Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley wrap up the podcast’s 10th anniversary week by doing a dozen listener-inspired Stat Blasts and then (51:53) talking to 42-year-old Red Sox starter and podcast legend Rich Hill about how the game and his game have evolved over his long career, plus (1:31:18) a Past Blast from 1880/postscript.

Audio intro: Silk Sonic, “Blast Off”
Audio interstitial 1: Levon Helm, “The Mountain”
Audio interstitial 2: Esther Rose, “Mountaintop”
Audio outro: This is the Kit, “Keep Going”

Link to Stathead
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to split doubleheaders sheet
Link to zero-RBI records sheet
Link to Ben on Joseph in 2016
Link to non-hit walkoffs sheet
Link to bases-clearing PA sheet
Link to most players managed sheet
Link to no-LOB shutouts list
Link to HR vs. same pitchers sheet
Link to country debuts sheet
Link to Madris story
Link to saves vs. former teams sheet
Link to Kimbrel vs. Jansen story
Link to Dunn/Thome cycle leaders
Link to Stat Blasts on the EW wiki
Link to Hill on the EW wiki
Link to article on Hill’s handedness
Link to Rosenthal signing news
Link to Walsh/Epstein saying
Link to listener emails database
Link to 10th anniversary shirt
Link to all shirts
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1880 story source 1
Link to 1880 story source 2
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen to banter about what accounts for the variability in how quickly prospects acclimate to the majors and detecting holes in swings, discuss (10:50) which teams have the prospects to trade for Juan Soto, review (22:59) impressive performances from the Futures Game (including a booming BP by Francisco Álvarez and a record throw by Masyn Winn), recap (31:02) the highs of the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game (with a focus on Julio Rodríguez’s standout Derby and the events’ best promotional moments), then break down the amateur draft, touching on the top three picks, the Orioles’ fruitful draft, the Rangers’ surprising Kumar Rocker selection, why so many sons of major leaguers were drafted, atypical players and potential two-way players, the teams with the best and most perplexing draft classes, the impact of the draft combine, and more, followed (1:45:09) by a Stat Blast on César Hernández and historic power outages, and a Past Blast from 1879.

Audio intro: St. Vincent, “All My Stars Aligned”
Audio outro: David Crosby, “Rodriguez for a Night”

Link to EW guest data
Link to Grant’s tweet
Link to quote about “transition tax”
Link to Ben on minors-to-majors gaps
Link to Ben Clemens on a Soto trade
Link to Baseball Trade Values
Link to MLBTR on Soto trades
Link to R.J. Anderson on Soto trades
Link to story on Soto’s brother
Link to Emma on Dodger Dogs
Link to clip of Cruz’s throw
Link to clip of Winn’s throw
Link to MLB.com ASG game story
Link to MLB.com on Manoah
Link to Joe Posnanski on Manoah
Link to MLB.com on Cortes
Link to Ben on mic’d up players
Link to MLB.com on best ASG moments
Link to The Ringer on the ASG
Link to The Ringer on the HRD
Link to R.J. on the Orioles’ draft
Link to Eric’s first-round recap
Link to Eric’s farm rankings
Link to MLB.com on father-son players
Link to Sawchik on father-son players
Link to R.J. on atypical picks
Link to Cory Lewis story
Link to Jared Beck story
Link to Jurrangelo Cijntje story
Link to Cijntje interview
Link to Reggie Crawford story
Link to Tyler Cleveland story
Link to info on the draft combine
Link to Stathead
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1879 story source
Link to tweet about Ohtani’s ESPYs
Link to Secret Headquarters trailer
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley continue their celebration of the 10th anniversary of Effectively Wild by bringing on former cohost Jeff Sullivan and Most Frequent Guest (for now) Grant Brisbee to banter about Jeff’s job with the Rays and draft their favorite baseball stories from the past 10 years (plus a Past Blast from 1878).

