Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan’s morbid press conference comment, the continued excellence of Byron Buxton, Mike Trout, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., an early-season dip in infield shifting and an interesting disparity in defensive disparity between the Padres and Dodgers, and Rob Manfred’s comment about sports betting and the pace of baseball. Then they bring on frequent Stat Blast consultant Adam Ott, who’s about to begin a new job as a data scientist in Cleveland’s R&D department, to explain how he got a job in baseball and how to work with baseball data and to deliver an in-person Stat Blast about the most successful pitchers with no outs and a runner on second (plus a bonus Stat Blast about the pitchers with the most career wins after blowing saves).

Audio intro: The Rembrandts, "April 29"
Audio outro: Jackson Browne, "Song for Adam"

Link to Shanahan comments
Link to Buxton’s 5-for-5 video
Link to Petriello on Trout
Link to Trout’s best calendar months
Link to Trout’s best 19-game spans
Link to video of Vlad’s 3 homers
Link to Ben on shifting against righties
Link to Justin Choi on shifting against righties
Link to overall shift rate by year
Link to shift rate against lefties by year
Link to shift rate against righties by year
Link to team shift rate against lefties
Link to team shift rate against righties
Link to Emma Baccellieri on early-season offense
Link to Manfred’s comment at Sportico Live
Link to Craig Goldstein on Manfred
Link to new Pioneer League rules
Link to Adam’s Stat Blast data
Link to career leaders in “stupid wins”
Link to active leaders in “stupid wins”
Link to Adam’s blog post on Opening Day starters
Link to Bill Petti on creating a Retrosheet database

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest riveting Padres-Dodgers series, the beef between Trevor Bauer and Fernando Tatis Jr., Tatis’s fielding, the end of GM Jeff Bridich’s reign with the Rockies, Madison Bumgarner’s hitless start (but non-no-hitter?), Jacob deGrom’s dominance and starts in which pitchers produce as many hits as they allow, and John Means and the O’s stopping Oakland’s 13-game winning streak, then follow up on previous discussions about collective action by fans and replay review in cricket and provide updates on Shohei Ohtani and Willians Astudillo, plus a Stat Blast on the AL West’s “ASSHAT” standings and the most common division orders in recent seasons and a Meet a Major Leaguer on Rays pitcher Louis Head and Astros pitcher Kent Emanuel.

Audio intro: Dan Bern, "Rivalry"
Audio outro: Cotton Mather, "April’s Fool"

Link to Tatis-Bauer beef summary
Link to Nick Groke on Bridich
Link to Bumgarner video
Link to Jay Jaffe on Bumgarner
Link to spreadsheet of starts like deGrom’s
Link to ASSHAT standings image
Link to most common standings 2013-20
Link to most common standings 1998-2020
Link to video of Astudillo’s dinger
Link to story about Head
Link to story about Emanuel
Link to video of Emanuel’s debut
Link to Jared Diamond on DHCMT
Link to Ken Rosenthal on DHCMT
Link to Fabian Ardaya on Ohtani’s outing

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley offer a few updates on the first subject of their “Meet a Major Leaguer” segment, Zach Pop, banter about Corey Dickerson’s impending 200th career double, and answer listener emails about weather-based scheduling, giving umpires the option of not making close calls and deferring to replay reviewers instead, the strange statistics of Javier Báez, enforcing parity (but also mediocrity), whether baseball fans could channel the collective action of the soccer fans who sank the Super League, bringing the chess clock to baseball and improving pace, and the easiest role on the roster in which to collect low-effort, low-pressure paychecks, plus a Stat Blast about Bill Buckner and the overrated or underrated players whose Black/Gray Ink scores differ most from their career WAR.

Audio intro: Cat Stevens, "Pop Star"
Audio outro: Blind Melon, "So High"

Link to Kevin Goldstein on Báez
Link to Michael Baumann on the Super League’s demise
Link to Grant Brisbee on what makes games long
Link to Ben in 2014 on the least-used players
Link to B-Ref Black/Gray Ink glossary
Link to giant Stat Blast spreadsheet
Link to Meg on Hamels
Link to video of Astudillo saying “gasolina”
Link to video of Astudillo taking cover
Link to video of Astudillo’s homer
Link to postgame video of Astudillo

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Bryce Harper’s hot streak, the players at the top of the WAR leaderboard, the exploits of Byron Buxton and Nelson Cruz, the suddenly unbeatable Oakland A’s, Ben’s new favorite stat to track (Nick Madrigal’s K%+), pitcher hitting performance reaching a new nadir, and more. Then they debut a new recurring segment (and song), “Meet a Major Leaguer,” by introducing Marlins reliever Zach Pop and Rockies reliever Jordan Sheffield. They close by discussing an article about the obstacles facing women working for MLB teams and the latest biannual, Crasnick-esque ESPN insider survey about MLB’s burning questions. (Parental warning: This episode contains a trio of swears.)

