Effectively Wild Episode 1954: ’Los Got Physical

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the conclusion of the Carlos Correa free agency saga, breaking down his new, actually finalized contract with the Twins, reviewing his offseason odyssey, and trying to anticipate his future. Then (28:20) they banter about Trevor Story’s elbow surgery, the Blue Jays’ and Marlins’ signings of Brandon Belt and Johnny Cueto, respectively (and Belt’s thoughts on chicken tenders), the Tigers moving in and lowering the fences at Comerica Park, and ballplayers’ belts and their handedness (dis)advantages as characteristics that set baseball apart. After that (54:47), they talk to two professors from the University of Illinois, Daniel Eck and Adrian Burgos, Jr., about their research into fans’ inflated appraisals of players from the distant past, the changing caliber of play in the majors over time, and adjusting traditional and advanced stats for the expansion of the player pool, followed (1:35:19) by a few updates and a Past Blast from 1954.

Audio intro: The Decemberists, “Red Right Ankle
Audio interstitial: Uncle Tupelo, “Factory Belt
Audio outro: Frank Sinatra, “I Don’t Believe in Rumors

Link to Ben Clemens on Correa again
Link to Heyman on Correa
Link to Rosenthal on Correa
Link to Correa’s comments
Link to Mets’ Correa statement
Link to over/under draft results
Link to story on Story
Link to internal brace info
Link to Story’s arm strength
Link to Justin Choi on Belt
Link to Belt on chicken tenders
Link to Leo Morgenstern on Cueto
Link to Comerica alterations
Link to Miggy reaction
Link to HR park factors
Link to info on Miggy at Comerica
Link to long outs at Comerica
Link to more long outs at Comerica
Link to ballpark homogenization study
Link to lefty advantage research
Link to more on lefty advantages
Link to NYT on lefties and sports
Link to FG on the lefty pitcher edge
Link to Eck’s professor page
Link to Burgos’s professor page
Link to previous Burgos appearance
Link to adjusted WAR leaderboard
Link to technical model details
Link to Eck on era adjustments
Link to results part I
Link to results part II
Link to results part III
Link to MLB-eligible population
Link to Ben on quality of play
Link to 1954 story source
Link to article on baseball-fan age
Link to Jacob Pomrenke’s website
Link to Jacob Pomrenke on Twitter
Link to Nightengale on the Braves
Link to 2012 Anthopoulous article
Link to MLBTR on Vogt
Link to typesetting characters info

 Sponsor Us on Patreon
 Facebook Group
 Twitter Account
 EW Subreddit
 Effectively Wild Wiki
 iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)
 Get Our Merch!
 Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com





1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
idliamin
1 year ago

Ben, on the impending Twins/Carlos Correa signing press conference: “We might about to find out that [Correa] has a peg leg. ‘That’s the problem, he has a peg leg, and it’s fine, he can play on it, but if termites get in there, then that could be an issue at some point.’” I’m dead lmao 🤣