Effectively Wild Episode 2469: Tanks for Nothing

by
April 23, 2026

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about vagueposting screenshots of Baseball Savant percentiles, a Ron Darling comment during the Mets’ 12th consecutive loss about why pitchers shouldn’t apologize to batters for throwing inside, team-level changes in pitch usage and results this season, why MLB partly escaped the NBA’s tanking epidemic, why relievers are struggling so far, baseball parallels to track’s quest to produce lighter shoes, and an EW listener meetup tool (password: EW2026), then Stat Blast (1:25:12) about player home run totals that outstripped team win totals, winning streaks built from other teams’ losing streaks, and batting orders with jersey numbers that matched lineup slots, plus (1:39:40) a postscript.

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)”
Audio outro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to vagueposting wiki
Link to Buxton/McLean matchup
Link to pitch before homer
Link to home run pitch
Link to Clemens on McLean
Link to Clemens on hard in, soft away
Link to Ben on the Pirates
Link to Sawchik on the Pirates
Link to THT on the Pirates
Link to Dan S. on the Mets
Link to SNY ritual clip
Link to MLB.com on SNY ritual
Link to Baumann on Lumineers curse
Link to Mr. Met/Lumineers post
Link to NYT on Mamdani curse
Link to Rosenberg Mr. Met story
Link to team pitching changes
Link to 2025 team FA%
Link to 2026 team FA%
Link to Senzatela pitch usage
Link to pitch-type usage by year
Link to 2025 team Stuff+
Link to 2026 team Stuff+
Link to 2025 team contact%
Link to 2026 team contact%
Link to 2025 team pitching WAR
Link to 2026 team pitching WAR
Link to Sportico on NBA tanking
Link to Gold Plan wiki
Link to Gilbert “catch”
Link to MLB.com on Legumina
Link to MLBTR on Legumina
Link to MLB SP stats
Link to MLB RP stats
Link to WSJ running shoes article
Link to Ben on MLB player improvements
Link to Cooper on fastball speed
Link to fastball speed joke graphic
Link to listener meetup tool (PW: EW2026)
Link to meetup tool Reddit post
Link to HR>wins spreadsheet
Link to losing streaks spreadsheet
Link to jersey=lineup slot data
Link to Kenny Jackelen
Link to listener emails database
Link to streak-snapping Mets gamer
Link to 1914 Federal League game
Link to 1991 Pirates-Cubs game
Link to 2011 Dodgers-Diamondbacks game
Link to 1952 Dodgers-Braves game
Link to 2017 Yankees-Rays game
Link to 1928 Cleveland-Detroit game
Link to 1923 Dodgers-Cardinals game
Link to 1934 Cardinals-Reds game
Link to 2004 Rangers-Tigers game
Link to 2019 Diamondbacks-Brewers game
Link to EW Episode 2405
Link to Nimmo/Semien comparison
Link to Murakami homers fun fact
Link to Clemens on Murakami
Link to Kruk in a suit
Link to Farley’s Matt Foley skit
Link to Farley’s Kruk skit
Link to Weaver post

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