Audio intro: Tom Petty, "You and I Will Meet Again"
Audio outro: Laura Marling, "Hope We Meet Again"

Link to story about Lowrie’s knee
Link to story about Lowrie’s sleeping
Link to story about James’s sleeping
Link to story about Smith’s sleeping
Link to 2021 K%+ leaderboard
Link to post-WWII K%+ leaderboard
Link to league-wide pitcher hitting stats
Link to Ben on pitcher hitting
Link to B-Ref’s new debuts page
Link to list of 2021 rule 5 guys
Link to Joon Lee’s article
Link to EW episode 1612 (with Jen Wolf)
Link to 2021 ESPN season survey
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Royals
Link to Ben Clemens on Burnes
Link to Jay Jaffe on Burnes
Link to Facebook group songs section
Link to “Meet a Major Leaguer” song

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the brief lifespan of the soccer Super League, the gift of the Padres-Dodgers rivalry and Blake Snell vs. Joe Musgrove, position-player-pitching overload and the pitching performance of Willians Astudillo, whether the slow-starting Yankees are really doomed, the retirement of Jay Bruce, the end of Tim Locastro’s stolen-base success streak (and the unlikely basestealing prowess of an ancient Albert Pujols), player switcheroos in the minor leagues, whether MLB would air replay review deliberations, the celebration of Jean Segura’s 200th career double, the MLB return of Sean Kazmar Jr., the possibly precedent-setting NPB debut of Carter Stewart, and more, plus a Stat Blast about the most common and uncommon combinations of fielding position and lineup position.

Audio intro: Belly, "Super-Connected"
Audio outro: Hippo Campus, "Way it Goes"

Link to The Athletic on the Super League
Link to Ingenuity helicopter news
Link to Mookie catch video
Link to Emma Baccellieri on position players pitching
Link to video of Astudillo pitching
Link to Astudillo’s Instagram post
Link to video of Mercedes pitching
Link to video of Locastro caught stealing
Link to story about Pujols stealing third
Link to Lindsey Adler on the Yankees and Yankees fans
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Yankees
Link to Brendan Gawlowski on Bruce’s retirement
Link to video of Segura’s celebration
Link to video of Santana’s celebration
Link to story about Kazmar’s comeback
Link to another story about Kazmar’s comeback
Link to story about Stewart’s debut
Link to Stat Blast data
Link to 1900-2020 lineup spot chart
Link to 2015-2020 lineup spot chart
Link to DH era lineup spot chart GIF
Link to Trout’s hard-hit homer
Link to Ohtani return game story

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why they haven’t been talking about Bryce Harper, follow up on previous points about the automatic-runner rule, optional home run trots, and player switcheroos, discuss the latest report about the Mets’ front-office culture and team president Sandy Alderson, and answer listener emails about two automatic-runner-rule variants, first base socializing (and Jackie Robinson the first baseman), catcher’s mitts the size of the strike zone, changing replay review to hide the original call, what would be in a baseball theme park, and the best positions for remembering some guys (plus a couple of reading recs).

Audio intro: The Whigs, "Don’t Talk Anymore"
Audio outro: The Capes, "First Base"

Link to Harper player poll
Link to Reddit thread on home run trots
Link to Reddit thread on Canseco swaps
Link to Canseco boxing story
Link to Markieff/Marcus Morris story
Link to latest Mets report
Link to Boardwalk and Baseball Wiki
Link to 2005 article about on-field chatting
Link to 2007 article about on-field chatting
Link to 2012 article about on-field chatting
Link to 2013 article about on-field chatting
Link to Robinson first base story
Link to Reddit thread on backup catchers
Link to Rob Arthur on the baseball
Link to Ben on Beane and Cashman

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unanticipated charms of podcast faves Willians Astudillo and Shohei Ohtani, Trevor Bauer’s (and the league’s) spin rates increasing despite MLB’s threatened foreign substance crackdown, the confounding behavior of the new, supposedly deadened baseball, and the news that the mound will be moved back and the “double hook” DH will be tested in the Atlantic League, follow up on the extra-innings automatic-runner rule and the difference between pitch framing and “slide framing,” and answer listener emails about MLB veterans being better people than players, what would happen if home run trots were optional, and whether two players could switch places without being noticed, plus a Stat Blast about the hitter-runner duos with the most runs plated.

