Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the possible end of the Taylor Ward/Tyler Wade broadcaster confusion, Ward getting caught unawares at first base, and the Twins turning the first-ever 8-5 triple play, then Stat Blast (11:06) about Cam Vieaux and the most pitches thrown in various types of innings, share a Past Blast (23:33) from 1871, and discuss the Empire State Greys, a traveling Frontier League team that started the season 0-35 and now, at 2-42, is in danger of posting the lowest winning percentage in pro baseball history. Then (43:23) Ben brings on brothers Eddie Gonzalez and Jerry Gonzalez, the co-owners and co-hitting coaches of the Greys, to talk about their work with the Empire Professional Baseball League, the challenges of operating in indy ball, the Greys’ origins and roster composition, being a perpetual road team, the mood on the team during its historically long losing streak, how the streak was snapped, the close calls they had before their first win, facing Kumar Rocker, their hopes for the rest of the season, the Greys’ growing fan base, and more, followed (1:23:54) by a few postscripts.
Audio intro: Bobby Bare, Jr., “One of Us Has Got to Go” Audio interstitial: Fleetwood Mac, “Empire State” Audio outro: Harry Belafonte, “Zombie Jamboree (Back to Back)”
Link to video of Ward play Link to video of Twins triple play Link to La Russa ejection clip Link to Vieaux game B-Ref page Link to Vieaux’s postgame comments Link to Stat Blast pitch data Link to most pitches between outs Link to 2003 Pavano game Link to 1954 Dodgers-Redlegs game Link to Allan Roth SABR bio Link to 2010 Linebrink game Link to 1996 Orioles-Rangers game Link to Stathead Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter account Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1871 story source Link to list of worst team records Link to tweet about Muskogee Mets Link to article about Muskogee Mets Link to B-Ref page on Muskogee Mets Link to EW wiki on the Salina Stockade Link to Ben’s article on the Stockade Link to the Stockade’s B-Ref page Link to research on indy league quality Link to the Greys’ B-Ref page Link to Frontier League standings Link to Frontier League stats Link to story about the NCBL Link to story about Empire League’s origin Link to Empire League wiki Link to Empire League website Link to the Greys’ January announcement Link to story about the Greys Link to other story about the Greys Link to the Greys on Twitter Link to the Greys’ team shop Link to the Greys’ schedule Link to game story about the first win Link to photo from after the first win Link to story about Rocker’s season Link to Cardinals dingers video Link to Ben Clemens on single-game homers
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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the varying interpretations of Bobby Bonilla Day and what may be the last-ever Bruce Sutter Day, then (17:20) discuss what an expansive ESPN profile of Rob Manfred reveals about the MLB commissioner. After that (48:49), they answer listener emails about players jumping straight from college to the majors, whether a player who hit a lot of homers but little else would be playable, how many players would still be two-way players if the rules permitted nine designated hitters, and a chair for catchers. Finally (1:22:53), they Stat Blast about the players with the most unique uniform numbers and the most lopsided starting-pitcher matchups by win-loss record, plus (1:34:35) “fourth out” banter, a Past Blast from 1870, a call for listener testimonials, and a few followups.
