Effectively Wild Episode 1534: The Stay-at-Home Run Derby

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Johnny Vander Meer’s ear boils and the surprisingly ancient origins of the phrase, “A walk is as good as a hit,” then answer listener emails about why some players prove to be flashes in the pan, whether a home run derby would work under current conditions, whether the pandemic makes MLB expansion more or less likely, what one would learn from watching every game from an MLB season (and how one would do it), why some prospects skip Triple-A, and why we don’t talk more about the brief baseball career of Chris Saenz, plus a Stat Blast about the highest Championship Leverage Index.

Audio intro: Paul McCartney, "Boil Crisis"
Audio outro: Paul McCartney, "Boil Crisis"

Link to free Baseball Digest archive
Link to history of “A walk is as good as a hit”
Link to study on OBP vs. batting average
Link to Sam on the home run derby
Link to Joel Sherman on the Home Run Derby
Link to first episode of 1960 home run derby
Link to Stat Blast song covers thread
Link to Theodor Bierhoff’s Stat Blast song cover
Link to list of highest-CLI plays
Link to video of highest-CLI play
Link to article on Willie McCovey and Peanuts
Link to Peanuts strips on Willie McCovey
Link to Maury Brown on expansion
Link to Ben on minor league difficulty
Link to 2013 article on skipping Triple-A
Link to 2015 article on skipping Triple-A
Link to 2016 article on skipping Triple-A
Link to order The MVP Machine

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