Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about whether we need middle names and what it was like not to know what players were worth before WAR and its statistical predecessors existed, then do Stat Blasts about pickoff attempts in a fan-free season, why home-field advantage has persisted without fans in the stands, and the Phillies’ blown leads, and finally conduct a quiz based on surprising Statcast sprint speeds.

Audio intro: Will Butler, "I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know"
Audio outro: Fleet Foxes, "Can I Believe You"

Link to Ben on player evaluation before WAR
Link to study on WAR and MVP voting
Link to Bill James on WAR and MVP voting
Link to Sam on how fans affect the game
Link to story on the extra-inning home-field advantage
Link to Jonathan Judge on the 2020 strike zone
Link to R.J. Anderson on Gallen’s pickoffs
Link to blown leads spreadsheet
Link to Statcast sprint speed leaderboard

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Justin Verlander’s Tommy John surgery, a different way to expand the playoffs, and whether MLB’s approach to playing in 2020 has been vindicated, then (38:52) talk to Defector’s David Roth about the Mets being sold to Steve Cohen, what life as a fan would be like without the Wilpons, his expectations and hopes for the franchise, and co-founding Defector.

Audio intro: Matthew Sweet, "Nothing Lasts"
Audio interstitial: Amy O, "David"
Audio outro: Sloan, "Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore"

Link to Ben on elbow injuries
Link to Rob Arthur on the expanded playoffs
Link to Boras on the expanded playoffs
Link to Craig Edwards on the Mets sale
Link to David on the Mets sale
Link to blog post about being on time
Link to David’s podcast

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In honor of New Yorker writer and editor and Baseball Hall of Famer Roger Angell’s 100th birthday, Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley discuss what they admire about Angell’s life and work, how he’s influenced their writing, and a few of their favorite Angell works. Then (26:22) they cue up a collection of original, recorded tributes to Angell from a distinguished group of baseball writers.

Audio intro: The Swinghoppers & Wolfgang Lohr, "Party Like it’s 1920"
Audio interstitial: Matthew Grimson, "Prize for Writing"
Audio outro: The Moody Blues, "I Never Thought I’d Live to Be a Hundred"

Link to tribute episode transcript
Link to WSJ interview with Angell
Link to Gammons on Angell
Link to Mark Singer on Angell
Link to David Remnick on Angell
Link to Verducci on Angell
Link to Roger Angell Day video
Link to Bonomo EW episode about Angell
Link to Angell’s “In the Fire”
Link to Ben on catchers
Link to Angell’s “Agincourt and After”
Link to Angell’s “Distance”
Link to Angell’s “Four Taverns in the Town”
Link to Angell’s “The ‘Go!’ Shouters”
Link to Angell’s “If Only”
Link to Angell on Tiant
Link to Angell on Blass

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss Rob Manfred’s desire to make the 16-team playoff format permanent and how the absence of off days will affect the 2020 postseason, then conduct a Stat Blast quiz about the best same-named teammate duos, plus a non-quiz Stat Blast about pitcher usage in seven-inning doubleheaders.

Audio intro: Rhett Miller, "Permanent Damage"
Audio outro: Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey, "Who?"

Link to Manfred’s comments
Link to story about MLB “bubbles”
Link to Ben Clemens on the postseason schedule
Link to Sam on every team making the playoffs

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to Justin Hollander, the Seattle Mariners’ vice president and assistant general manager in charge of baseball operations, about how the Mariners have discovered and signed overlooked talents like Austin Nola and Dylan Moore, how much preparation the front office does for minor league free agency, how to blend stats and scouting information, why teams know their own players best, the secrets to signing minor league free agents, how Nola broke out, the ones who got away, monitoring minor league players in 2020, and much more.

Audio intro: Liam Finn, "Don’t Even Know Your Name"
Audio outro: Liam Finn, "Second Chance"

Link to news about Justin’s promotion
Link to EW competitions and drafts spreadsheet
Link to most recent EW minor league free agent draft
Link to Carson’s study of minor league free agents
Link to most recent list of minor league free agents
Link to story about 2020 minor league free agents
Link to story about being a minor league free agent
Link to Craig Edwards on Nola
Link to story about Moore’s improvement
Link to Kiley on the Yankees and minor league free agents
Link to Roster Resource team info tracker
Link to Ringer MLB Show episode with Justin
Link to Ben on Trout’s rookie year
Link to stats vs. scouts on prospects episode

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the extraordinary stat lines of Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes, the role of randomness in baseball, the latest two-team half no-hitter, the Rays’ historic all-lefty lineup, the horrors of Red Sox pitching, the approaching end of the regular season, the states of the standings and playoff odds, the underperforming Reds, deceptive doubleheaders, why writers tend to lose their childhood fandom, the Phillies’ bad bullpen, and more. Then (51:32) they talk to Seattle Mariners souvenir manager Sean Guiney about fetching home run balls in empty ballparks, how MLB’s memorabilia authentication process works, what it’s like to attend an MLB game in 2020, how fake crowd noise sounds in person, and how the cardboard cutouts in the stands are holding up to the barrage of baseballs.