Audio intro: Etta James, “Bobby is His Name” Audio outro: The Hollies, “Pay You Back With Interest”
Link to Planet Money on Bonilla Day Link to The Athletic on Sutter Link to thread about deferred payments Link to Torre on athletes going broke Link to ESPN profile of Manfred Link to Selig EW episode Link to @dril tweet Link to pitcher stuff aging curve Link to first dorm chair Link to second dorm chair Link to third dorm chair Link to Stathead Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter account Link to active uniform-number leaders Link to all-time uniform-number leaders Link to Petriello on George Brunet Link to Petriello on uniform-number value Link to winless vs. lossless SP data Link to winless vs. lossless record game Link to lopsided net W-L record data Link to earlier Stat Blast on SP W-L records Link to EW emails database Link to post on Nationals “fourth out” play Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1870 story source Link to CarShield tweet Link to Ward interview Link to John Poff’s fundraiser
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by Jake Mintz of Céspedes Family BBQ to talk about Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson leaving the team midseason to join LSU, why MLB teams are hiring coaches from college and why colleges are hiring them back, whether MLB teams should pay coaches more, the state of player development in college, Jake’s experience at the College World Series, his short summary of what non-college baseball fans should know about the just-completed college season, the arrival of Royals rookie Vinnie Pasquantino, the Astros’ extremely low-offense catchers, the importance of pitch-tipping, Rafael Devers heating up and sitting down, Clay Holmes’s improvement after leaving the Pirates, the unwritten rules of closer entrance song etiquette, Justin Turner’s walk-up song consistency, and more. Then (1:00:19), Ben and Meg banter about yet another Tyler Wade/Taylor Ward broadcaster mixup, how Freddie Freeman leaving Atlanta is like Ben leaving grammar school, and whether wearing two gloves could actually be legal, plus a Past Blast from 1869.
Audio intro: Shy Boys, “In Gloves” Audio outro: Monophonics, “Let That Sink In”
Link to Dan Hayes on Johnson Link to SI post about Johnson Link to article about Fetter Link to Ben on college player dev Link to story on Twins’ college coaches Link to ESPN on the CWS outcome Link to Jake on Houston’s catchers Link to team catcher offense Link to Trout pitch-tipping GIF Link to Jordan on Devers Link to Speier on Devers Link to article about Holmes post-Pirates Link to Ben Clemens on Holmes Link to Jordan on Holmes Link to Cameron Grove on pitch usage Link to Rob Arthur on pitch usage Link to Rob on pitch usage again Link to sinker usage leaderboard Link to grounder rate leaderboard Link to Ken Rosenthal on Freeman Link to Jay Jaffe on Freeman Link to Kershaw comment on Freeman Link to article on Flores crying Link to wicket-keeper wiki Link to wicket-keeper image Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1869 story source
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a surprising ESPY nomination for Jorge Soler, another Tyler Wade/Taylor Ward broadcaster mixup, the massive Mariners-Angels brawl and ensuing suspensions and pizzas, Bryce Harper’s broken thumb and not-broken face, Mark Appel finally making the majors, an update on the Joc Pederson–Tommy Pham feud, the Yankees getting no-hit, the respectable Orioles, an impressive fact about the AL East, a Willians Astudillo tag mistake and the nature of forces vs. tags, and Freddie Freeman’s representation, plus a Stat Blast (1:13:05) about Robbie Ray and pitchers with high concentrations of runs allowed in one inning, a Past Blast (1:24:32) from 1868, and a few followups.
Audio intro: Colleen Green, “Number One” Audio outro: The Hives, “Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones”
Link to ESPY nominations Link to video of brawl Link to sunflower-seed toss Link to suspension announcements Link to pizza story Link to Tepera’s two ejections Link to Harper quote Link to 2021 Harper HBP story Link to Appel story Link to Astros no-hitter video Link to Langs tweet about Yankees Link to first Judge game-ender Link to second Judge game-ender Link to Pederson/Pham update Link to Astudillo tag play Link to Olney report about Freeman Link to Freeman ovation video Link to Freeman press conference Link to Stat Blast data Link to Ray broadcast graphic Link to Cameron Grove on Ray Link to Grove on Ray again Link to third Grove/Ray tweet Link to Stathead Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1868 story source Link to other 1868 story source Link to Bradley broken-elbow video Link to Bradley broken-elbow news Link to Meg’s post on Bradley Link to Sadman Baseball video
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley answer listener emails about why players in the dugout seem so confident in pitch locations, whether it would ever help to wear two gloves, MLB Big Inning and other baseball equivalents of NFL RedZone, the extreme dimensions of the Polo Grounds, what makes it so impressive that some players perform at the same level for a long time, whether the Cardinals are a fun team, and what it means when we say that a player is “fun to watch,” then (55:45) take pedantic questions about “pedantic” vs. “semantic,” whether every batted ball that hits the ground is a ground ball, “former” first-round draft picks, “number one” draft picks, how best to describe a batter’s small-sample line, the (un)importance of head-to-head team records, clearing the bases and homers that drive in multiple runs, how to refer to ballparks that have since changed their names, and the on-deck circle vs. the “next batter’s box,” followed (1:32:07) by a Past Blast from 1867.
