Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the fight for the third wild card in the National League and the way in which the expanded playoff format shifts attention toward middling teams, appreciating postseason success and regular-season success, the regular-season dominance of the Dodgers, home-run-record derangement syndrome (17:52) and a middle ground between the warring absolutists worked up one way or another about Aaron Judge (or pitchers not pitching to him), a better name for the combined cycle, a suspicious Carlos Correa quote, a counterintuitive observation about Yadier Molina’s basestealing suppression, Tony La Russa reportedly not returning to the White Sox next season, Rich Hill planning to pitch again, pedantic questions (1:13:01) about non-baseball ballparks, payoff pitches, and long balls vs. big balls, plus a new name for the Grand Junction Rockies, a new use for a descending mound, and a Past Blast (1:26:09) from 1910.

Audio intro: Vampire Weekend, “Obvious Bicycle”
Audio outro: AC/DC, “Big Balls”

Link to study on chance in the playoffs
Link to Ginny Searle on the Dodgers
Link to Maris Jr. quote
Link to Ben on the PED era
Link to Rob Arthur on PED HR outliers
Link to Lamont video
Link to Connecticut baseball divide
Link to Correa video
Link to Correa quote text
Link to Russell on Molina
Link to Edwards on Molina
Link to TLR report
Link to Hill report
Link to EW emails database
Link to “last strike” EW wiki page
Link to GJ Rockies renaming report
Link to GJ Chubs EW wiki page
Link to pit clock EW wiki page
Link to 1910 story source
Link to cork ball source
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to Ohtani game story
Link to Sheehan on middling teams
Link to Lasagna story

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the inadequacies of dental insurance and Ben’s rewarding trip to Citi Field, a Marlins marketing strategy, Richard Bleier’s balk debacle, pitchers getting the memo about throwing strikes to Aaron Judge and Judge’s difference-making performance even when he doesn’t homer, preliminary Stat Blasts (41:33) about the most consecutive secondary pitches thrown to a batter in a game and the redundancy of RBI as a Triple Crown stat, finding things to savor in the regular season even with a shortage of standings suspense, more Stat Blasts (59:33) about the Braves’ extreme day/night split revisited, Fibonacci Sequence scoring, getting replaced before a second PA in both ends of a doubleheader, combined/relay cycles, Albert Pujols and homering on the most dates during the regular season, and games getting away from cruising pitchers, plus a Past Blast from 1909 (1:33:56) and a real-time reaction to Judge’s 61st (1:38:40).

Audio intro: Ezra Furman, “My Teeth Hurt”
Audio outro: Son Volt, “Afterglow 61”

Link to Marlins marketing tweet
Link to Dan S. on Meneses
Link to Bleier balks story
Link to Bois’s balk rules
Link to Sam Miller on balks
Link to Rob Mains on the Year of the Balk
Link to first episode about Judge/strikes
Link to consecutive secondaries sheet
Link to FG Junis post
Link to article on HR/SB leaders
Link to FG standings suspense post
Link to Stathead
Link to Stathead webinar
Link to Ryan Nelson on Twitter
Link to Atlanta day/night data
Link to Fibonacci Sequence explainer
Link to Fibonacci games
Link to doubleheader replacement data
Link to post on relay/combined cycles
Link to relay/combined cycles sheet
Link to Seinfeld reference clip
Link to info on ex-cruising pitchers
Link to Russell on replacing pitchers
Link to EW emails database
Link to 1909 story source
Link to Tim Murnane SABR bio
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to video of Judge’s homer
Link to Lindsey on relievers catching HR

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest hitting heroics by 30-year-old rookie Joey Meneses, then discuss the Guardians clinching the AL Central title, underdogs that defy the projections and playoff odds, and Albert Pujols’s 700th homer. After that (47:00), they talk to Death Cab for Cutie singer/songwriter/guitarist Ben Gibbard about the Mariners’ stretch run and playoff prospects, the sound of settling (for the third wild card), the greatness of Julio Rodríguez, the strengths and weaknesses of the roster, the future of the franchise, celebrity M’s fans, monitoring the Mariners during Death Cab concerts, the band’s stylistic evolution on new album Asphalt Meadows, the reception to the record, and more, plus a Past Blast (1:37:07), a few followups, and a closing word from Ben G.

