Effectively Wild Episode 2369: The Epitome of Mid
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk about not talking about the Cardinals, then banter about Sandy Alcantara’s resurgence, whether Walker Buehler will have his own bounceback for the Phillies, Ha-Seong Kim’s reunion with Jurickson Profar, the concept of “adversarial location,” Aroldis Chapman and Taj Bradley‘s discoveries of inside/outside and scouting reports, respectively, Chapman’s extension, whether Luis Arraez’s strikeout avoidance is still fun, a notable FARTBAT, switch-thrower Carlos Cortes, and Meg’s Mariners anxiety.
Audio intro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)”
Link to Cardinals odds graph
Link to Cardinals WAR leaders
Link to team attendance changes
Link to preseason team projections
Link to Glaser bobblehead
Link to Alcantara leaderboard
Link to team SP projections
Link to team RP projections
Link to Judge article
Link to Olney video
Link to Olney pitch-type splits
Link to Dan S. on Chapman
Link to Chapman on DV
Link to Bradley article
Link to K%+ leaderboard
Link to Dan S. on Arraez
Link to Sam on Arraez
Link to Goodhart’s Law
Link to FARTBAT episode
Link to Story HR video
Link to Story HR article
Link to Cortes article
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The attendance in St. Louis has been supported for years by deeply discounted tickets and aggressive moves by the ticket department to flood the market with supply.
That strategy changed in 2025, coinciding with the club telling fans, “We are not trying for awhile.”
Less supply, no discounts on weeknight tickets and high price floors on primary and secondary. Combine that with a lack of reasons to go to the ballgames and you get…a sea of red seats.
Any BFIB who has not yet gotten the message about the rebuild is beyond help at this point.