Audio intro: Nick Lowe, “Hope for Us All” Audio outro: The Mynabirds, “Semantics”
Link to Martinez ejection story Link to MLB Big Inning Link to B-Ref Stream Finder Link to Ben on baseball RedZone Link to the Mitchell catch Link to Sam on the Mitchell catch Link to Polo Grounds dimensions wiki Link to B-Ref on the Polo Grounds Link to THT on extreme ballparks Link to THT on ballpark homogenization Link to 85.4 mph home run Link to Ben on quality of competition Link to Dan Szymborski on Cardinals projections Link to Viva El Birdos on Cardinals projections Link to THT on political baseball jargon Link to The Atlantic on baseball stereotypes Link to research on baseball stereotypes Link to Craig Wright on the running game Link to Pages From Baseball’s Past Link to Defector on The Athletic Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1867 story source Link to 1873 dead ball ad Link to “next batter’s box” diagram
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about two spectacular games by Shohei Ohtani and Ohtani’s extraordinary playing-time pace and relay a sinker-iffic response from Michael Lorenzen to a previous discussion about baseball grip, then (24:22) answer listener emails about using different-colored balls to denote different levels of liveliness, how much time to train players have in-season, whether fielders are to blame when their gloves develop holes, outlawing webbed gloves to raise BABIP, single-game team home-run records, whether players who come up now are already conditioned by pitch clocks, PitchCom and pace, which single stat they would most want to know about hitters and pitchers, and how many appeals a ball-strike challenge system should allow, plus (1:23:17) a Past Blast from 1866.
Audio intro: Jon Brion, “Hook, Line and Sinker” Audio outro: Japanese Breakfast, “Boyish”
Link to Ohtani game stories Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard Link to Langs tweet Link to pre-2022 combined BF+PA data Link to Lorenzen comments Link to MLB mud memo Link to sinker HBP rate Link to Annie Hall clip Link to Justin Choi on sinkers Link to Ben on pitching machines Link to Diaz glove video Link to Vlad glove video Link to Rob Arthur on low BABIP Link to 2015 story on age and pace Link to Rob on pace and velo Link to Russell on pace and velo Link to Rob on batter age and pace Link to 27-and-under SP pace Link to 28-and-over SP pace Link to team homer records in game Link to team homer records in season Link to MiLB experimental rules Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1866 story source Link to Creighton SABR bio Link to tweet about Pabor’s nickname Link to Thorn on Pabor’s nickname Link to Gavarni illustration
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether changing managers is at all responsible for the Phillies’ recent success, the Yankees’ almost unparalleled winning-percentage pace, the Royals’ historically terrible pitching performance and the pressure on their pitching coach, another Taylor Ward/Tyler Wade broadcaster slipup, Anthony Rendon’s season-ending surgery, Michael Lorenzen’s comments about baseball slipperiness and MLB’s new mud mandate, a tough-negotiating teen fan’s price for J.J. Matijevic’s first career home run ball, a persuasive display of the minor-league ball/strike challenge system, the major league promotions of Riley Greene and Oneil Cruz, and Lorenzo Cain’s career, plus Stat Blasts (1:15:51) about an entire lineup turning over in a single game and losing pitchers who made the last out of a game, and (1:30:21) a Past Blast from 1865.