Audio intro: Death Cab for Cutie, “A Movie Script Ending”
Audio interstitial: Death Cab for Cutie, “I’ll Never Give Up on You”
Audio outro: Ben Gibbard, “Duncan, Where Have You Gone?”

Link to Ben on Meneses
Link to Jayson Stark on the Guardians
Link to Zack Meisel on the Guardians
Link to Zack on the celebration
Link to article on Guardians’ youth
Link to article on old-school Guardians
Link to SIS on Giménez’s defense
Link to Ben on contact and the playoffs
Link to FG preseason playoff odds
Link to FG preseason staff predictions
Link to MLB tweet about odds
Link to Guardians’ tweet about odds
Link to playoff odds check
Link to second playoff odds check
Link to BP IL Ledger
Link to Rob Mains on weak divisions
Link to Ben on Pujols
Link to Death Cab album/merch
Link to Death Cab tour schedule
Link to stream Asphalt Meadows
Link to Death Cab on Metacritic
Link to story on why we like music
Link to Church cancellation story
Link to Church rescheduling story
Link to “Ichiro’s Theme”
Link to Ben G.’s first EW appearance
Link to article about tour bus shortage
Link to 1908 article source
Link to SABR on the 1908 Winter Meetings
Link to article on lineups and gambling
Link to Shantz interview episode
Link to Pujols swing montage

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the man who tried to return Roger Maris’s 61st home run ball, two Mickey Mantle letters, the 2017 Zac Gallen/Sandy Alcantara trade, how Maury Wills changed (and dominated) basestealing, and Aaron Judge’s recent value even when he hasn’t hit homers, then answer listener emails (38:15) about hitters setting their own strike zones, Atlanta’s extreme day/night winning percentage split, the shift ban and the Stanky rule, which pitchers will suffer from the new pickoff-attempt rules, and immaculate innings that include an automatic strike from the pitch clock (with a digression into “timer” vs. “clock”), followed by a research-intensive Stat Blast (1:05:53) into whether working quickly improves the defense behind a pitcher, and a double Past Blast (1:27:58) from 1907, including an ahead-of-its-time proposal by the eccentric Bob Unglaub.

Audio intro: Styx, “Havin’ a Ball”
Audio outro: Drive-By Truckers, “Bob”

Link to 2022 article about Durante
Link to 2016 article about Durante
Link to offer for Judge ball
Link to article about Judge ball value
Link to other article about Judge ball
Link to 1961 Mantle letter
Link to 1973 Mantle letter
Link to BP on Gallen
Link to article about 2017 trade
Link to Jeff on the 2017 trade
Link to Wills SABR bio
Link to Wills obit
Link to Pages From Baseball’s Past
Link to Craig Wright on SBs
Link to Wright on Wills
Link to 1960–65 SB leaders
Link to 1962 NL MVP voting
Link to video of Judge near-homer
Link to Defector on the Judge flyout
Link to Defector on walking Judge
Link to EW emails database
Link to Stathead on Atlanta’s split
Link to EW Stanky draft
Link to Stanky maneuver story
Link to Stanky maneuver image
Link to Russell on the running game
Link to list of immaculate innings
Link to Stathead
Link to Savant pitch tempo page
Link to Savant defense behind pitcher
Link to Savant team defense
Link to Mike Fast on pace and defense
Link to Ben on pace and defense in 2017
Link to pace and defense Stat Blast data
Link to 1907 Cubs story source
Link to list of in-season exhibitions
Link to SABR baseball cards site
Link to SABR baseball cards tweet
Link to Unglaub’s 1907 arc idea
Link to article on eccentric Unglaub
Link to article on Unglaub not playing
Link to Unglaub SABR bio
Link to Rob Arthur on deeper defense
Link to Rob on better defense
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to DraftKings ad

