Effectively Wild Episode 1505: Sign Stealing is a Flat Circle
In a special narrative episode of Effectively Wild, Ben Lindbergh traces the parallels between baseball’s latest sign-stealing crisis and an almost 60-year-old sign-stealing scandal that caused a comparable upheaval in the sport, drawing on archival clips, contemporary music, and interviews with author Paul Dickson and former major leaguers Eddie Robinson, Al Worthington, and Jay Hook to explore how illicit sign stealing starts, whether players can prevent it, and why it keeps recurring.
Audio intro: Bob Dylan, "Stealin’"
Audio interstitial 1: Elvis Presley, "Suspicion"
Audio interstitial 2: Gene Vincent, "I’m Goin’ Home (To See My Baby)"
Audio interstitial 3: Helen Humes, "‘Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-Ness If I Do"
Audio interstitial 4: Goldie Hill, "I Slipped Off My Wedding Ring"
Audio interstitial 5: Patsy Cline, "Your Cheatin’ Heart"
Audio outro: Ray Charles (Feat. Margie Hendricks), "Tell the Truth"
Link to The Hidden Language of Baseball
Link to Robinson’s memoir
Link to Veeck As In Wreck
Link to Rob Arthur’s Astros research
Link to Major League II scene
Link to Greenberg autobiography
Link to 1913 McGraw article
Link to first part of 1962 Sporting News sign-stealing feature
Link to second part of 1962 Sporting News sign-stealing feature
Link to 1962 Hook article
Link to 1957 Williams pigeon-shooting article
Link to Robinson interview episode
Link to order The MVP Machine
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You are going to record this podcast again and again, forever.
I enjoyed the narrative style. Thanks, Ben!!
Best laugh of this episode was Ben’s simple:
“It was a less vigilant time…”
I won’t believe anything the Astros say unless they submit to a lie detector test
Ben, thank you so much for this. By far my favorite episode
This is one of the greatest baseball podcasts ever done. Amazing job. Much respect.
Outstanding work, Ben.
This was amazing, Ben. Kind of brings some perspective to the Astros saga. Loved your suggestions at the end, never have understood why more effort hasn’t been put into developing signs that weren’t the catcher putting down fingers.