Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on a conversation about protective headgear for pitchers by discussing softball face masks, then banter about whether MLB necessarily needs a legalized sticky substance or a pre-tacked ball, and attempt to unpack a distressing message from “Tom” to “Caitlyn” on the video board at a Reds game. Then (37:47) they talk to ESPN reporter Dan Hajducky about a shocking week for the booming sports card industry, highlighted by Fanatics securing exclusive card licenses with MLB, the MLBPA, and other major leagues and unions, baseball institution Topps losing its strangehold on MLB cards and scuttling its plans to go public, and a record-breaking sale of a Honus Wagner T206 card.

Audio intro: Sweet, "Tom Tom Turnaround"
Audio interstitial: Lunchbox, "Tom, What’s Wrong?"
Audio outro: Boat, "Topps"

Link to FAQ about softball face masks
Link to list of softball face masks
Link to Columbia Missourian on face masks
Link to the OU Daily on face masks
Link to Columbia Daily Tribune on face masks
Link to The Oklahoman on face masks
Link to Kelly Barnhill tweet about face masks
Link to history of first batting helmets
Link to history of modern batting helmets
Link to video of Lynn ejection
Link to Rob Arthur on sticky stuff effects
Link to the L.A. Times on Olympic baseballs
Link to Reuters on Olympic baseballs
Link to first Caitlyn/Tom message
Link to second Caitlyn/Tom message
Link to Craig Goldstein on Caitlyn/Tom
Link to Ben on the Castellanos meme
Link to Dan’s Topps/Fanatics report
Link to WSJ Topps/Fanatics report
Link to Sportico on the Topps merger
Link to Dan on the T206 sale
Link to Emma Baccellieri on the card boom
Link to earlier EW card-boom interview
Link to Dan’s website

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Germán Márquez and the ethics of diarrhea disclosure, stretched pitching staffs that were supposed to be deep, the Orioles and Diamondbacks competing for MLB’s worst record, a somewhat deceptive salary floor in MLB’s economic proposal (and the future of the ongoing CBA talks), Mets owner Steve Cohen’s critical tweet about his team’s underperforming bats, Chris Bassitt’s injury and protecting pitchers from line drives, Freddie Freeman’s cycle, and Shohei Ohtani’s latest two-way day and improved pitching.

Audio intro: The Roches, "Runs in the Family"
Audio outro: Ezra Furman, "Haunted Head"

Link to Defector on Marquez’s diarrhea
Link to Meg on Bradley’s diarrhea
Link to Park’s diarrhea video
Link to Ben Clemens on the Padres
Link to FanGraphs farm system rankings
Link to report about MLB economic proposal
Link to JJ Cooper thread on salary cap/floor
Link to Travis Sawchik on a payroll floor
Link to EW episode with former MLBPA exec
Link to Steve Cohen tweet
Link to Mets hitting coach’s reaction
Link to Mets manager’s reaction
Link to Ray Kroc story
Link to Jay Jaffe on Bassitt
Link to story on Tyler Zombro
Link to story on Brandon Patch
Link to 2016 MLB story on pitcher headgear
Link to 2016 ESPN story on pitcher headgear
Link to 2016 story on mandating helmets
Link to 2017 story on protective cap inserts
Link to Freeman’s cycle video
Link to Freeman’s cappucino story
Link to Twitter thread about “Cyclones”
Link to Vlad’s emoji response
Link to Ohtani’s homer celebration
Link to Ohtani vs. Tigers video

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on a recent observation about a baseball-related line in Twilight, then banter about petards, Ben’s latest trip to see Shohei Ohtani at Yankee Stadium, Tyler Gilbert’s improbable no-hitter, the playoff hopes of the Padres, Reds, and Giants (and reshuffling in the NL East and AL East), the lows and highs of heckling, the Rockies’ historic home-road splits, Michael Schur adapting Field of Dreams for Peacock and the near future of baseball TV shows, Carter Stewart making his NPB debut and Kumar Rocker’s future, whether John Olerud would be a two-way player today, and Joey Votto’s revamped plate approach, plus a postscript on fun facts about sequences of wins and losses.

