Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley convene an emergency podcast to discuss Shohei Ohtani’ s exhilarating, terrifying, and historic Sunday Night Baseball performance against the White Sox (which veered from triumph to near-tragedy), touching on Ohtani’s titanic home run and resounding bat crack, the aesthetics of his stuff, his Statcast superstardom, his narrow escape from injury after a controversial move (or non-move) by Joe Maddon, and more, plus ruminations on Ty Buttrey ’s farewell. Audio intro : ...
Apr 05, 2021•58 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about immersing themselves in Opening Day action, Opening Day highlights and oddities, early-season optimism, the divisive automatic-runner rule, the Francisco Lindor extension and why it matters so much for the Mets, the perception of players’ positive COVID tests today compared to last season, what they’re most looking forward to this season, and much more. Audio intro : Hippo Campus, " Baseball " Audio outro : Paul Weller, " Brand New Start " Link to Sam on...
Apr 02, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the completion of the season preview series and the Marlins renaming Marlins Park “loanDepot park,” do a draft of current corporate-sponsored MLB ballpark names from least to most objectionable, and then preview the 2021 Dodgers (24:20) with Pedro Moura of the The Athletic and the 2021 Orioles (1:09:03) with Joe Trezza of MLB.com. 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CIN COL NYM M...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 58 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg getting vaccinated, the social dynamics of looser restrictions for vaccinated MLB players, an update on the infamous Tom & Jerry baseball scene, another baseball term named after a player, Willians Astudillo making the Twins, a few other players not making their respective teams, politicians’ performative fandom, Randy Dobnak and the future of contract extensions, and FanGraphs’ spring membership drive, then preview the 2021 Yankees (41:14) with ...
Mar 30, 2021•1 hr 57 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how the absence of the injured Eloy Jiménez will affect the White Sox, follow up on their discussions from the preceding episode about distracting on-field animals and baseball terms named after teams or players, then preview the 2021 Padres (19:37) with Dennis Lin of the The Athletic and the 2021 Rockies (1:03:17) with Nick Groke of The Athletic . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI...
Mar 27, 2021•1 hr 52 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Isiah Kiner-Falefa being mad at Meg (sort of), a billboard in Boston about Mookie Betts , MLB’s renewed attempts to crack down on foreign-substance use, and what an NHL referee oopsie says about umpire makeup calls and automated strike zones, then answer listener emails about whether the season preview podcast series influences their appraisals of teams, how baseball would be different if it weren’t different at all, the definition of a “Chicago,” exploi...
Mar 25, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest spring exploits of Shohei Ohtani , the Royals extending Salvador Perez , rooting against injuries in spring training, and a mysterious former major leaguer known only as “Lewis,” then preview the 2021 Mets (37:09) with Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News and the 2021 Marlins (1:14:26) with Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA ...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 52 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley preview the 2021 Astros with Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and the 2021 Rangers (54:07) with Levi Weaver of The Athletic . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CIN COL NYM MIL LAD PHI PIT SDP WSN STL SFG Audio intro : The Felice Brothers, " T for Texas " Audio interstitial : Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez, " Dirty Little Texas Story " Audio outro : 2nd Grade, " Bye-Bye Texas " Lin...
Mar 19, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley attempt to make sense of unsightly spring training uniforms, then preview the 2021 Braves (08:42) with Grant McAuley of From The Diamond and the 2021 Mariners (45:27) with Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CIN COL NYM MIL LAD PHI PIT SDP WSN STL SFG Audio intro : Ken Stringfellow, " Uniforms " Audio interstitial : Anti-Flag, " 20 Years of Hell " Audio outr...
Mar 19, 2021
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about weirdness and whimsy in spring training, the Giants and Cleveland playing an unnecessary bottom of the ninth (without umpires), the 22-pitch plate appearance between Jordan Hicks and Luis Guillorme , Jacob deGrom ’s ever-escalating velocity, and two recent research pieces, then preview the 2021 Twins (23:33) with Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic and the 2021 Tigers (59:27) with Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group. 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 42 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley pass the halfway point of their 30-team season preview series by previewing the 2021 White Sox with James Fegan of The Athletic and the 2021 Diamondbacks (46:45) with Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic , plus a brief postscript on the career and retirement of Nick Markakis . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CIN COL NYM MIL LAD PHI PIT SDP WSN STL SFG Audio intro : Parquet Courts, " Black...
