Effectively Wild Episode 1739: Poff Piece

August 27, 2021

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh talks to The Ringer’s Zach Kram about how the red-hot Yankees have salvaged their season, mounted their longest winning streak in 60 years, and put themselves in playoff position. Then (27:33) Ben brings on John Poff, former major leaguer and Stat Blast star, to discuss his brief big league career, walking away from the game, being a bookworm in baseball, playing before big salaries, the evolution of coaching, failure fueling art, his peripatetic post-baseball life, his career as a writer and poet, the racism he observed in the sport, bringing baseball to Native American reservations, and more (plus a postscript about Charlie Watts the drummer and Charlie Watts the infielder, and Vin Scully on catcher framing).

Audio intro: The Rolling Stones, "Sway"
Audio interstitial: The Rolling Stones, "Dancing With Mr. D"
Audio outro: The Rolling Stones, "The Lantern"

Link to Zach’s Yankees article
Link to AL East playoff odds graph
Link to longest Yankees winning streaks
Link to Lindsey Adler on the Yankees
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Yankees
Link to Ringer MLB Show WS draft
Link to Poff’s SABR bio
Link to Poff’s piece on Donnie Moore
Link to Stat Blast about Poff
Link to Poff’s game against Sutter
Link to Fernando Perez episode
Link to Poff’s fundraiser
Link to later Poff fundraiser
Link to piece on salaries and ticket prices
Link to Roger Angell on player salaries
Link to Angell on player salaries and fans
Link to Scully clip
Link to Rob Harvilla on Watts
Link to story on Watts visiting the NLBM
Link to 1925 Watts photo
Link to Watts’ B-Ref page