Audio intro: Pulp, “Can I Have My Balls Back, Please?” Audio outro: The Moody Blues, “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone”
Link to Joe Sheehan’s poll Link to The Athletic writers on Girardi Link to Jay Jaffe on the Yankees Link to B-Ref newsletter on the Yankees Link to tweet with Moore quote Link to follow-up tweet about Moore Link to Moore audio Link to Moore video Link to Royals’ staff’s + stats Link to Lorenzen comments Link to MLB mud memo Link to Matijevic game story Link to Matijevic video Link to story on Jeter’s 3000th Link to ball/strike challenge video Link to MiLB experimental rules Link to news about the zone Link to story on Cruz’s debut Link to story on Madris’s debut Link to Andy McCullough on Cain Link to Stathead Link to new Stathead feature explainer Link to lineup-changes Stat Blast data Link to losing P/last out Stat Blast data Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter account Link to Forsch game story Link to first DH story Link to second DH story Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1865 story source Link to first diamond image Link to second diamond image Link to history of spike use
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a broadcaster relatably mixing up Taylor Ward and Tyler Wade, the Dodgers “fixing” former Rockies pitcher Yency Almonte, a deep, perplexing rabbit hole (7:46) of baseball-themed CarShield commercials, the bat spike as the new bat flip, an umpire’s close call with a broken-bat shard, and the building backlash against position-player pitchers. After that (39:13), they welcome back former major leaguer and current Giants director of video coaching Fernando Perez to talk about how he got his gig with the Giants, what a video coach does, the advantages of the Giants’ giant coaching staff, the disintegrating distinctions between front office and field, the player-development variation among teams, how the Giants beat preseason projections by a record margin in 2021, the upsides and downsides of being in a difficult division, some veterans the Giants’ development philosophies have helped improve (including Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford), how coaching and player dev have evolved since his playing days, the next player-dev frontiers, the Giants’ anti-unwritten-rules approach, and how new technology and information have affected the pitcher-batter balance, plus detours into Joe Maddon’s mohawk, trick plays he wants to see, and the Joc Pederson–Tommy Pham fantasy-football dispute. Then (1:43:18) Ben ends with a Past Blast from 1864, a fun fact, and a few followups.
Audio intro: Small Faces, “Things Are Going to Get Better” Audio interstitial: Ry Cooder, “Fernando Sez” Audio outro: Isotopes, “Infield Fly”
Link to Petriello’s Almonte tweet Link to Cameron Grove on Almonte Link to Nick Groke on Almonte Link to CarShield MLB ad playlist Link to other CarShield ad playlists Link to Vierling article Link to Vierling homer off Hader Link to CarShield Collegiate League wiki Link to CarShield Field wiki Link to Stubbs bat spike video Link to Stubbs EW episode Link to umpire bat-shard photo Link to umpire bat-shard article Link to umpire bat-shard video Link to Nightengale tweet about Hinch Link to Jay Jaffe on the Tigers Link to McCarthy position-player P tweet Link to live EW episode with Fernando Link to Rob Mains on PECOTA and the Giants Link to 2008 Rays mohawk story Link to 2020 story on the Dodgers’ player dev Link to story on the Giants’ new training facility Link to 2020 story on the Giants’ coaching staff Link to 2022 story on the Giants’ coaching staff Link to Tim Kurkjian on bad baserunning Link to Kapler’s unwritten-rules comments Link to MLB.com on the Giants’ rewritten rules Link to Ben Clemens on the Giants’ bunting Link to Yaz deke video Link to story about the outfield deke Link to Coghlan leap video Link to Susan Slusser on the Giants’ t-shirts Link to Tom Ley on the Giants’ t-shirts Link to 2019 Pham interview video Link to latest Pham comments Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to Richard on the infield fly rule Link to story on Houston’s immaculate innings Link to video of the immaculate innings Link to Sarah Langs’ immaculate-innings tweet Link to list of three-pitch-strikeout streaks Link to Clemens on three-pitch strikeouts Link to 2016 Albies injury video Link to Jayson Stark on second base’s location Link to hyper-punny ad
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what it means to be humbled, whether Joe Maddon’s mohawk could have caught on and caused a Shohawk had he not been fired, another point about Aaron Judge’s potentially historic home-run pace, a Byron Buxton fun fact, whether Buxton or Luis Arraez is a more entertaining hitter, Ozzie Albies’ fluky foot fracture, and a smart baserunning play by the Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman. Then (37:10) they answer listener emails about Pete Alonso ads for extended car warranties, Alejandro Kirk and the Blue Jays’ catching corps, line drives up the middle, whether the World Series winner is more likely to come out of either the AL East or NL West or the rest of baseball, and how splits by out count work, followed (1:16:19) by pedantic questions about swinging bunts, “contact hitting,” bloop hits, the baseball “diamond,” and “back-to-back-to-back” home runs, a Stat Blast (1:34:22) about power hitters who haven’t homered in consecutive plate appearances or at-bats, and a Past Blast (1:40:18) from 1863.