Mar 13, 2021•1 hr 28 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the new baseball format embraced by the Savannah Bananas, the experimental rules MLB is imposing at various levels of the minor leagues in 2021, and whether they would want to live in a ballpark (like a man who claims to have lived for three years in Veterans Stadium), then answer listener emails about whether this season’s spring training stats are more or less meaningless than usual, the ideal photo to represent baseball on the sport’s Wikipedia page, ...
Mar 12, 2021•1 hr 24 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB.TV repetition, Yadier Molina throwing out Jose Siri , teams opting to end innings early, the effect of Jarred Kelenic ’s injury on the Mariners service-time controversy, the Astros signing Jake Odorizzi , and teams being more brazen about lowering their competitive balance tax assessments, then preview the 2021 Blue Jays (21:50) with Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic and the 2021 Giants (1:06:14) with Grant Brisbee of The Athletic . 2021 EW Season Prev...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 40 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani ’s first home run and pitching appearance of spring training, follow up on their previous discussion about the abominable baseball scene in Tom & Jerry , and recap the results of a Baseball America study about the number of big leaguers (and good big leaguers) in the average farm system, then preview the 2021 Red Sox (31:32) with Alex Speier of The Boston Globe and the 2021 Reds (1:13:42) with C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic . 2021 E...
Mar 06, 2021•1 hr 58 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Justin Dunn ’s offseason overhaul and the value of spring training clichés, the Brewers signing Jackie Bradley Jr. , why Jake Odorizzi is still a free agent, where he’ll end up, and why he’ll decide the EW free agent contracts competition, and an abominable baseball scene from the new movie Tom & Jerry . Then (41:25) they bring on Sam Rosenthal and Joel Clarke of video game studio The Game Band , the creators of the viral online simulation league Bla...
Mar 05, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about spring training games starting, Jeff Mathis batting cleanup in a spring training game (and once improbably batting fifth in a regular-season game), the latest reports about suspended Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway, the postponement of the start of the Triple-A season, the outlook for attendance in Texas, and Zack Greinke ’s quest to join the exclusive 10-10 club for pitchers, then preview the 2021 Angels (26:23) with Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic ...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 44 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jarred Kelenic ’s beef with the Mariners about alleged service-time manipulation, then preview the 2021 Nationals (25:37) with Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post and the 2021 Cubs (59:43) with Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CIN COL NYM MIL LAD PHI PIT SDP WSN STL SFG Audio intro : Ty Segall, " Manipulator " Audio interstitial 1 : Gary Lou...
Feb 27, 2021•1 hr 44 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley preview the 2021 Athletics with Alex Coffey of The Athletic and the 2021 Phillies (30:13) with Matt Gelb of The Athletic . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CIN COL NYM MIL LAD PHI PIT SDP WSN STL SFG Audio intro : The Divine Comedy, " Come Home Billy Bird " Audio interstitial : George Harrison, " Stuck Inside a Cloud " Audio outro : The Apples in Stereo, " Play Tough " Link to Alex on Bean...
Feb 24, 2021
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fernando Tatis Jr. coining a term for his contract, a Bill James tweet about analytics, and Shin-Soo Choo leaving MLB to make his belated KBO debut, share Stat Blasts about all-over-30 lineups and players who’ve dominated one position in their franchise’s history, and then (32:39) bring on FanGraphs author RJ McDaniel to talk about the recently unearthed comments by Mariners president and CEO Kevin Mather that led to Mather’s resignation, how Mather’s co...
Feb 24, 2021•1 hr 19 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about discordant college baseball uniform fonts, a piece by Blake Snell in The Players’ Tribune , and whether there’s a competitive advantage in making the bullpen less visible to the pitcher on the mound, then preview the 2021 Cardinals (15:13) with Will Leitch of MLB.com (and elsewhere) and the 2021 Cleveland baseball team (58:59) with Zack Meisel of The Athletic , plus a postscript about the underrated (and re-signed) Brett Gardner . 2021 EW Season Preview ...
Feb 20, 2021•1 hr 42 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Baltimore Orioles trending on Twitter because of their 0.0 percent FanGraphs playoff odds, what that figure really signifies, and how teams tend to respond to pessimistic projections, then break down why the record-breaking 14-year extension signed by superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is a windfall for him, great news for fans of the Padres, and a boon to baseball. After that (35:10), they celebrate Prospect Week at FanGraphs by bringing on lead...
