Effectively Wild Episode 1659: Rotten Mather

February 24, 2021

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fernando Tatis Jr. coining a term for his contract, a Bill James tweet about analytics, and Shin-Soo Choo leaving MLB to make his belated KBO debut, share Stat Blasts about all-over-30 lineups and players who’ve dominated one position in their franchise’s history, and then (32:39) bring on FanGraphs author RJ McDaniel to talk about the recently unearthed comments by Mariners president and CEO Kevin Mather that led to Mather’s resignation, how Mather’s comments may reflect more pervasive problems with attitudes toward players, how the Mariners and their fans will try to move on, how minor league contraction has affected baseball in Vancouver (and beyond), the Blue Jays’ active offseason, why Blue Jays broadcasts aren’t easily accessible, and more.

Audio intro: Semi Precious Weapons, "Statues of Ourselves"
Audio interstitial: Cotton Mather, "The End of the Line"
Audio outro: Gord Downie, "Vancouver Divorce"

Link to story about Choo signing with the Wyverns
Link to story about Choo playing in front of his family
Link to EW episode about sabermetrics breaking baseball
Link to Stat Blast data about over-30 lineups
Link to Stat Blast data about positional team titans
Link to Mather video
Link to Mather transcript
Link to Mariners statement about Mather’s resignation
Link to MLBPA statement about Mather
Link to report about past complaints about Mather
Link to report about Mariners wrongful termination suit
Link to RJ on Mather
Link to study on accents and employability
Link to Patrick Dubuque on Mather
Link to story about Mariners culture post-Mather
Link to RJ on the Northwest League
Link to Torao Ooka B-Ref page