Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the returns of Mike Trout and Willians Astudillo, Astudillo’s new hobby, Jose Ramirez‘s power/speed combo, the NL Rookie of the Year race between Ronald Acuna, Juan Soto, Harrison Bader, and Brian Anderson, the decreasing incidence of stolen bases and sacrifice bunts, the Angels’ active offseason in retrospect, the Angels’ lack of playoff appearances with Trout vs. the Mariners’ lack of playoff appearances with Felix Hernandez, David Wright’s painful latest comeback attempt, and a Rich Hill (AKA Dick Mountain) anniversary, in addition to a deeper discussion about the role of randomness in baseball, what the standings “should” look like, and how luck, timing, and clutch hits are saving the season from the boring stretch run that some fans feared before the season.

Audio intro: The Byrds, "Welcome Back Home"
Audio outro: Dandy Livingstone, "There is a Mountain"

Link to picture of Astudillo drawing his bow
Link to Ben’s preseason piece about hope and faith
Link to Jeff’s post about the Dodgers and Mariners
Link to Marc Carig’s David Wright rehab article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a listener-created tool to determine the first big leaguer to be born after and the last big leaguer to be born before any given date, the waiver-claim process, the Nationals’ trades, disastrous season, and hazy outlook, the Cubs acquiring Daniel Murphy and the Rockies opting not to, the Mariners’ second annual Women in Baseball Night, and Michael Kopech‘s turnaround, plus listener emails about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s talent and future, adjusting stats for position players pitching, the disadvantage of hitting at altitude, Chris Davis with fewer fielders, and the cost to a team of an NL manager managing like an AL manager, plus Stat Blasts about the adjustments Mike Fiers has made in Oakland and the Cubs’ historic solo-homer streak.

Audio intro: Koufax, "Younger Body"
Audio outro: Poco, "Flyin’ Solo"

Link to MLB Endcaps calculator
Link to Jeff’s Murphy/Rockies post
Link to Craig’s post about Vlad Jr. batting .400
Link to Jeff’s post about position players pitching
Link to Sam’s post about position players pitching
Link to Purple Row post about the Rockies’ home/road splits
Link to Jeff’s post about the Coors Field hangover
Link to Rob’s article about solo homers
Link to Sheryl’s post about Davis vs. Palmeiro

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Clayton Kershaw’s resurgence and opt-out odds, the state of the playoff races, the Mariners’ balk-off weekend win, an unusual aspect of the 2008 CC Sabathia trade, the impending free agency of Nelson Cruz, and Ben’s article about the 1993 Athletics’ platoon-starter experiment, a precursor to the current Rays’ “opener” strategy. Then (25:09) they bring on Death Cab for Cutie singer/songwriter/guitarist (and Effectively Wild listener/composer) Ben Gibbard to talk about his band’s new album, Thank You for Today, as well as the Mariners’ season and the AL West race, how he got into baseball analysis, his favorite storylines of the season, watching the playoffs while on tour, ballparks as concert venues, singing the National Anthem, batting stances vs. singing stances, the aging curve for musicians vs. the aging curve for athletes, meeting casual music fans, being in the best shape of his life, the value of changing musical lineups, and more.

Audio intro: Death Cab for Cutie, "Gold Rush"
Audio interstitial: Death Cab for Cutie, "When We Drive"
Audio outro: Death Cab for Cutie, "60 & Punk"

Link to Mariners’ balk-off win
Link to 2008 trade-deadline retrospective
Link to Ben’s article on the 1993 A’s
Link to Ben Gibbard’s National Anthem performance
Link to Death Cab’s new album
Link to Death Cab’s upcoming concerts

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s introduction to climbing, a Mets-Phillies blowout, Scott Kingery‘s slow pitches, Jacob deGrom‘s run support, Jose Ureña‘s suspension and how to punish hit by pitches, the Rangers’ odd triple play and the 2002 debut of Ron Wright, Matt Kemp‘s slump, and an umpire’s rapid reaction, then answer listener emails about Mike Trout’s value if he couldn’t slide, the ethics of using strategy in Little League, Kevin Gausman and the decline of pitching from the stretch, making rental-trade returns contingent on what happens after the trade, how to trade up from nothing to something (Dwight Schrute-style), and the job security of established GMs like Brian Cashman, plus a Stat Blast about the humidor-equipped Chase Field and teams that hit the ball harder at home or on the road.

Audio intro: Aretha Franklin, "Think"
Audio outro: Aretha Franklin, "Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)"

Link to Andrew McCutchen’s brawl recap
Link to Scott Kingery’s slow pitch
Link to Andrew Dominijanni’s slowest-possible-pitch trajectories
Link to Mike Fast on the slowest possible pitch
Link to Levi Weaver on the Rangers’ triple play
Link to umpire bat-flip GIF
Link to Jeff on the new Chase Field
Link to Mike Petriello on Minute Maid Park
Link to Jeff on the disappearing windup
Link to Marc Carig on the Yankees’ clubhouse culture
Link to Dan Szymborski on the decline of Kemp

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Ben Lindbergh, Jeff Sullivan, and writer Rachael McDaniel banter about a Scott Boras quote about Bryce Harper, the hot streaks of Matt Carpenter and Ronald Acuña, an Ender Inciarte comment, aging in relation to baseball players, the cold streak of Luis Severino, and a possible old example of groundskeeping gamesmanship. Then (24:22) they bring on former major-league outfielder and current MLB Ambassador for Inclusion Billy Bean to talk about his evolving role at MLB, counseling former minor leaguer David Denson on coming out, MLB’s ongoing response to the discoveries of ugly old tweets by Josh Hader, Sean Newcomb, and Trea Turner, how fans should treat those players, why their tweets weren’t grounds for discipline, how hurtful attitudes evolve, the positives that can come from a bad situation, how clubhouse discourse has improved over time, baseball as a unifier, the Yankees’ standing in the queer community, the importance of pride nights and other inclusive initiatives, and more. Finally (1:09:57), Ben, Jeff, and Rachael reflect on the conversation with Bean and forecast the future, and Ben berates Jose Ureña for his hit by pitch.