Audio intro: Rilo Kiley, "Smoke Detector"
Audio interstitial: Neil Finn, "Souvenir"
Audio outro: Boygenius, "Souvenir"

Link to Tony Wolfe on Burnes
Link to Ben on Keller’s bad luck
Link to story on the all-lefty lineup
Link to FanGraphs playoff odds page
Link to FanGraphs BaseRuns standings page
Link to Gallo home run ball
Link to Mariners auction site

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss the backstory behind the Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio trade, break down a clichéd postgame quote by Gavin Lux, and marvel at the historic excellence of 40-year-old Twins slugger Nelson Cruz.

Audio intro: Todd Rundgren, "Cliché"
Audio outro: Chip Taylor, "Santa Cruz"

Link to the Chicago Reader on the Cubs and Brock
Link to Brock obituary
Link to Lux clichés quote
Link to Bull Durham cliches clip
Link to Ben on Cruz in 2015
Link to Russell Carleton on the shift
Link to Tom Tango on the shift
Link to rate of shifting against Cruz

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on an earlier Clayton Kershaw commercial conversation and banter about Tom Seaver and the benefits of being a late bloomer, then answer listener emails about catchers sharing secrets about their old teams, the value of game-calling, Manny Ramirez signing with the Sydney Blue Sox and the experience of watching old players in lower-level leagues, how stadiums designed for games without fans would be different, whether a pitcher could tattoo his hand to look like a baseball, whether a person from the past could infer the occurrence of a pandemic from MLB’s schedule alone, and what would happen if it were revealed that baseballs are alive, plus Stat Blasts about teams with the most one-run games and batters who always hit in the same spot in the lineup.

Audio intro: Jenny Lewis, "Late Bloomer"
Audio outro: Superchunk, "What a Time to Be Alive"

Link to Kershaw commercial
Link to Benetti and Stone clip
Link to Seaver newsletter
Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past
Link to Ben on catcher intangibles
Link to Ben on Yadi’s game-calling
Link to Harry Pavlidis on game-calling
Link to interview episode with Harry
Link to article on Mathis’s game-calling
Link to Dan Szymborski on the decline of Pujols
Link to story on MLB Network “speed cam”
Link to story about Mariners broadcast innovations
Link to story about Clevinger’s tattoos
Link to Sean Rudman’s Stat Blast Song cover
Link to teams with the most one-run games
Link to spreadsheet on batting in the same spot in the order
Link to Rob Arthur on the baseball’s inconsistency
Link to Star Trek episode of The Ringer MLB Show
Link to Russell Carleton’s update on the shift

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about a Giants fun fact, two home run facts that may or may not be fun, the ways in which the circumstances of his era shaped the late Tom Seaver’s legacy, and the latest highlights of extra-innings baseball, then answer listener emails about another possible implementation of the automatic-runner rule and what qualifies as an “insurance run,” plus Stat Blasts about the players who use the most baseballs, Cameron Maybin and other players traded repeatedly by one team, and the records for consecutive pitches of each type.

Audio intro: Led Zeppelin, "Poor Tom"
Audio outro: Cat Le Bon, "Duke"

Link to Steven Goldman on Seaver
Link to Jay Jaffe on Seaver
Link to story about trading Seaver
Link to Seaver’s no-hitter
Link to Russell Carleton on Gallo bunting
Link to Mike Temple’s Stat Blast Song cover
Link to post about Carmel card
Link to spreadsheet of players dealt by one team
Link to spreadsheet of consecutive-pitch throwers
Link to Sam on fastball-reliant pitchers

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap and analyze the trade deadline, concentrating on the Padres’ unprecedented activity, Cleveland dealing Mike Clevinger, the Blue Jays buying, the Diamondbacks selling, several other contenders retooling, and why the deadline was busier than expected, followed by banter about a second Clayton Kershaw tire commercial and an example of Honus Wagner being bush league.

Audio intro: The Avett Brothers, "A Lot of Moving"
Audio outro: Teenage Fanclub, "I Don’t Know"

Link to Ben on Preller and the Padres
Link to Craig Edwards on deadline winners and losers
Link to Eric Longenhagen on the best prospects traded
Link to Zach Kram on trading prospects
Link to Zach on reasons for teams not to trade
Link to the FanGraphs trade deadline roundup
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Clevinger trade
Link to Zack Meisel on the Clevinger trade
Link to Emma Baccellieri on trade deadline travel
Link to second Kershaw commercial
Link to Wagner clipping
Link to Bugs Bunny clip
Link to John Sterling clip
Link to John Sterling t-shirt

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