Audio intro: Willie Nelson, “Hard to Be Humble” Audio outro: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, “Humble Me”
Link to Buxton fun fact article Link to Albies injury video Link to story about Albies foot fracture Link to Jay Jaffe on Atlanta’s streak Link to hamate-fracture study Link to second hamate-fracture study Link to later hamate-fracture study Link to video of Cardinals play Link to article on The Only Nolan Link to first Alonso ad Link to second Alonso ad Link to info on Alonso accident Link to Kershaw ad Link to article on 30 Rock joke rate Link to leaders in balls hit toward pitcher Link to leaders in straightaway liners Link to yearly BA on balls hit toward pitchers Link to yearly BA on straightaway grounders Link to 2022 catcher WAR leaders Link to 2022 team catcher WAR Link to Effectively Wild t-shirts Link to Giants shirts Link to Pham’s response Link to Stathead Link to new Stathead feature explainer Link to Stat Blast results list Link to article on Grace’s first slam Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1863 story source Link to Jeff Fogle on getaway days Link to Bill James on getaway days
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Maddon’s mohawk, the latest details about Mike Trout’s (and Tommy Pham’s and Joc Pederson’s) legendary fantasy football league, a rash of hidden-ball-trick attempts, the “old guy’s still got it” resurgences of Nelson Cruz and Joey Votto, how big a deal Aaron Judge’s potentially historic home-run pace should be, the two-way dominance and unsurpassed hard-hitting of the Yankees (including Matt Carpenter’s hot start with the team), the AL East hogging half of the AL’s prospective playoff berths, the excellence of José Ramírez, Tommy Edman’s breakout, Ben’s new peeve about a certain type of homer, the latest extremes in position-player pitching, Walker Buehler’s injury and the NL West race, the longest-ever collective winning and losing streaks by a division, the NL East race, the winning ways of the Braves and Ronald Acuña Jr., and the history of the “base hit,” plus a Past Blast from 1862.
Audio intro: Francis Lung, “Bad Hair Day” Audio outro: Vanessa Peters, “A Good Judge”
Link to Maddon mohawk report Link to 2008 mohawk story Link to Gonzalez firing story Link to Randolph firing story Link to clip of Trout on ESPN Link to Votto’s May 2 tweet Link to Dan Szymborski on Votto Link to story on Votto’s hot streak Link to FG on-pace leaderboard Link to expected HR leaderboard Link to Stanton’s 120 mph homer Link to Ben on Stanton in 2017 Link to list of hardest-hit balls Link to Rosenthal on rebuilding Carpenter Link to Ohtani HR off the wall Link to Stark on position-player pitchers Link to story on Higashioka’s homer Link to Mike Fast on the slowest pitch Link to Jay Jaffe on Buehler Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four Link to 1862 story source