Audio intro: Joel Plaskett Emergency, “Old Friends”
Audio outro: Willie Nelson With Waylon Jennings, “Old Friends”

Link to EW guest data
Link to story on Orioles catchers
Link to story on Yankees sliders
Link to Trout on the EW wiki
Link to Jeff on Trout’s adjustments
Link to Grant’s Quintana trade tweet
Link to Ben on young newsbreakers
Link to @NoContextEWPod
Link to Grant on Rueter’s shed
Link to Jeff on framing
Link to Ben on sign stealing
Link to Rob Arthur on sign stealing
Link to other BP sign-stealing study
Link to Jeff on the Astros
Link to Grant on the Astros
Link to Meg on Bradley
Link to Meg on Lind
Link to Stanton homer
Link to tweet about Lester
Link to Ben on Lester
Link to Jeff on Lester
Link to Lester on the EW wiki
Link to Hill on the EW wiki
Link to Grant on Ishikawa
Link to Ben on home runs in 2016
Link to Ben on the Negro Leagues
Link to Ben on the Negro Leagues again
Link to LaRoche retrospective
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1878 story source 1
Link to 1878 story source 2
Link to Richard on the triple play
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page
Link to 10th anniversary shirt
Link to all shirts

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On the 10th anniversary of Effectively Wild’s first episode, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley kick off a week-long celebration by reflecting on the milestone, then (6:40) bring on producer Dylan Higgins and listener Chris Hanel for a round of Effectively Wild trivia and fun facts. After that (41:49), they dig into the podcast archive for a highlight reel of favorite moments from Effectively Wild’s past, narrated by broadcaster Jason Benetti, which is followed by a Past Blast from 1877 (2:21:48) and a collection of listener-submitted audio tributes to the show (2:27:43).

Audio intro: Travis, “Anniversary”
Audio interstitial 1: Mark Eitzel, “The Last Ten Years”
Audio interstitial 2: Tennis, “10 Minutes 10 Years”
Audio outro: Al Stewart, “Anniversary”

Link to EW trivia spreadsheet
Link to Chris’s scorebug Twitter account
Link to @NoContextEWPod
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page
Link to EW podcast archive
Link to EW competitions/drafts sheet
Link to listener emails database
Link to 10th anniversary shirt
Link to all shirts
Link to playlists and music/episode info
Link to clips reel order
Link to clips reel files
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1877 story source 1
Link to 1877 story source 2
Link to listener tribute clips

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With Meg Rowley on the road, Ben Lindbergh does an almost-all-interview episode featuring the authors of four new baseball books: First (3:22), Howard Bryant on Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original; second (42:45), Jeff Fletcher on Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played; third (1:19:36), Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt on Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation and Cheating; and fourth (1:58:38), Paul Oyer on An Economist Goes to the Game: How to Throw Away $580 Million and Other Surprising Insights From the Economics of Sports, followed (2:32:42) by a Past Blast from 1876.

Audio intro: Drive-By Truckers, “Dancin’ Ricky”
Audio interstitial 1: Sir Douglas Quintet, “Revolutionary Ways”
Audio interstitial 2: Franz Ferdinand, “Cheating on You”
Audio interstitial 3: Dan Bern, “Economy”
Audio interstitial 4: Feist, “Past in Present”
Audio outro: Kelley Stoltz, “Read it in Books”

Link to Rickey
Link to Howard’s website
Link to Sho-Time
Link to Jeff’s website
Link to Ohtani’s Garcia impression
Link to Ohtani’s bat CPR
Link to Ben on Ohtani’s origin story
Link to Intentional Balk
Link to Mark’s website
Link to Daniel’s website
Link to EW sign-stealing episode
Link to Ben on overrated cheating
Link to An Economist Goes to the Game
Link to Paul’s website
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to vaccination story source
Link to 1876 story source
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani taking over the MLB WAR lead, a Taylor Ward/Jared Walsh mixup, an on-air “zombie runner” endorsement, another fruitless hidden ball trick attempt, and the need for an amended rule about replay reviews of slide plays, then (26:03) discuss the Blue Jays firing manager Charlie Montoyo and the revelation that the Royals have 10 unvaccinated players. After that (57:28), they meet major leaguers Vinnie Pasquantino and Bubby Rossman, banter more (1:08:45) about Spencer Strider, Sam Haggerty’s walk-up music, the “pie slice” anti-shift rule, a Pesäpallo water feature, and PGA golfers sponsored by MLB, followed by (1:27:26) a Stat Blast about managerial longevity and teams with the most sequential uniform numbers, info on the etymology of “muffin games” and “batter” vs. “striker,” and (1:43:28) a Past Blast from 1875.

