Effectively Wild Episode 1712: The 21-Strikeout Salute

June 26, 2021

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the brief big league stay of knuckleballer Mickey Jannis, Joey Votto’s predictions, decline, and reminders of mortality, Greg Maddux forecasting foul balls, and the states of the Cubs and Dodgers post-combined no-hitter. Then they answer listener emails about whether MLB regrets making Statcast data publicly available in the wake of scandals about the ball and foreign substances, why coaches don’t visit hitters mid-inning the way they visit pitchers, why WAR isn’t tailored to individual teams, and how much worse rooting for a terrible team is than rooting for one that’s merely bad, with closing banter about Aaron Nola tying the consecutive-strikeout record and the potential for a seven-inning game to thwart a pitcher’s attempt to record a 21-strikeout outing.