Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Blue Jays fan who’s unfazed by foul balls, a possible comeback for defunct Fox show Pitch, the Mariners (specifically Tim Beckham and Dylan Moore) committing errors in bunches, the offensive futility of Chris Davis, how Nationals fans treated Bryce Harper in his return to DC, Ramon Laureano’s amazing throwing arm, a change in the baseball and the increase in strikeout rate and Three True Outcomes percentage, the inspirational Willians Astudillo, Chris Sale’s worrisome start and the worst outings ever in Cy Young seasons, Mike Trout and the Angels offense, and more.

Audio intro: Butch Walker, "Summer Scarves"
Audio outro: Oh Land, "Human Error"

Link to videos of unfazed Jays fan
Link to Rob’s research about the baseball
Link to videos of Laureano throws
Link to Pitch farewell interview
Link to Ben on Harper’s defense
Link to Astudillo’s Instagram post
Link to data on worst outings by Cy Young winners
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Christian Yelich vs. Eugenio Suarez and Yelich vs. regression, an inscrutable ad, Jose Alvarado and the apparent increase in aesthetically pleasing pitches, visual differences between 1998 and now, and the significance of the latest contract extensions, then answer listener emails about the Twins and what makes a team fun, the Indians’ slow start, an intentional walk to Chris Davis, batting practice and bunting against the shift, Justin Verlander’s shot at 300 wins, and more, plus Stat Blasts about “True Wins” and Trevor Rosenthal and consecutive out-less outings to start a season.

Audio intro: Sloan, "Reach Out"
Audio outro: The Who, "I Can’t Reach You"

Link to Ben on Yelich
Link to McSweeney’s list of email addresses
Link to Alvarado highlight
Link to Sam on extensions
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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In a bonus episode of EW, Ben Lindbergh and The Ringer’s Michael Baumann banter about Bryce Harper’s transparently but nonetheless almost endearingly calculated campaign to win over Philly fans, why it’s working for him, and whether he could take it too far, then (14:26) talk to actor Hank Azaria, the star of IFC baseball TV series Brockmire, about the show’s return for a third season and how it doubled down on baseball references, incorporated new cast members, adapted to a sober Brockmire, and branched out into social commentary without sacrificing silliness.

Audio intro: The Beths, "You Wouldn’t Like Me"
Audio interstitial: Johnny Flynn, "Heart Sunk Hank"
Audio outro: Everclear, "TV Show"

Link to examples of Harper pandering
Link to Brockmire site (and premiere video)
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley banter about Sam’s cabin sojourn, how well Major League has held up, an exciting development in strategic bat tosses, a big day for Willians Astudillo, the difficulty of drawing conclusions about baseball early in the season, the early-season home-run rate, the paradox of sports radio, Sam’s Jose Ramirez hot take, bunting against four-man outfields, service-time manipulation and Kyle Freeland, whether we would notice if MLB stealthily implemented robot umps, and check-swing mistakes, plus Stat Blasts about Luke Voit and perfect starts to the season, the most MLB games ever played in one day, the longest gaps between pairings of the same pitcher and catcher, and Yu Darvish and the most pitches thrown in a game before the first ball in play.

Audio intro: Disclosure, "Together"
Audio outro: Frank Sinatra, "We’ll Be Together Again"

Link to Sam on strategic bat tosses
Link to Swanson bat toss
Link to research on hitters being ahead of pitchers
Link to Martin pitching appearance stats
Link to article about position players pitching with leads
Link to day with the most games played
Link to longest gaps in pitcher-catcher pairings
Link to list of games with most pitches before first BIP
Link to box score for Darvish start
Link to box score for Martinez start
Link to article about MLBPA grievance
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their Opening Day experiences, the pleasure of immersing themselves in baseball again, baseball players being better than ever, and MLB’s arbitration championship belt, then (22:25) talk to Joey Mellows, AKA “The Baseball Brit,” about how he became a baseball convert, his worldwide baseball travels and his quest to see 162 games this season, the logistics of his journey, the fan experience in the U.S. compared to South Korea and Japan, watching indy ball vs. watching MLB, baseball’s popularity in the UK, the upcoming MLB games in London, his best and worst ballpark experiences, how he explains baseball to non-fans, how he’s learned about baseball history, and much more.

Audio intro: The Mountain Goats, "First Few Desperate Hours"
Audio interstitial: The Pretty Things, "Joey"
Audio outro: Frank Sinatra, "Day By Day"

Link to Ben’s story about MLB’s improving caliber of play
Link to story about the championship belt
Link to THT piece about Joey Mellows
Link to story about Caps Off
Link to Bat Flips and Nerds
Link to Joey’s map of all the U.S. ballparks
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Sam’s unusual plan to immerse himself in the beginning of the baseball season, watching games as a writer vs. watching games as a fan, two responses to previous listener-email answers, whether “ball” is synonymous with baseball, why baseball has hit a dry spell for single-season record chases, the most breakable unbreakable records, Ichiro Suzuki as an almost-record-setting pinch hitter, why no one has hit .400 for so long, why doubles are the most immutable hit type, the Royals’ strange spring training, string training effort level, Orlando Cabrera’s wildly improbable on-base streak, and more, then answer listener emails about whether analytics have been a net positive for players and the best stat to represent a player’s power output, plus a Stat Blast about the longest streaks of years in which one team topped a league or division rival.