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the ethics of returning or selling a valuable home run ball, a dilemma involving Aaron Judge on Apple TV+, selling the opposing team’s gear in a ballpark, the Tigers hiring Scott Harris and the Royals firing Dayton Moore, the Mets and Reds setting hit-by-pitch records, Canada dropping its vaccine requirement in time for the MLB playoffs, the lack of standings-derived suspense in the 2022 regular season, the latest Joey Meneses news, and a record number of MLB debuts and 4-WAR rookies, plus a Past Blast from 1906.

Audio intro: The Format, “Give it Up”
Audio outro: Richard Thompson, “I’ll Never Give it Up”

Link to tweet about ball decision
Link to Freedman’s response
Link to Sheehan’s response
Link to Goldstein’s response
Link to article about Jeter ball
Link to Sports Night episode script
Link to Judge on Apple article
Link to article on Giants vendor
Link to Posnanski on Moore
Link to Royals Review on Moore
Link to Moore on Eldred
Link to article on Harris hiring
Link to article on Mets HBP record
Link to post on Buck asking for ball
Link to post on Reds HBP record
Link to Baumann on Mets HBPs
Link to Defector on the Mets/Reds
Link to Canada vaccination change
Link to May EW episode on standings
Link to Gilligan on season suspense
Link to Foolish on Meneses
Link to 2022 MLB debuts
Link to Ben on 2022 rookies
Link to 1906 story source
Link to 1906 game
Link to Lush’s SABR bio
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to Ohtani golfing clip

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about pitchers throwing a perplexing number of strikes to an unstoppable Aaron Judge, Judge’s sensational September, upcoming contract, and more, Shohei Ohtani’s pitching prowess, new pitches, and switch-hitting potential, Oneil Cruz’s recent surge, Yordan Alvarez and how much of slumps can be explained by nagging injuries, Max Scherzer and other pitchers getting pulled from in-progress no-hitters or perfect games, the continued excellence of post-peak Clayton Kershaw, the record quality-start streak of Framber Valdez, the bouncebacks of Shane Bieber and Yu Darvish, the record longevity of Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina as a pitcher-catcher duo, and the broken bones of Ozzie Albies and Chris Sale, plus updates on Fox’s flames and the sale of Twins.com, a Past Blast from 1905, and a few final followups.

Audio intro: 10cc, “Good Morning Judge”
Audio outro: The Inbreds, “Don’t Try So Hard”

Link to Judge’s 60th
Link to Judge and the Triple Crown
Link to Petriello on Judge’s season
Link to Craig’s judge homers thread
Link to September player zone rates
Link to September MLB zone rate
Link to tweet about Judge’s 5 Barrels
Link to wiki for multiple-alarm fire
Link to new Ohtani breaking ball
Link to new Ohtani sinker
Link to Ohtani FTX ad
Link to Cruz against deGrom
Link to Cruz’s shot into river
Link to BP on Cruz
Link to article on injured Alvarez
Link to Scherzer on being pulled
Link to article about May
Link to Stathead on hitless starts
Link to article on Framber’s QS streak
Link to Stathead on longest QS streaks
Link to article on Jack Taylor
Link to post on long pitching streaks
Link to Dan S. on Bieber and Nola
Link to Katie on Wainwright/Molina
Link to Sale’s 2022
Link to Albies’ 2022
Link to Jay Jaffe on Albies
Link to Sam on flames
Link to score bug EW episode
Link to Ben on Twins.com
Link to 1905 story source
Link to 1905 game
Link to info on gloves on field
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to 1906 pit story
Link to Sam on the pit
Link to Ashburn quote
Link to football grenade photo
Link to Bugs Bunny video clip