Audio intro: Chip Taylor, "Same Ol’ Story"
Audio outro: The Beach Boys, "Heads You Win–Tails I Lose"

Link to Davis catch
Link to Cole’s reaction to Ohtani
Link to Lindsey’s Gallo tweet
Link to article on seats moving farther from the field
Link to Ben on Gilbert’s no-hitter
Link to Twitter thread about man shouting “Dinger”
Link to Neil Paine on the Coors Field hangover effect
Link to Nick Groke on the Coors Field hangover effect
Link to all-time team home/road splits data
Link to xkcd comic about 2020
Link to story on Schur and Field of Dreams
Link to Schur EW episode
Link to story on Offerman and A League of Their Own
Link to story on Offerman’s Field of Dreams critiques
Link to stream Stove League
Link to Jim Allen on Stewart and Rocker
Link to box score from Stewart’s NPB debut
Link to ESPN on Olerud as a two-way player
Link to list of John Olerud Award winners
Link to first page of 1990 Olerud article
Link to second page of 1990 Olerud article
Link to Mike Petriello on Tatis’s position switch
Link to FanGraphs post on Tatis as an outfielder
Link to Ben on the rise of multiposition players
Link to Verducci on Votto
Link to Vieira’s record-breaking pitch
Link to win-loss sequence data

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Field of Dreams Game, “playing catch” vs. “having a catch,” scouting baseball movies, and a quibble with baseball in Twilight, answer listener emails about extending the Field of Dreams Game concept to other settings (and other baseball movies), the aesthetics of no-doubt dingers and wall-scrapers, saving the ball from a fluky first hit, and the difficulty of comparing per-game stats and statistical qualifiers across seasons with and without COVID-related rules, plus Stat Blasts on the players who’ve been called up and sent down most often in a single season and the longest streaks of matching results for two teams (and additional thoughts on Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Jo Adell, Jacob deGrom, the Dodgers’ division odds, trading catchers, and links on the show page).

Audio intro: Cub Scout Bowling Pins, "Heaven Beats Iowa"
Audio outro: The Ladybug Transistor, "Broken Links"

Link to Field of Dreams Game highlights
Link to Field of Dreams Game ratings
Link to Field of Dreams EW episode
Link to potential future settings for games
Link to Take Me In to the Ballgame podcast
Link to Twilight EW episode
Link to Tom & Jerry baseball scene
Link to expected home runs leaderboard
Link to video of Burger’s first hit
Link to Sam on ERA qualifiers
Link to FanGraphs Playoff Odds
Link to Craig Goldstein on Adell
Link to most optioned/recalled players
Link to Gerald Schifman on options use
Link to Eric Stephen on often-optioned players
Link to EW episode with Oliver Drake
Link to list of longest matching W-L streaks
Link to data on trade rates by position
Link to Ohtani on his pitching potential
Link to Ohtani WPA tweet

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an Alek Manoah semi-fun fact, a day without any starters going deep into games, economical outings by Adam Wainwright and Corbin Burnes, Cody Bellinger’s bat, a legal decision involving the Phillie Phanatic that may have implications beyond baseball, Joey Gallo feeling small, and the cost of Ray’s lost corn crop in Field of Dreams, then (34:01) talk to writer and editor Danny Funt about his recent deep dive into the relationship between sports media and sports betting, and how the big business of legalized gambling could reshape the way baseball is covered, broadcast, and played.

Audio intro: The Coral, "Song of the Corn"
Audio interstitial: Grateful Dead, "Candyman"
Audio outro: The Notorious B.I.G., "What’s Beef?"

Link to tweet about six-inning starts
Link to origin of “The Maddux”
Link to Dan on Bellinger
Link to Phanatic story
Link to Gallo quote
Link to corn math thread
Link to Danny’s story
Link to Forbes on ballpark sportsbooks
Link to story on the Yankees and betting
Link to Bloomberg on sports betting
Link to USA Today on baseball betting
Link to story on gambling-related threats
Link to Evander Kane story
Link to MLB.com Blue Jays betting story
Link to Jim Margalus on baseball betting
Link to Jacob’s DraftKings tweet

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their imperfections, follow up on flying horses, Justice Blackmun omitting Mel Ott from Flood vs. Kuhn, and a possible defense of pitcher hitters, then assess the state of the standings and playoff races, contemplate a position change for Fernando Tatis Jr., discuss the Field of Dreams Game, and consider a point in favor of robot umps and signs of spin-rate resurgence.

Audio intro: David Bowie, "Win"
Audio outro: Oh Pep!, "The Race"

Link to article about how horses fly
Link to article on Blackmun and Ott
Link to Ben on pitcher hitters/position-player pitchers
Link to post on Canseco pitching
Link to video of Holt pitching
Link to post on slowest possible pitches
Link to thread on slowest possible pitches
Link to FanGraphs Playoff Odds
Link to Mike Petriello on the Mets’ offense
Link to Petriello on the Jays’ offense
Link to Justin Choi on the Jays
Link to Rob Mains on team mobility
Link to Rob Arthur on the absence of superteams
Link to article on Tatis in the outfield
Link to Field of Dreams episode
Link to paper on umpire discrimination
Link to thread about umpire discrimination
Link to tweet about resurgent spin

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman of Céspedes Family BBQ banter about Jake’s baseball bike trip (and Jordan’s accompanying car ride) from New York to Chicago. Then, in honor of Mike Trout’s 30th birthday, they draft their favorite things about Trout and his incredible career.

