In honor of New Yorker writer and editor and Baseball Hall of Famer Roger Angell’s 100th birthday, Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley discuss what they admire about Angell’s life and work, how he’s influenced their writing, and a few of their favorite Angell works. Then (26:22) they cue up a collection of original, recorded tributes to Angell from a distinguished group of baseball writers.
Audio intro: The Swinghoppers & Wolfgang Lohr, "Party Like it’s 1920" Audio interstitial: Matthew Grimson, "Prize for Writing" Audio outro: The Moody Blues, "I Never Thought I’d Live to Be a Hundred"
Link to tribute episode transcript Link to WSJ interview with Angell Link to Gammons on Angell Link to Mark Singer on Angell Link to David Remnick on Angell Link to Verducci on Angell Link to Roger Angell Day video Link to Bonomo EW episode about Angell Link to Angell’s “In the Fire” Link to Ben on catchers Link to Angell’s “Agincourt and After” Link to Angell’s “Distance” Link to Angell’s “Four Taverns in the Town” Link to Angell’s “The ‘Go!’ Shouters” Link to Angell’s “If Only” Link to Angell on Tiant Link to Angell on Blass
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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss Rob Manfred’s desire to make the 16-team playoff format permanent and how the absence of off days will affect the 2020 postseason, then conduct a Stat Blast quiz about the best same-named teammate duos, plus a non-quiz Stat Blast about pitcher usage in seven-inning doubleheaders.
Audio intro: Rhett Miller, "Permanent Damage" Audio outro: Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey, "Who?"
Link to Manfred’s comments Link to story about MLB “bubbles” Link to Ben Clemens on the postseason schedule Link to Sam on every team making the playoffs
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to Justin Hollander, the Seattle Mariners’ vice president and assistant general manager in charge of baseball operations, about how the Mariners have discovered and signed overlooked talents like Austin Nola and Dylan Moore, how much preparation the front office does for minor league free agency, how to blend stats and scouting information, why teams know their own players best, the secrets to signing minor league free agents, how Nola broke out, the ones who got away, monitoring minor league players in 2020, and much more.
Audio intro: Liam Finn, "Don’t Even Know Your Name" Audio outro: Liam Finn, "Second Chance"
Link to news about Justin’s promotion Link to EW competitions and drafts spreadsheet Link to most recent EW minor league free agent draft Link to Carson’s study of minor league free agents Link to most recent list of minor league free agents Link to story about 2020 minor league free agents Link to story about being a minor league free agent Link to Craig Edwards on Nola Link to story about Moore’s improvement Link to Kiley on the Yankees and minor league free agents Link to Roster Resource team info tracker Link to Ringer MLB Show episode with Justin Link to Ben on Trout’s rookie year Link to stats vs. scouts on prospects episode
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the extraordinary stat lines of Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes, the role of randomness in baseball, the latest two-team half no-hitter, the Rays’ historic all-lefty lineup, the horrors of Red Sox pitching, the approaching end of the regular season, the states of the standings and playoff odds, the underperforming Reds, deceptive doubleheaders, why writers tend to lose their childhood fandom, the Phillies’ bad bullpen, and more. Then (51:32) they talk to Seattle Mariners souvenir manager Sean Guiney about fetching home run balls in empty ballparks, how MLB’s memorabilia authentication process works, what it’s like to attend an MLB game in 2020, how fake crowd noise sounds in person, and how the cardboard cutouts in the stands are holding up to the barrage of baseballs.
Audio intro: Rilo Kiley, "Smoke Detector" Audio interstitial: Neil Finn, "Souvenir" Audio outro: Boygenius, "Souvenir"
Link to Tony Wolfe on Burnes Link to Ben on Keller’s bad luck Link to story on the all-lefty lineup Link to FanGraphs playoff odds page Link to FanGraphs BaseRuns standings page Link to Gallo home run ball Link to Mariners auction site
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss the backstory behind the Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio trade, break down a clichéd postgame quote by Gavin Lux, and marvel at the historic excellence of 40-year-old Twins slugger Nelson Cruz.
Audio intro: Todd Rundgren, "Cliché" Audio outro: Chip Taylor, "Santa Cruz"
Link to the Chicago Reader on the Cubs and Brock Link to Brock obituary Link to Lux clichés quote Link to Bull Durham cliches clip Link to Ben on Cruz in 2015 Link to Russell Carleton on the shift Link to Tom Tango on the shift Link to rate of shifting against Cruz
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on an earlier Clayton Kershaw commercial conversation and banter about Tom Seaver and the benefits of being a late bloomer, then answer listener emails about catchers sharing secrets about their old teams, the value of game-calling, Manny Ramirez signing with the Sydney Blue Sox and the experience of watching old players in lower-level leagues, how stadiums designed for games without fans would be different, whether a pitcher could tattoo his hand to look like a baseball, whether a person from the past could infer the occurrence of a pandemic from MLB’s schedule alone, and what would happen if it were revealed that baseballs are alive, plus Stat Blasts about teams with the most one-run games and batters who always hit in the same spot in the lineup.