Audio intro: Bobby Darin, “Goodbye, Charlie”
Audio outro: Neil Young, “Ten Men Workin’”

Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to post about Ohtani as a DH or P
Link to video of the slide at second
Link to Dave on fixing the slide rule
Link to catch/transfer rule change
Link to cricket rule change video
Link to cricket “out of ground” rule
Link to cricket bouncing bat problem
Link to The Athletic on Montoyo’s firing
Link to Vlad’s “trailer” comment
Link to playoff odds changes
Link to Andy McCullough on the Royals
Link to Sam McDowell on the Royals
Link to Stephanie Apstein on the Royals
Link to Alec Lewis on the Royals
Link to CDC vaccination data
Link to report on unvaccinated players
Link to list of unvaccinated MLB players
Link to story on MiLB vaccinations
Link to Pasquantino scouting report
Link to Pasquantino on his call-up
Link to Pasquantino’s first homer
Link to story on Rossman
Link to other story on Rossman
Link to story on Gibson’s explanation
Link to Nerds Herd info
Link to Timothy Jackson on Strider
Link to Justin on Strider and Greene
Link to <162 IP pitcher WAR list
Link to Haggerty video
Link to Pesäpallo play video
Link to Pesäpallo play explainer
Link to water plays montage
Link to Saarikenttä wiki
Link to Pesäpallo EW episode
Link to MLB.com on the “pie slice” rule
Link to Jayson Stark on the rule
Link to story on MLB sponsoring golfers
Link to Stathead
Link to post about Stathead upgrade
Link to manager longevity data
Link to current manager tenure data
Link to manager longevity graphs
Link to Mariners homers tweet
Link to most sequential uni numbers data
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1875 story source
Link to story on muffins
Link to Facebook post about the EW wiki
Link to “How to Help” wiki page

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s hazardous last week, then discuss the ongoing mellowing of attitudes and discussions surrounding the All-Star game, embracing the game’s potential for sentimentality, how it would feel to be a team’s lone All-Star representative, the results of a new poll about robo umps, an NPB record and whether/when Reggie Jackson will be unseated as the all-time strikeout king, the reemergence of Matt Moore, the Rockies, the trade deadline, and Daniel Bard, the suddenly exciting Orioles and how a team in their position should approach the deadline, the Phillies’ anti-vax contingent and what it means to be a bad teammate, the injury-ridden seasons of the Rays and Wander Franco, and a mystery involving shifting on right-handed hitters, plus a Past Blast from 1874 (1:19:20), a listener email about eliminating foul lines, and a few followups.

Audio intro: Harper Simon, “Wishes and Stars”
Audio outro: Echo & the Bunnymen, “Stars Are Stars”

Link to ASG rosters
Link to robo-umps poll
Link to news about NPB record
Link to Nakamura’s wiki page
Link to all-time MLB batter K leaders
Link to story on Grossman’s streak
Link to EW Episode 9
Link to Ben on pitching prospect rankings
Link to Rockies MLBTR story
Link to Orioles MLBTR story
Link to updated FG farm rankings
Link to ESPN strength of schedule
Link to Mark Simon on the Orioles defense
Link to Franco MLBTR story
Link to Dan Szymborski on Rays injuries
Link to BP Injured List Ledger
Link to story on Schwarber
Link to story on Realmuto
Link to Tango on the shift vs. RHH
Link to Tango on the shift vs. RHH again
Link to Ben on the shift vs. RHH
Link to Justin Choi on the shift vs. RHH
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1874 story source
Link to story on Frasier’s swap
Link to Stanky Draft episode
Link to Mauer retirement ceremony