Audio intro: Lily & Madeleine, "Cabin Fever"
Audio outro: The Hives, "Here We Go Again"

Link to Dario’s YouTube broadcast
Link to Sam on seeing something new in games
Link to Hang Up and Listen on “ball coach”
Link to Sam on the most breakable unbreakable records
Link to article on the increasing homogeneity of ballparks
Link to Ben on the changing distribution of saves
Link to Ben on spring training stats
Link to Sam on the 21-strikeout game
Link to Ben on Ichiro as a pinch hitter
Link to Sam on .400 hitters
Link to division-rival data
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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In a bonus episode of EW, Ben Lindbergh talks to SABR’s Jacob Pomrenke about the centennial of the notorious 1919 White Sox, SABR’s new “Eight Myths Out” project, the persistent misconceptions about why the Black Sox threw the 1919 World Series, whether the scandal could have stayed secret, the complicated legacy of Eight Men Out, what Jacob wishes he knew about the Black Sox, the future of gambling and baseball, and more. Then (34:57) Ben brings on FanGraphs’ Paul Sporer to discuss Paul’s history with baseball video games, digital baseball versus digital versions of other sports, and why Paul’s face is in MLB The Show 19, and Ben and Paul discuss the evolution of The Show and the latest installment in the franchise (45:56) with Sony community manager and game designer Ramone Russell.

Audio intro: Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez, "Extra"
Audio interstitial: Guided By Voices, "Just to Show You"
Audio outro: The Rolling Stones, "On With the Show"

Link to SABR’s “Eight Myths Out”
Link to Scandal on the South Side
Link to Episode 589 on Super Mega Baseball
Link to Paul and Chris Sale in MLB The Show 19
Link to Paul’s Twitch channel
Link to Ben’s 2018 article on The Show mirroring the majors
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Willians Astudillo making the Twins’ Opening Day roster, whether Astudillo’s uncanny ability to make contact is more mental or physical, and what Oliver Perez and the rest of the remaining LOOGYs can do to preserve their endangered places on major-league rosters when the three-batter minimum goes into effect in 2020, then complete the 30-team preseason series by previewing the 2019 Boston Red Sox (18:40) with Boston Globe reporter Alex Speier, and the 2019 Baltimore Orioles (53:12) with MLB.com Orioles beat writer Joe Trezza.

Audio intro: The Weakerthans, "The Last Last One"
Audio interstitial 1: Guided By Voices, "Alex and the Omegas"
Audio interstitial 2: Chip Taylor, "Nine Soldiers in Baltimore"
Audio outro: Neil Young, "No More"

Link to Rob’s article about endangered LOOGYs
Link to SI article about endangered LOOGYs
Link to Ben on early-season Sale vs. late-season Sale
Link to Ben on champions standing pat and the Boston bullpen
Link to Ben and Baumann on the MLB extension spree
Link to listener’s minor-league free agent tracker
Link to Banished To The Pen’s team preview posts
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mariners-A’s opening series, the emotional last game featuring Ichiro Suzuki, and the uncertain degree to which the recent rash of contract extensions reflects players’ anxiety about free agency, then preview the 2019 New York Yankees (38:17) with The Athletic’s Yankees beat writer, Lindsey Adler, and the 2019 Miami Marlins (1:14:31) with The Athletic’s Marlins beat writer, Andre Fernandez.

Audio intro: Built to Spill, "Some Things Last a Long Time"
Audio interstitial 1: The Black Angels, "Empire"
Audio interstitial 2: Animal Collective, "Derek"
Audio outro: Fairport Convention, "Farewell, Farewell"

Link to video of Ichiro leaving his last game
Link to Jeff’s post about extensions
Link to Craig Edwards on extensions
Link to Sam on Marlins trades
Link to Andre on the Marlins’ young pitching
Link to Ben’s On Baseball Writing appearance
Link to Banished To The Pen’s team preview posts
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter at length about Mike Trout’s extension, why he may have wanted to stay with the Angels, what makes him different from other players, and why he’s underpaid despite his record contract, then preview the 2019 Houston Astros (44:38) with The Athletic’s Astros beat writer Jake Kaplan, and the 2019 Detroit Tigers (1:15:05) with Detroit Free Press Tigers beat writer Anthony Fenech.

Audio intro: Heatmiser, "Why Did I Decide to Stay?"
Audio interstitial 1: Neil Finn, "Astro"
Audio interstitial 2: John Doe and The Sadies, "Country Club"
Audio outro: Flamin’ Groovies, "The First One’s Free"

Link to Ben’s Trout extension article
Link to Sam’s Trout extension article
Link to Sam’s article about Trout on every team
Link to story about MLB considering raising minor-league salaries
Link to Banished To The Pen’s team preview posts
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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