Audio intro: Jay-Z, "30 Something"
Audio outro: Smash Mouth, "You Are My Number One"

Link to Jake’s fundraising site
Link to Jake’s trip stats
Link to Episode 762
Link to Sam on Trout and Grichuk
Link to Sam on Trout’s 2012 season
Link to story on Trout’s no. 1 jersey
Link to post about Trout’s August 2015
Link to video of Trout’s left-handed BP
Link to Pedro Moura on Trout’s future
Link to Ben on Trout’s rookie year
Link to Ben on Trout’s dad
Link to Trout’s spring training stats
Link to Trout’s Hardy homer robbery
Link to 2009 draft video
Link to Trout Weather Channel video
Link to 2012 SuperPretzel press release
Link to 2016 SuperPretzel ad
Link to SuperPretzel website
Link to list of Trout hypotheticals

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about baseball (and steeplechase?) at the Olympics, then answer listener emails about teams intentionally drafting players they don’t intend to sign, Willy Adames as an NL MVP candidate, Dominic Smith and reverse platoon splits, secret ball-strike counts, and which is better (or worse), position-player pitchers or pitcher hitters, then meet major leaguers Shea Spitzbarth and Stephen Ridings and do a Stat Blast about Flood v. Kuhn and Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, the original Rememberer of Some Guys (plus a postscript about the life and death of legendary Astros ace J.R. Richard).

Audio intro: The Baseball Project, "Gratitude (For Curt Flood)"
Audio outro: Joni Mitchell, "The Last Time I Saw Richard"

Link to story about Olympic baseball
Link to Tess Taruskin on prospects at the Olympics
Link to steeplechase wiki
Link to Devan Fink on the NL MVP race
Link to research on reverse platoon splits
Link to Sam Miller on abolishing the strike zone
Link to Ben on pitcher hitters/position-player pitchers
Link to Tribune-Review on Spitzbarth
Link to Post-Gazette on Spitzbarth
Link to Newsday on Ridings in 2021
Link to Newsday on Ridings in 2016
Link to WFAN on Ridings
Link to story on Yankees’ three debuts
Link to Ridings press conference video
Link to story about Haverford’s baseball execs
Link to Flood v. Kuhn wiki
Link to Flood v. Kuhn opinion
Link to SABR research on Flood v. Kuhn
Link to Blackmun Stat Blast data
Link to Cabell’s comments about Richard
Link to MLB.com on Richard
Link to Allen Barra on Richard

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mets not signing first-round pick Kumar Rocker, owner Steve Cohen’s comment about the decision, and the amateur draft as a salary-suppressing institution, then discuss how injuries have destabilized some of the major end-of-season awards races. After that (31:51), they talk to Cleveland native (and Baseball Prospectus writer) Russell Carleton about his history as a fan of the team soon to be known as the Cleveland Guardians, when he changed his mind about changing its name, the real history of the old name, what he and other Clevelanders think of the new name, the potential for a rechristening in Atlanta, and more (plus a postscript on a record streak of alternating wins/losses).

Audio intro: Bruce Springsteen, "I’m a Rocker"
Audio interstitial: Blind Melon, "Change"
Audio outro: Jackson Browne, "My Cleveland Heart"

Link to report about the Mets and Rocker
Link to story on Rocker’s future
Link to story about later Mets selections
Link to Steve Cohen tweet
Link to Brendan Gawlowski on the draft
Link to Joon Lee on Angels minor leaguers
Link to Russell on minor league housing
Link to stream Stove League
Link to Russell on the Guardians
Link to Joe Posnanski on the Guardians
Link to Nancy Kelsey-Carroll on the Guardians
Link to academic paper on Sockalexis
Link to pictorial history of Chief Wahoo
Link to the “Curse of Rocky Colavito”
Link to the “Curse of Chief Wahoo”
Link to story on “racist uncles”
Link to Patrick Dubuque’s Guardians sketch
Link to Guardians of Traffic history
Link to story about the roller derby team
Link to story about an Atlanta name change
Link to longest alternating W-L streaks

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the busiest trade deadline ever, first examining why it was so frantic and then going division by division to analyze the actions or inaction of every team that made a trade (which was, well, every team).

Audio intro: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, "Heard You’re Moving"
Audio outro: Vanessa Peters, "Moving Day"

Link to FanGraphs trade reactions
Link to FanGraphs deadline roundup
Link to Ben on the busy deadline
Link to Ken Rosenthal on the busy deadline
Link to MLB.com on the busy deadline
Link to trade activity graph
Link to “All-Stars traded in a day” data
Link to Zach Kram on trading top prospects
Link to Baumann on deadline returns
Link to Ben on the Scherzer/Turner trade
Link to Baumann on the giant Yankees
Link to Mike Petriello on Gallo and Rizzo
Link to story on outfielder Randy Johnson
Link to C. Trent on Votto

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