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about minor leaguers officially joining the MLBPA and what minor league unionization might do to the game’s distribution of revenue, follow up on Gold Gloves for utility players, toilet flappers, and Joey Meneses, discuss Jon Berti’s pursuit of 40 stolen bases, what pickoff-attempt restrictions will do to the running game, and why they don’t mind making things easier for runners, examine a Jake McCarthy attempted steal of home, give the Diamondbacks their due, and muse on the different types of steals of home, the potential of the terms “sayonara hit” and “hero interview,” and the homer-hitting prowess of Eugenio Suárez before answering additional listener emails about the effects of the rules changes on infielder offense and pitchouts, swinging twice at one pitch, attempting to get out of tagging up, why the raglan sleeve is associated with “baseball shirts,” deciding to go double or nothing after scoring, emergency backup pitchers, directional arrows projected on the field, and the virtues of teams being pretty good instead of great or terrible, plus musings on listeners learning they like Scott Boras and pitch-clock countdowns on score bugs, and a Past Blast from 1904.

Audio intro: Ducks Ltd., “It’s Easy”
Audio outro: Ryan Pollie, “Steal Away”

Link to Evan on unionization
Link to Russell on minor league pay
Link to story on utility Gold Gloves
Link to story on Meneses interception
Link to Meneses letter
Link to Korky flapper sizing page
Link to Baumann on Berti
Link to Russell on the running game
Link to McCarthy steal attempt video
Link to BP on the steal attempt
Link to Altuve’s steal of home
Link to Ben C. on Arozarena running
Link to Ben on Murakami and Sasaki
Link to HR leaders since 2018
Link to pitchouts by season
Link to Sam on pitchouts
Link to Ben on pitchouts
Link to post on 2016 2B offense
Link to post on Moustakas at second
Link to story on shifting and infielders
Link to story on slowest possible pitch
Link to info on swing timing
Link to info on pitch timing
Link to story on Pence’s double hit
Link to raglan sleeve wiki
Link to story on baseball-shirt sexiness
Link to ESPN Daily on the EBUG
Link to Dodgers-Mets laser story
Link to EW listener emails database
Link to 1904 story source
Link to SABR game story
Link to Sol White’s book
Link to Rube Foster SABR bio
Link to 1904 World Series info
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk (4:09) to baseball agent and attorney Scott Boras, the founder, owner, and president of the Boras Corporation (as if you didn’t know who Scott Boras was), about his busiest days, his process for brainstorming metaphors, similes, and puns, his fondness for nautical analogies, other wordplay-related matters, the CBA, his agency’s evolving use of analytics and player-improvement techniques, the unionization of minor leaguers and the conditions he faced as a minor league player, exploiting loopholes, his origin story as a negotiator, whether he’d give it all up to have been a big leaguer, and more. Then (51:45) Ben and Meg discuss Boras’s career and Stat Blast (1:08:30) about Shohei Ohtani’s hitting on days when he pitches, plus (1:30:45) a double Past Blast from 1903.

Audio intro: Sparks, “Metaphor”
Audio interstitial: Dan Bern, “Negotiation”
Audio outro: Willie Nelson, “Still Not Dead”

Link to EW wiki page on Boras
Link to Jeff’s nautical analogies tweet
Link to USS San Diego quote
Link to Soto Star/Mission Bell quote
Link to 2018 Boras Mets lines
Link to Jay-Z Boras quote
Link to Boras Corp website
Link to 2000 Boras NYT story
Link to 2007 Boras NYT story
Link to A-Rod binder story
Link to Boras ESPN story
Link to story on Boras loopholes
Link to Boras MiLB stats
Link to Boras umbrella quote
Link to Verducci Boras/Gilbert story
Link to Dennis Gilbert wiki
Link to Travis Sawchik on agencies
Link to Stathead
Link to Stathead query
Link to Russell on tired pitchers
Link to Ohtani Stat Blast data
Link to TIME article on Ohtani
Link to MLB.com article on Ohtani
Link to Devan Fink on Ohtani hitting
Link to 1903 story source
Link to 1903 story source 2
Link to 1903 story source 3
Link to SABR game recap
Link to Boston Globe cartoon
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to 1939 article
Link to first 1907 article
Link to second 1907 article
Link to 1949 article
Link to Tallulah Bankhead wiki
Link to MLBPA news
Link to early Boras analogy episode