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s unfortunate Brussels sprouts incident, then answer listener emails about the ballparks with the most and least locations where a ball would be a home run only in that park, the Rays’ MLB-leading outs on the bases, the Orioles’ possibly improved pitcher development, a loaner-type trade where a player is his own player to be named later, how to define a comeback, “batters” vs. “hitters,” whether a team can really win without ever holding a lead, whether we’ll ever see another walk-off home run single, why a walk-off ground rule “double” is scored as a single, the legality of applying a tag with a piece of clothing instead of a glove, and a possible Ohtani rule loophole that could theoretically allow Shohei Ohtani to bat twice in a row, plus (1:18:32) a Past Blast from 1873.

Audio intro: Donna Summer, “End of the Week”
Audio outro: Pasek & Paul, “Come to a Party”

Link to article about digesting Brussels sprouts
Link to B-Ref team baserunning page
Link to list of players traded for themselves
Link to win expectancy calculator
Link to tweet about Astros not trailing
Link to Jake Mailhot’s power rankings post
Link to Ventura’s grand-slam single
Link to Judge’s walk-off homer
Link to article about fans storming field
Link to Reddit thread about fans storming field
Link to Chambliss homer video
Link to Disco Demolition Night podcast
Link to Alfaro’s walk-off non-double
Link to explainer of walk-off non-doubles
Link to Jones discussing “Crazy Train”
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to Bull Durham clichés scene
Link to EW emails database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley rant and banter (ranter?) about MLB’s approach to promoting the Futures Game, then (17:33) discuss superheroes throwing baseballs, the latest exploits of the semi-superpowered Shohei Ohtani and Sandy Alcantara, and Ohtani’s chances against Aaron Judge (and others) in the AL MVP race, Stat Blast (39:03) about losing teams with two hyper-productive players and pitchers with the most even pitch-type distributions, entertain the idea (59:59) of adjusting WAR for quality of competition because of position-player pitchers, speculate about Judge’s free-agent contract, highlight Luis Arraez’s pursuit of Ted Williams, an Andrew Vaughn hidden-ball-trick attempt, Charlie Blackmon’s walk-up song, a fateful Rockies shift, observe (1:23:10) which teams’ playoff probabilities have risen or sunk the most in the last month and react to MLB’s asterisk-esque All-Star Game caps, and close (1:32:32) with a Past Blast from 1872.

Audio intro: Status Quo, “The Future’s So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)”
Audio outro: Heart, “Hijinx”

Link to Futures Game rosters
Link to Jarrett Seidler on MiLB talent
Link to 2023 WBC announcement
Link to The Boys Season 1 clip
Link to Invincible clip
Link to Superman Returns clip
Link to Alvarez throw
Link to video about baseball movies
Link to story on Judge’s 30th homer
Link to story about Ohtani’s game
Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to Angels PR tweet
Link to other Angels PR tweet
Link to third Angels PR tweet
Link to Jeremy Frank tweet
Link to video of HRs off of VanMeter
Link to Katie Sharp tweet
Link to Stathead
Link to Stat Blast list of losing teams
Link to Dan on sub-replacement Angels
Link to Alcantara’s pitch usage
Link to least-used-top-pitch data
Link to lowest-standard-deviation data
Link to Rob Mains on adjusted offense
Link to Craig on Judge’s contract
Link to PPP velo by year
Link to Patrick on the Rockies’ loss
Link to tweet about the Rockies’ positioning
Link to clip of Rockies-Dodgers play
Link to TikTok of Blackmon’s song
Link to playoff odds changes
Link to France ASG video
Link to asterisky Astros cap
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1872 story source
Link to history of infield fly rule

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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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