Audio intro: Jenny Lewis, "Late Bloomer" Audio outro: Superchunk, "What a Time to Be Alive"
Link to Kershaw commercial Link to Benetti and Stone clip Link to Seaver newsletter Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past Link to Ben on catcher intangibles Link to Ben on Yadi’s game-calling Link to Harry Pavlidis on game-calling Link to interview episode with Harry Link to article on Mathis’s game-calling Link to Dan Szymborski on the decline of Pujols Link to story on MLB Network “speed cam” Link to story about Mariners broadcast innovations Link to story about Clevinger’s tattoos Link to Sean Rudman’s Stat Blast Song cover Link to teams with the most one-run games Link to spreadsheet on batting in the same spot in the order Link to Rob Arthur on the baseball’s inconsistency Link to Star Trek episode of The Ringer MLB Show Link to Russell Carleton’s update on the shift
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about a Giants fun fact, two home run facts that may or may not be fun, the ways in which the circumstances of his era shaped the late Tom Seaver’s legacy, and the latest highlights of extra-innings baseball, then answer listener emails about another possible implementation of the automatic-runner rule and what qualifies as an “insurance run,” plus Stat Blasts about the players who use the most baseballs, Cameron Maybin and other players traded repeatedly by one team, and the records for consecutive pitches of each type.
Audio intro: Led Zeppelin, "Poor Tom" Audio outro: Cat Le Bon, "Duke"
Link to Steven Goldman on Seaver Link to Jay Jaffe on Seaver Link to story about trading Seaver Link to Seaver’s no-hitter Link to Russell Carleton on Gallo bunting Link to Mike Temple’s Stat Blast Song cover Link to post about Carmel card Link to spreadsheet of players dealt by one team Link to spreadsheet of consecutive-pitch throwers Link to Sam on fastball-reliant pitchers
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap and analyze the trade deadline, concentrating on the Padres’ unprecedented activity, Cleveland dealing Mike Clevinger, the Blue Jays buying, the Diamondbacks selling, several other contenders retooling, and why the deadline was busier than expected, followed by banter about a second Clayton Kershaw tire commercial and an example of Honus Wagner being bush league.
Audio intro: The Avett Brothers, "A Lot of Moving" Audio outro: Teenage Fanclub, "I Don’t Know"
Link to Ben on Preller and the Padres Link to Craig Edwards on deadline winners and losers Link to Eric Longenhagen on the best prospects traded Link to Zach Kram on trading prospects Link to Zach on reasons for teams not to trade Link to the FanGraphs trade deadline roundup Link to Dan Szymborski on the Clevinger trade Link to Zack Meisel on the Clevinger trade Link to Emma Baccellieri on trade deadline travel Link to second Kershaw commercial Link to Wagner clipping Link to Bugs Bunny clip Link to John Sterling clip Link to John Sterling t-shirt
Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about how Albert Pujols has remained an RBI man without being a good hitter and the historic slimness of Cleveland rookie pitcher Triston McKenzie, then answer a listener email about whether all innings would be better with the extra-innings automatic-runner rule, followed by Stat Blasts about what would happen if all GMs traded as much as the most frequent trader, the record for the most identical final scores on the same day, and hitters who’ve struck out four times on 12 pitches in the same game, plus another listener email about how much shorter the average game has been this season because of seven-inning games and fewer extra innings, and closing banter about the bottom of the ninth’s history.
Audio intro: The Kinks, "Living on a Thin Line" Audio outro: The Baseball Project, "Golden Sombrero"
Link to 2017 Pujols article Link to sheet of lowest and highest BMIs Link to scouts on McKenzie Link to video of McKenzie’s debut Link to story about McKenzie’s debut Link to Lucas on McKenzie’s stuff Link to Travis Sawchik on Cleveland’s pitcher development Link to Tyler Stafford’s Stat Blast Song cover Link to spreadsheet of days with most identical scores Link to most common baseball scores Link to three-pitch strikeouts spreadsheet Link to Grant Brisbee on Lawrie’s sombrero Link to Will Leitch on Lawrie’s sombrero Link to A Game of Inches Link to episode with discussion about Trout not flying Link to Baseball-Reference Game Changer
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley reflect on the recent protests, statements, and strikes across the sports world and in MLB specifically, touching on why some teams did or didn’t opt to play on Wednesday and Thursday, the messages that those decisions sent, and whether this week will mark a lasting break from MLB players’ past apolitical tendencies. Then (24:34) they welcome shift-doubting Baseball Prospectus author Russell Carleton and shift-endorsing Sports Info Solutions analyst Alex Vigderman for a knock-down, drag-out debate (OK, maybe more like a friendly discussion) about the present and future of fielder positioning, in an attempt to answer a few pressing questions about how MLB does defensive alignments: Is it possible that the shift is actually increasing scoring? If so, why are teams shifting more often every year? Can teams shift more effectively than they do now? And what can we learn from the, er, shifting perceptions of the shift over time?
Audio intro: Bill and Joel Plaskett, "Solidarity" Audio interstitial: Snowgoose, "Shifting Sands" Audio outro: Ty Segall, "I Am Not a Game"
Link to FanGraphs’ Jon Tayler on MLB’s scattered response Link to Brodie Van Wagenen video and transcript Link to Bradford Williams Davis on the Mets mess Link to video of Mets and Marlins Link to statement by The Players Alliance Link to David Roberts on rethinking kneeling Link to Shakeia Taylor on Jackie Robinson Day Link to Marc Normandin on players taking a stand Link to Michael Baumann on MLB’s apolitical foundation Link to Ken Rosenthal on players exerting their power Link to Russell on killing the shift Link to Russell on room for nuance in the shift Link to video about the Mets shifting less Link to Tom Tango on shifting Link to Matt Trueblood on shifting Link to leaguewide shift rates by year in the Statcast era Link to Ben on outfield shifting Link to Alex on the latest uptick in shifts Link to Alex on shifts being added to Defensive Runs Saved Link to Alex on the most extreme catch locations Link to FanGraphs post on the 2020 DRS update Link to article about the Tigers shifting in 2020 Link to Josh Levin on what early sabermetrics got wrong Link to The Fielding Bible, Vol. V Link to Russell’s book, The Shift Link to the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast