Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about an engaging Game 4 of the ALDS and sum up the Red Sox-Yankees series, the end of Astros-Indians, and the ALDS as a whole. Then they answer listener emails about working the count and avoiding the bullpen, why broadcasts don’t give screen time to streakers, and the best type of playoff rent-a-player, plus a Stat Blast about shifts and line drives.

Audio intro: The Avett Brothers, "All My Mistakes"
Audio outro: Tame Impala, "New Person, Same Old Mistakes"

Link to Sanchez sac fly
Link to the Jon Bois “Field Stormers” series
Link to Jeff’s post about Cleveland vs. Houston
Link to Ben’s Yanks-Sox story
Link to Ben’s bullpenning opinion piece

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Scott Oberg and the difference between good and bad balk calls, the Brewers sweeping the Rockies and the state of playoff bullpenning, the Astros juggernaut, Dodgers vs. Braves, Ronald Acuna’s grand slam, and the new Clayton Kershaw, the anomalous playoff performances of Kershaw and David Price, the Yankees’ sluggers and the appeal of balls knocked out of the ballpark, and more.

Audio intro: Built to Spill, "Gone"
Audio outro: Joel Plaskett, "Gone, Gone, Gone"

Link to Oberg balk
Link to Sam on balks
Link to Acuna grand slam
Link to Gary Sanchez homers
Link to Glenallen Hill homer
Link to Mark McGwire homer
Link to the .247 shirt

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the difficulties of postseason scheduling, both opening games of the NLDS, a better bullpen game by the Brewers, the Rockies’ decision to pitch to Mike Moustakas, what Christian Yelich is doing differently, the composition of the Braves and the depth of the Dodgers and Astros, and Chis Sale’s history of fading down the stretch, then answer listener emails about what would happen to a manager who consistently lost in the World Series, why teams haven’t shuffled their lineups in response to the opener, Madison Bumgarner (and every other hitting pitcher) vs. Chris Davis, how quickly stats could distinguish between Chris Davis and Khris Davis, and awarding fans for throwing balls at baserunners, plus a Stat Blast about 100-loss teams beating 100-win teams.

Audio intro: The New Pornographers, "Three or Four"
Audio outro: Pink Floyd, "Free Four"

Link to Jeff’s Yelich post
Link to Ben’s Sale article
Link to the .247 shirt

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan review the saber-savvy ESPN broadcast of the NL wild card game, relive the highs, lows, and pivotal/memorable moments of both wild card games, defend the bullpen game from an analytical standpoint (and criticize it from an aesthetic standpoint), and ruminate about every division series matchup. For the first time in ages, they do not discuss Willians Astudillo, although he’s always in their hearts.

Audio intro: Broken Bells, "October"
Audio outro: Amy Winehouse, "October Song"

Link to Hechavarria catch
Link to Baez-Arenado hug
Link to Jeff’s Ottavino post
Link to Jeff’s Betances post
Link to Ben’s Sale article
Link to research on the “times through the order” penalty
Link to the .247 shirt

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a wild end to the regular season, including the season’s final Willians Astudillo update (maybe), endings for Joe Mauer, David Wright, and Mike Scioscia, Khris Davis batting .247 again, the Orioles’ final ignominy, surgery for Shohei Ohtani, final regular-season stats about strikeouts, hits, homers, and fastball velocity, Jeff Wilpon’s incredible comments, an unprecedented two-tiebreaker day, the upcoming wild card games, and more. Then they bring on White Sox and ESPN broadcaster Jason Benetti to discuss ESPN 2’s alternative, stat-slanted broadcast of the NL wild card game, the future of sabermetric broadcasts, and playoff storylines and commentating cliches, and Ben talks to baseball-book author and math and statistics professor Jim Albert about the odds of Davis finishing with the same batting average in an unprecedented four consecutive seasons.

Audio intro: The Replacements, "When it Began"
Audio interstitial 1: T. Rex, "Jason B. Sad"
Audio interstitial 2: The Neighborhood, "24/7"
Audio outro: The Postal Service, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"

Link to Mauer catching video
Link to Wilpon comments
Link to Jim Albert’s homepage
Link to new edition of Analyzing Baseball Data with R

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the MVP races, the definition of value, Jacob deGrom, and Christian Yelich, plus an investigation into teams’ international practices, CC Sabathia’s costly hit by pitch, whether steroids were really responsible for steroid-era home run rates, and (don’t worry) Willians Astudillo. Then they review the 2018 regular season, including their favorite moments, the biggest ways baseball changed, what they learned about Mike Trout, how preseason narratives held up, teams that raised or lowered their stock the most, and the articles they most regret writing.