Audio intro: Ian Fisher, "One Foot"
Audio outro: The Easybeats, "I’ll Find Somebody to Take Your Place"

Link to latest Shohei heroics
Link to Shohei shiver video
Link to Willians foul pop video
Link to Willians slide video
Link to Ben on Astudillo
Link to MLB 4-seam spin rate by year
Link to MLB slider spin rate by year
Link to Ben on foreign substances
Link to Ben and Rob on the ball in spring training
Link to Eno on the new ball so far
Link to HR/FB rate by season
Link to MLB.com on new Atlantic League rules
Link to Jayson Stark on new Atlantic League rules
Link to Ben on the starting pitcher protagonist
Link to 2019 EW interview with Atlantic Leaguers
Link to Ben on moving the mound back
Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past on Litwhiler
Link to Stat Blast data
Link to Eddie Robinson autobiography passage

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Musgrove‘s no-hitter and the significance of Musgrove snapping the Padres’ no-no-no streak, Tim Locastro breaking Tim Raines’s record for the most consecutive successful steal attempts to start a career, Ronald Acuña Jr. beating out a routine grounder and MLB’s “FieldVision” depiction of the play, the controversial call on (and replay review of) an Alec Bohm slide that ended the Philly-Atlanta Sunday Night Baseball game, Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama’s baseball heroes, and the two-way, all-around greatness of Negro Leagues great and five-time Hall of Famer Martín Dihigo. Then (47:56) Ben talks to Dihigo’s youngest son and biographer, Gilberto Dihigo, along with University of Illinois history professor (and Negro Leagues and U.S. Latino history scholar) Adrian Burgos Jr., about Dihigo’s legendary life and career, how he achieved two-way greatness, and whether the sport will ever see his likes again.

Audio intro: Son Volt, "Left a Slide"
Audio interstitial: The Baseball Project, "Phenom"
Audio outro: The Felice Brothers, "Hometown Hero"

Link to BP on Musgrove and Bohm
Link to Ben on the once-anonymous Padres
Link to Devan on Locastro
Link to story on Locastro and Raines
Link to Acuña grounder video
Link to Acuña FieldVision video
Link to Baseball Savant sprint speed leaderboard
Link to Bohm slide video
Link to Atlanta’s reaction to the Bohm call
Link to Dihigo’s Seamheads batter page
Link to Dihigo’s Seamheads pitcher page
Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past on Dihigo
Link to The Undefeated on Dihigo
Link to THT on Dihigo
Link to THT on two-way Negro Leagues greats
Link to Newsday on Dihigo
Link to MLB.com on Dihigo
Link to Dihigo’s SABR bio
Link to Gilberto’s Zoom background
Link to Gilberto’s YouTube channel
Link to YouTube documentary on Dihigo
Link to recording of “Elegía a Martín Dihigo”
Link to transcript of “Elegía a Martín Dihigo”
Link to Gilberto’s biography of his father
Link to Gilberto’s book Estrellas Por Siempre
Link to Adrian’s book Playing America’s Game
Link to Adrian’s book Cuban Star

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the seemingly building backlash to the extra-innings automatic-runner rule and Dusty Baker’s comments about anti-Astros heckling, then (19:51) bring on high performance coach Gary McCoy to discuss his epiphany about preventing player injuries, the importance of deceleration, how he helped a team in Taiwan have an injury-free season, the problems with innings limits and pitch limits, how MLB teams should be handling players in a season following a light workload, how and why teams are investing in sports science, how motion-tracking technology and artificial intelligence can help prevent injuries, and more.

Audio intro: Durand Jones & The Indications, "Make a Change"
Audio interstitial: Parquet Courts, "Picture of Health"
Audio outro: The Posies, "Take Care of Yourself"

Link to Ginny Searle on the automatic-runner rule
Link to Dusty on heckling
Link to Joe Lemire on Gary and the Brothers
Link to Gary’s LinkedIn page
Link to study on injury rates in 2020
Link to Mike Petriello on teams managing workloads
Link to J.J. Cooper on innings limits
Link to study on innings limits
Link to second study on innings limits

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Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs writer RJ McDaniel banter about a controversial walk-off hit by pitch call involving the Mets’ Michael Conforto, the early success of exciting Tigers Rule 5 pick Akil Baddoo, and unexpected fauna on the field, then conduct the second annual Effectively Wild Team Fun Draft, in which they draft all 30 teams in order of how fun they are to follow in 2021.

Audio intro: Dean Martin, "Just for Fun"
Audio outro: The Donnas, "Friday Fun"

Link to Conforto HBP video
Link to RJ on Baddoo
Link to RJ on the Coors Field cat
Link to cat Statcast video
Link to RJ on the angry goose
Link to first Team Fun draft
Link to Ohtani wave video
Link to Rosenthal’s Bauer report

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