Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the wild NLDS Game 5 between the Dodgers and the Nationals and the wild (in a different way) NLDS Game 5 between the Braves and the Cardinals, touching on Clayton Kershaw’s blown lead and postseason career, what Dave Roberts was thinking and what’s next for him, the Nationals winning a postseason series, the Cardinals’ 10-0 first-inning lead and Jack Flaherty, Cardinals rookie Ryan Helsley and the Tomahawk Chop (1:24:48), the new, higher-drag baseball, and more, then bring on FiveThirtyEight sports editor and lifelong Twins fan Sara Ziegler to talk about Minnesta’s record 16-game postseason losing streak. her positive takeaways from the season, never making the playoffs vs. never winning there, losing by a lot vs. losing by a little, and more.

Audio intro: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "10 x 10"
Audio interstitial: The Replacements, "Sixteen Blue"
Audio outro: Eric Matthews, "Start of the Meltdown"

Link to Ben on Dave Roberts
Link to story on Helsley
Link to Rob Arthur on the ball
Link to Ben on the ball
Link to Hot Takedown
Link to Ben on Molina, McCann, and Martin
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Sam’s delayed postseason viewing schedule and five macro traits of the playoffs thus far (low batting averages with runners in scoring position, starters outperforming relievers, high pitch counts, the ball not carrying, and late-debuting postseason players), then analyze aspects of every ongoing and completed division series, including Mike Shildt’s managing, the Nationals’ bullpen use, the Astros’ rotation, Charlie Morton’s mesmerizing pitch overlay, and the Twins’ terrible timing, and discuss the most appealing possibilities for the rest of this round and beyond.

Audio intro: Sloan, "We’ve Come This Far"
Audio outro: Jeff Buckley, "Haven’t You Heard"

Link to Sam’s October bullpens guide
Link to Ben on playoff homers
Link to Ben on late-debuting playoff players
Link to Morton pitch overlay GIF
Link to d’Arnaud HBP GIF
Link to Ben on Cole
Link to Greinke press conference transcript
Link to Ben on an Astros vs. Dodgers matchup
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss and reflect on the first two games of the Nationals-Dodgers and Braves-Cardinals NL division series and the first games of the Astros-Rays and Yankees-Twins AL division series, focusing on playoff win probabilities, the Nationals’ aggressive/desperate usage of Max Scherzer, the greatness of Stephen Strasburg, a perplexing but ultimately not costly intentional walk, the Braves’ Game 2 redemption and an old-school duel, the contrast between the latest Ronald Acuña Jr. controversy and MLB’s postseason marketing message, Tyler Glasnow, Justin Verlander, and the difficulty of keeping pace with the Astros, M-V-P- chants, ever-interminable Yankees games, and more.

Audio intro: The 88, "It’s a Lot"
Audio outro: Del the Funky Homosapien, "Catch All This"

Link to Dan Szymborski on Strasburg
Link to Ben on sabermetrics and in-game tactics
Link to Ben on second-guessing matchup decisions
Link to Craig Edwards on Flaherty and the best second halves
Link to MLB’s “We Play Loud” ad
Link to Ben on the problem with bullpenning
Link to Ben Clemens on long Yankees games
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss the AL and NL wild card games (touching on Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Nick Anderson, Oliver Drake, Yandy Díaz, Avisaíl García, Josh Hader, Trent Grisham, and others), bid farewell to the Brewers and A’s, and analyze the Rays’ and Nationals’ division series prospects, then answer listener emails about the the Rays’ and Yankees’ long-term outlooks and how the regular season would work without playoffs, plus a Stat Blast about the Twins and WAR from foreign-born players and a postscript on Scooter Gennett and a promised home run.

Audio intro: Son Volt, "Wild Side"
Audio outro: Mattiel, "Long Division"

Link to Ben Clemens on Nick Anderson
Link to Levi on Profar
Link to Wilkerson catch
Link to Ben on the Braves
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller follow up on banter about Mike Minor’s pop-up do-over and guaranteeing homers, revisit an earlier discussion about whether the 2019 regular season was good, and then preview the postseason, touching on every team in the playoff field, the difficulty of predicting playoff success, the most compelling matchups, the different ways to pick a playoff rooting interest, and more.