Audio intro: Super Furry Animals, "It’s Not the End of the World?"
Audio outro: Guided By Voices, "When We All Hold Hands at the End of the World"

Link to Sabathia HBP video
Link to Jeff Passan’s report
Link to Ben’s steroid era article
Link to Melisa Reidy-Russell comments

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo, Chris Davis and Khris Davis, the end of a Clayton Kershaw streak, Jacob deGrom, the ever-changing NL playoff race, the rapid spread of the opener, Joe Maddon’s comments about Addison Russell, and the worst team collapses of 2018, then answer listener emails about the Cubs’ offense and the most surprising division race, Bryce Harper’s bad defense, intentionally deflecting pickoff throws, the relievers with the most wins after blown saves, and the worst 2018 lineup that could be constructed out of former All-Stars, plus a Stat Blast about the biggest single-season differences between a hitter’s high- and low-leverage performances.

Audio intro: Buffalo Springfield, "Down to the Wire"
Audio outro: The Kinks, "Close to the Wire"

Link to Dan Hayes article on Astudillo
Link to Ben’s article about Kershaw’s streak
Link to article about the Brewers’ one-out opener
Link to Jeff’s post about Schwarber
Link to Moustakas pickoff play
Link to Effectively Wild crossword puzzle

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo, Jeff McNeil, and Juan Graterol, Shaq Thompson and the highest minor-league strikeout rates, the last week of the season, the lowest ERAs of the second half, Bryan Mitchell, and why voting for pitcher awards may be getting even more complicated, then (20:14) bring on The Athletic’s Levi Weaver to talk about the Rangers’ reasons for firing Jeff Banister, what his dismissal says about managerial styles, the value of managers, and the future of managing, the mystery of Manager of the Year Award voting, the power of Jon Daniels, covering Bartolo Colon and Adrian Beltre in what could be their final seasons, the resurgences of Joey Gallo and Jurickson Profar, the streakiness of Rougned Odor, how the “opener” spread to Texas, Jeff Baker’s thumb, Brady Feigl and Brady Feigl, writing for The Athletic, and whether covering bad baseball leads to better baseball writing.

Audio intro: Hour Glass, "Down in Texas"
Audio interstitial: Levi Weaver, "All Our Days"
Audio outro: Elliott Smith, "Almost Over"

Link to Ben’s article on Shaq Thompson
Link to Levi’s story on Banister’s firing
Link to Levi’s story on Jeff Baker’s thumb
Link to Levi’s viral Feigls tweet
Link to Levi’s Athletic links

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the response to their previous episode, whether improvements in catching or improvements in umpiring have done more to reduce the variation in framing performance among teams, a Mike Trout snub, Breyvic Valera‘s contact rate, and the latest revelations about Addison Russell’s alleged domestic abuse, then answer listener emails about Luke Voit and Yankees home-run records, Mike Clevinger and Indians strikeout records, whether it would be noticeable if baseball gradually grew twice as loud, cryogenic freezing after Tommy John surgery, and how long a fan would last as a GM, plus a Stat Blast about two surprising Royals, Ryan O’Hearn and Adalberto Mondesi.

Audio intro: The Milk Carton Kids, "Hear Them Loud"
Audio outro: The Band, "Thinkin’ Out Loud"

Link to Ben’s article on framing
Link to Melisa Reidy’s post about Russell
Link to Trout snub response

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Trevor Story’s close call, then (9:04) bring on former MLB pitcher Michael Schwimer, the founder and CEO of Big League Advance, to talk about the mechanics and morality of giving money to minor leaguers in exchange for a percentage of their future earnings if they make the majors, why the company was the subject of a now-dropped lawsuit, the dilemma of low minor-league pay, why Michael maintains that BLA is helping players, BLA’s investment model and efforts to predict pitcher injuries, and Michael’s proposed solution to the rising strikeout rate. Lastly, Ben and Jeff review the interview and offer their thoughts on BLA, minor-league pay, and injury prediction.

Audio intro: Aerosmith, "Make It"
Audio interstitial: Neil Young, "Roger and Out"
Audio outro: Spinal Tap, "Gimme Some Money"

Link to Ken Rosenthal on BLA
Link to Jack Dickey on BLA
Link to Sheryl Ring on BLA
Link to Jonathan Perrin podcast episode

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