Feb 19, 2021•1 hr 38 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the beginning of the ninth annual Effectively Wild team-by-team season preview series, discuss a trio of players ( Justin Turner , James Paxton , and Jake Arrieta ) who re-signed with their most recent or former teams, and preview the 2021 Rays (16:01) with Adam Berry of MLB.com and the 2021 Brewers (57:25) with Will Sammon of The Athletic . 2021 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR KCR SEA TOR MIN TEX NL ATL CHC ARI MIA CI...
Feb 15, 2021•1 hr 36 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the de-naming and possible renaming of the minor leagues, the Andrew Benintendi trade and the state of the Royals, and what they would add to SABR’s list of the 50 most noteworthy moments in the evolution of baseball analytics over the past 50 years, then (30:00) bring back NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Systems Engineer (and baseball fan) Shannon Towey to discuss adopting the Dodgers, the Mets’ offseason, the physics of baseball, the upcoming landing of...
Feb 13, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about having baseball on the brain and the NL Central’s measly World Series odds, then answer listener emails about umpire underwear and repeated pants-splitting, an eccentric baseball billionaire who wants his son to break Cy Young’s career wins record, whether they would pitch a big-league game in exchange for Trevor Bauer ’s single-start salary, Nelson Cruz and the Hall of Fame character clause, what percentage of teams have a Hall of Famer, what Pirates fa...
Feb 11, 2021•1 hr 30 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the incredible longevity of Dodgers Spanish-language voice Jaime Jarrín (who’s outlasted his own son in the broadcast booth), break down the new, universal-DH-less health and safety protocols for the 2021 season and MLB’s adjustments to the baseball’s construction, the Elvis Andrus – Khris Davis trade and the unprecedented positional profile of Isiah Kiner-Falefa , and Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna signing and the biggest surprises on the FanGraphs Playoff Odd...
Feb 10, 2021•1 hr 31 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest developments for their minor league free agent draft teams, then discuss the Dodgers signing reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer to an unexpected and unusually structured record contract, touching on the good and bad of Bauer, the incredible Dodgers-Padres arms race, and much more. Then (39:04) they draft their favorite responses to a recent viral tweet about the best, worst, and weirdest beliefs about baseball. Audio intro : Someon...
Feb 06, 2021•1 hr 28 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the Rockies’ press conference about the Nolan Arenado trade and GM Jeff Bridich claiming the belt as the game’s most-maligned GM, then discuss Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway’s suspension and Andrelton Simmons’ comments about his mental state in 2020, analyze the Twins re-signing Nelson Cruz and signing Alex Colomé , the Rays reuniting with Chris Archer , the Reds adding Sean Doolittle , and the Brewers landing Kolten Wong , touch on A.J. Preller’s promot...
Feb 04, 2021•1 hr 14 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the Nolan Arenado trade from the Rockies’ and Cardinals’ perspectives, reflect on the Rockies’ rudderless state, touch on a few more minor transactions ( Alex Cobb to the Angels, Didi Gregorius to the Phillies, and Eddie Rosario to Cleveland), remember the career of the now-retired Dustin Pedroia , and touch on the latest exchanges between MLB and the MLBPA about when to start the season (with a postscript about late-breaking news). Audio intro : Keith Ric...
Feb 02, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the quirks and cancellation of a long-lost (and recently rediscovered) baseball successor to arcade hit NBA Jam called Power-Up Baseball , then discuss the Cubs signing Joc Pederson and the Cardinals bringing back Adam Wainwright and (probably) Yadier Molina , share a Stat Blast about where Wainwright and Molina rank among the most prolific pitcher-catcher combos of all time in terms of total starts, break down Nick Madrigal’ s chances of achieving the “...
Jan 30, 2021•1 hr 29 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs author Ben Clemens break down the Marcus Semien , Andrelton Simmons , and Tommy La Stella signings, the Steven Matz trade, and Masahiro Tanaka ’s decision to return to NPB’s Rakuten Eagles (with digressions about Japan’s tradition of awarding the uniform number 18 to aces and the greatness of Hiroki Kuroda ) before explaining what the internet-driven inflation of GameStop stock has to do with the Mets, why Billy Beane isn’t leaving the A’s after all, and ...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 45 min