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the old-and-improved Albert Pujols, Mike Trout’s homer streak, the White Sox winning, Elvis Andrus making the A’s pay, James Karinchak’s inconclusive hair inspection, the Dodgers prematurely celebrating a clinching (and the concept of clinch creep), the puzzle of Cody Bellinger, and the retrospective puzzle of Edwin Díaz’s 2019, plus followups (53:48) on Carlos Correa, bigger bases, and shifting, listener emails (1:02:17) about bigger baseballs and/or bats, and a Past Blast (1:18:53) from 1902.

Audio intro: David Bowie, “Saviour Machine”
Audio outro: Fiona Apple, “Extraordinary Machine”

Link to hitting leaders since 8/10
Link to Stathead on big platoon splits
Link to story on Pujols and 697
Link to Pujols’ rolling wRC+
Link to Reddit thread on Pujols homers
Link to Jay Jaffe on Trout
Link to Trout HR streak story
Link to story on Andrus vs. A’s
Link to team SS wRC+ since 8/17
Link to TLR story
Link to Ben Clemens on Karinchak
Link to Rob Arthur on spin
Link to story on Dodgers mistake
Link to Reddit thread on Dodgers clinch
Link to Poscast episode on clinching
Link to Dan S. on Bellinger
Link to Eric Stephen tweet
Link to 2019 EW episode on Díaz
Link to Petriello’s shifting thread
Link to Rob Arthur on shifting
Link to EW listener emails database
Link to story about old bat sizes
Link to Eno Sarris on bats
Link to 1902 story source
Link to Hoy vs. Taylor SABR story
Link to Hoy’s SABR bio
Link to info on Hoy’s nickname
Link to Taylor’s SABR bio
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how the White Sox have played in Tony La Russa’s absence, then discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the rules changes coming to MLB in 2023: a pitch clock, restrictions on pickoff attempts and the shift, and bigger bases (with asides on a new WAR, Zack Greinke’s front-office acumen, and Ben’s hiccup cure). Then (52:40) they’re joined by historian Richard Hershberger for an in-person Past Blast from 1901, plus a long-term perspective on responses to times of rapid change in baseball, the sport’s cyclical nature, and more.

Audio intro: Phoenix, “1901”
Audio outro: Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses, “Change Is”

Link to La Russa report
Link to MLB story on rules changes
Link to ESPN story on rules changes
Link to info on infield dimensions
Link to Evan on player objections
Link to MLBPA statement
Link to episode on pitch clock history
Link to MLB BABIP by year
Link to Rob Mains on August offense
Link to Rob Arthur on spin
Link to Ben on banning the shift in 2015
Link to Jeff on banning the shift in 2018
Link to shift loophole idea
Link to Russell on banning the shift
Link to Justin Choi on banning the shift
Link to BA on the shift
Link to BA on the rules changes
Link to Justin Choi on banning the shift
Link to info on hiccups
Link to info on “intractable” hiccups
Link to article on Greinke in Milwaukee
Link to article on Greinke in L.A.
Link to article on Greinke in Arizona
Link to article on the new WAR
Link to other article on the new WAR
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to Richard’s SABR archive
Link to 1901 story source
Link to episode on 1889 relief experiment
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to Evan on voluntary recognition
Link to Michael Baumann on unionization
Link to Stengel HoF bio

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