Effectively Wild Episode 1581: Endless Cycle

August 21, 2020

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fernando Tatis Jr.’s “grand slam cycle,” the most exciting cycle sequence, unwritten rules, how to interpret reports of rising TV ratings, why umpires call more strikes when they work with the same catchers, historical precedents for the Cardinals’ overstuffed schedule, a confounding Clayton Kershaw commercial, and Jeff Frye’s controversial cycle. Then (41:24) they talk to Baseball Prospectus associate editor Ginny Searle about Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman using a homophobic slur on a hot mic, Brennaman’s apologies and the responses to his slur and suspension, baseball’s history of homophobic comments, the careers of Glenn Burke and Bill Bean, diversity in broadcasting, the prospect of a player coming out, and what MLB and the Reds should do to make LGBT fans feel more welcome. Finally (1:05:29), FanGraphs author Craig Edwards joins to discuss how he handled the site’s annual trade value rankings in an uncertain season, how he thinks teams will approach the trade deadline, where public and private perceptions of trade value diverge, where he placed Mike Trout, and how he ranked Tatis, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Juan Soto.

Audio intro: Peter Matthew Bauer, "Transhistoric Cycles of Time"
Audio interstitial 1: The Tragically Hip, "Hot Mic"
Audio interstitial 2: Willie Nelson, "I’d Trade All of My Tomorrows (For Just One Yesterday)"
Audio outro: Peter Bjorn and John, "Weekend"

Link to “grand slam cycle” tweet
Link to Ben on Tatis and unwritten rules
Link to The Athletic’s MLB ratings story
Link to Rob Arthur on catchers and umpires
Link to article about the Cardinals’ schedule
Link to May 1, 1975 article about the Twins’ schedule
Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past
Link to Kershaw commercial
Link to Griffey Jr. commercial
Link to article about Frye’s cycle
Link to Ginny on Brennaman
Link to Brennaman’s on-air apology
Link to Brennaman’s written apology
Link to Dale Scott interview episode
Link to Bean interview episode
Link to Christina Kahrl interview episode
Link to Craig’s trade value series intro
Link to Craig’s trade value series top 10
Link to Ben Clemens on trading high-value players