Link to The Bandwagon on basestealers
Link to Julio’s career splits
Link to biggest pre/post-ASB splits
Link to Paine on Julio
Link to February Julio article
Link to PCA/Ceddanne laggardboard
Link to Kershaw retirement story
Link to Ben on Kershaw vs. Pedro
Link to recovery period announcement
Link to ESPN on the recovery period
Link to BA on the recovery period
Link to 2024 MLB pitching report

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the state of the wild cards and whether the pennant races have been more exciting than forecasted despite the lack of actual changes in the playoff field, Cal Raleigh’s latest exploits, Geraldo Perdomo’s quiet excellence, the Orioles’ 2026 outlook, the Dodgers’ rotation and bullpen, Shohei Ohtani’s playoff role(s), the bouncebacks of Mookie Betts and George Springer, Yordan Alvarez’s ankle, James Wood and Spencer Jones slumps, season-ending schedules, and whether teams playing spoiler is satisfying for fans.

Audio intro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Clemens on the playoff odds
Link to Paine on the Mets
Link to Clemens on Raleigh
Link to FG WAR leaderboard
Link to Orioles report
Link to Dodgers rotation ranking
Link to Dodgers reliever ranking
Link to team SP projections
Link to Dodgers rotation story
Link to Ohtani starting story
Link to Ohtani outfield story
Link to Perdomo/Betts leaderboard
Link to Craig on the Dodgers
Link to Rob on the zombie runner
Link to Petriello on Jones
Link to Apple TV+ baseball doc
Link to Astudillo news

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s reaction to the Mariners moving into first place in the AL West (at least temporarily), Jac Caglianone and the Royals’ woeful corner-outfield offense, whether major leaguers have gotten better at sliding, and an unjust byproduct of the zombie runner. Then (50:43) they bring on baseball researcher and Sports Reference designer Adam Darowski to discuss Robinson Canó’s 4000th professional hit and Adam’s work on the 4000 hits club.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Moon Hound, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Alonso quote
Link to mustache/witch article
Link to more on the witch
Link to even more on the witch
Link to 2021 Stat Blast
Link to M’s pitching query
Link to B-Ref newsletter
Link to Langs M’s note
Link to team travel
Link to team extra innings pitched
Link to 2025 worst team LF/RF
Link to worst team LF/RF since 2002
Link to Royals LF
Link to Royals RF
Link to playoff odds
Link to Jac’s leading xwOBA-wOBA
Link to Moniak slide
Link to Moniak slide close-up
Link to Crizer on slides
Link to Cameron on slides
Link to Cameron on slides 2
Link to Treinen game
Link to previous Treinen-type losses
Link to Treinen nickname article
Link to @PitchingNinja tweet
Link to Treinen conspiracy posts
Link to Canó video
Link to Canó video 2
Link to Canó article
Link to Canó article 2
Link to Adam’s Canó post
Link to Canó Insta post
Link to Canó Insta post 2
Link to Canó Insta post 3
Link to Canó Insta post 4
Link to Canó Insta post 5
Link to Canó cards story
Link to Adam’s presentation
Link to Simkus SABR article
Link to BP 4K club article
Link to Adam’s website
Link to underarm serve article 1
Link to underarm serve article 2
Link to eephus pitch wiki

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