Audio intro: The Decemberists, "The Engine Driver"
Audio interstitial 1: The Monkees, "Words"
Audio interstitial 2: Beach House, "Better Times"
Audio outro: The Isley Brothers, "The Pride (Part 1)"

Link to Jeff’s Carpenter post
Link to Matt Trueblood on Acuña’s evolution
Link to Zach Crizer on prospect promotions
Link to Mike Petriello on Severino
Link to Rachael on acceptance and baseball

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s book activities, David Bote‘s exciting grand slam, Ramon Laureano‘s highlight throw, a few surprisingly (and not-so-surprisingly) streaking players, Taylor Ward’s call-up news, and a weird walk-off win in the minors. Then (26:10) they bring on Zach Ricketts, assistant head groundskeeper at the Oakland Coliseum, to talk about many aspects of being a groundskeeper at the last ballpark to house both an MLB team and an NFL team, including: his daily routine, how to become an MLB groundskeeper, lawn care, configuring the field for baseball and football, moving the mound, groundskeeping equipment, the groundskeeper hierarchy, gamesmanship and field manipulation, sewage encounters, animal encounters, wrestling the tarp, the differences between old and new parks, field-design hypotheticals, playoff shares, what’s under the field, foul-territory size, and more.

Audio intro: Guided By Voices, "See My Field"
Audio interstitial: XTC, "Grass"
Audio interstitial 2: Jack White, "Temporary Ground"
Audio outro: Ocean Colour Scene, "In My Field"

Link to Jeff’s Bote post
Link to video of Laureano throw
Link to video of minor-league walkoff
Link to video of Cardinals groundskeeper cat encounter
Link to video of Nationals groundskeeper getting caught in tarp

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Felix Hernandez‘s demotion to the bullpen, Willians Astudillo and the hidden-ball trick, former major leaguers who are still excelling internationally, an Augusta GreenJackets tweet, Dee Gordon‘s walk rate, Javier Baez‘s success, the state of the MVP races, Tyler Glasnow‘s apparent reinvention and the staying power of coaching gurus, a cricket follow-up, Kenley Jansen’s absence, the Fernando Rodney trade, and important trick plays.

Audio intro: Geto Boys, "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
Audio outro: Pentatonix, "Take Me Home"

Link to Jeff’s Astudillo article
Link to Grant’s article about international players
Link to Jeff’s Baez article
Link to Jeff’s Glasnow article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jacoby Ellsbury‘s latest injury, Jayson Werth‘s anti-analytics rant, Luke Heimlich, and Shohei Ohtani, then answer listener emails about how defensive positioning is affecting positions themselves, throwing strikes to Jorge Alfaro, bringing “the wall” to baseball, why so many pitchers are throwing 100 mph, how the Orioles fit their new minor leaguers into their farm system, Collin McHugh‘s recent success, Bartolo Colon’s Hall of Fame case, Mike Trout without a sense of the strike zone, and the differences between baseball and soccer when it comes to player fraternization, plus Stat Blasts about the most unlikely five-walk performances, baseball Scorigami, and the days with the most one-run games.

Audio intro: The Aquabats!, "Nerd Alert"
Audio outro: Tacocat, "I Love Seattle"

Link to article about defense and three true outcomes
Link to picture of cricket’s “silly position”
Link to second picture of cricket’s “silly position”
Link to baseball Scorigami diagram
Link to Sam’s Colon article

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s excursion to a Helena Brewers game, Matt Davidson‘s relief excellence, Juan Soto‘s historic performance, Kole Calhoun‘s resurgence, the A’s acquiring Mike Fiers, Mike Trout’s 27th birthday, and more, then (25:14) talk to former big leaguer (and former live guest) Fernando Perez about the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Rays, how coaches can hurt or help a player’s professional experience, and what’s right and wrong with baseball broadcasting, marketing, and analysis.

Audio intro: Jason Isbell, "Traveling Alone"
Audio interstitial: ABBA, "Fernando"
Audio outro: Hank Williams Jr., "Montana Song"

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on an awful umpire call from the Mexican League, discuss the all-time top power-plus-speed players, lament Johnny Cueto’s Tommy John surgery, and acknowledge Mike Trout overtaking Mookie Betts on offense. Then they bring on Fangraphs writer Meg Rowley to discuss baseball grumps, good and bad broadcasting, the role of the commissioner, how fans and writers should reckon with the Roberto Osuna story and other bad news besieging baseball, the progress the game has made, and the Mariners losing their lead in the AL wild card race.

Audio intro: No Doubt, "Suspension Without Suspense"
Audio interstitial: The Black Keys, "Things Ain’t Like They Used to Be"
Audio outro: Stars, "Progress"

Link to video of awful umpire call
Link to list of players with most HR+SB games
Link to Meg’s article about baseball grumps

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