Audio intro: Generationals, "Ten-Twenty-Ten"
Audio outro: Boat, "Come With Me We’ll Win"

Link to Dizzy Dean pop-up story
Link to Sam on the pennant races
Link to Ben on the Astros and Dodgers
Link to Sam on the Dodgers and Astros and fastballs
Link to Sam on the Yankees
Link to ESPN playoff preview
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s mental preparations for Félix Hernández’s probable last start as a Mariner, the dubious appeal of playing spoiler, the biggest hits of the season according to Championship Win Probability Added, Rowdy Tellez delivering on a promised home run, what Meg loves about baseball, both hosts’ experiences in the Arizona Fall League, Mike Minor, Ronald Guzmán, and the intentionally dropped popup heard round the world, how to judge the quality of a regular season, and how the 2019 regular season stacks up.

Audio intro: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Minor Thing"
Audio outro: James Taylor, "Let it Fall Down"

Link to Tellez story
Link to biggest cWPA plays of the 2019 regular season
Link to all-time top postseason cWPA plays
Link to video of Hal Smith home run
Link to Ben on Amaya at Scout School
Link to Levi on Minor
Link to MLB.com on Minor
Link to Rob Arthur on parity and attendance
Link to Manfred on the ball
Link to Meg on Félix
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the diminishing roles (and salaries) of MLB managers, then answer listener emails about whether it’s better for teams to be balanced than unbalanced and how to decide whether to upgrade on offense or defense, how consistently good a player has to be to make the Hall of Fame without ever leading the league, and what they love most about baseball, plus a Stat Blast about steroids and the league-wide distribution of dingers in the 2000s and today.

Audio intro: Bright Eyes, "From a Balance Beam"
Audio outro: Dr. Dog, "Mystery to Me"

Link to Rosenthal article about managers
Link to FiveThirtyEight on balanced rosters
Link to Ben on runs scored vs. runs saved
Link to BP on runs scored vs. runs saved
Link to Ben on Baines
Link to Rob Arthur on steroids and the home run surge
Link to Ben on the steroid era
Link to Craig Edwards on the lack of 60-homer hitters
Link to Rich Hill highlights
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Cody Bellinger‘s and Keston Hiura’s home runs, the Cardinals’ climactic four-game sweep of the Cubs, the Brewers’ surge sans Christian Yelich, the rapid reversal in the NL Central playoff picture, Craig Kimbrel, Dallas Keuchel, and the narrative about players signed at midseason, what went wrong for Chicago and how we should perceive the Cubs’ Theo Epstein era, how this year’s playoff teams got good, what we’ve learned about the efficacy of tanking, the AL wild card race, and the Padres firing Andy Green.

Audio intro: Phish, "Swept Away"
Audio outro: The Avett Brothers, "Swept Away (Sentimental Version)"

Link to article about the Triple-A home run rate
Link to NL Central playoff odds graph
Link to video of Ozuna homer
Link to article about forthcoming Cubs changes
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to two Atlantic League players with the Somerset Patriots, pitcher Rick Teasley and catcher Yovan Gonzalez, about the experimental rules being tested in the league this season as part of a partnership with MLB. They discuss how Rick and Yovan first heard about the new rules, how players have perceived the changes and the effect of the rules on team morale, the elimination of mound visits, the problems with robot umps, the end of catcher framing, the absurdity of “stealing first base,” the second-half pickoff-move change and subsequent explosion in stolen bases, how future changes should be implemented, which new rules could be worth keeping, what the impact of moving the mound back might be, Teasley’s quasi-perfect game, and more.

Audio intro: Mates of State, "An Experiment"
Audio outro: Silver Jews, "Random Rules"

Link to list of Atlantic League changes
Link to Rob Arthur on Atlantic League stolen bases
Link to video of Atlantic Leaguer refusing to run to first
Link to Ben on moving the mound back
Link to article about Teasley’s quasi-perfect game
Link to video of last out of Teasley’s perfect outing
Link to story about 2018 Tampa Tarpons game
Link to order The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the return of Luis Severino and the Yankees’ prospective playoff roster, how teams will use their pitchers in the playoffs, a Sonny Gray fun fact that sort of checks out, Yu Darvish’s strikeout spree, and an extremely long September game, discuss the arrest of Felipe Vázquez, and answer listener emails about Mookie Betts and Mike Trout, when today’s baseball will start to seem dated, how long it takes bad teams to restore their reputations, and the audacity of promising to hit home runs.

Audio intro: Gregory Alan Isakov, "San Luis"
Audio outro: Sturgill Simpson, "The Promise"

Link to Jay Jaffe on Severino’s return
Link to Aaron Boone on the Yankees’ playoff pitching plans
Link to Sonny Gray story
Link to Darvish story
Link to Ben on the playoffs as a vision of the future
Link to Yaz home runs GIF
Link to Ben on MLB’s quality of play
Link to Seinfeld clip
Link to post on promised home runs
Link to order The MVP Machine

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