Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a broadcaster relatably mixing up Taylor Ward and Tyler Wade , the Dodgers “fixing” former Rockies pitcher Yency Almonte , a deep, perplexing rabbit hole (7:46) of baseball-themed CarShield commercials, the bat spike as the new bat flip, an umpire’s close call with a broken-bat shard, and the building backlash against position-player pitchers. After that (39:13), they welcome back former major leaguer and current Giants director of video coaching Fernand...
Jun 17, 2022•1 hr 54 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what it means to be humbled, whether Joe Maddon’s mohawk could have caught on and caused a Shohawk had he not been fired, another point about Aaron Judge ’s potentially historic home-run pace, a Byron Buxton fun fact, whether Buxton or Luis Arraez is a more entertaining hitter, Ozzie Albies’ fluky foot fracture, and a smart baserunning play by the Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman . Then (37:10) they answer listener emails about Pete Alonso ads for extended car wa...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 51 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Maddon’s mohawk, the latest details about Mike Trout’ s (and Tommy Pham’ s and Joc Pederson’ s) legendary fantasy football league, a rash of hidden-ball-trick attempts, the “old guy’s still got it” resurgences of Nelson Cruz and Joey Votto , how big a deal Aaron Judge’ s potentially historic home-run pace should be, the two-way dominance and unsurpassed hard-hitting of the Yankees (including Matt Carpenter’ s hot start with the team), the AL East hog...
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 33 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Maddon’s firing, the impact and end of the Angels’ 14-game losing streak, and whether the Angels or Phillies are in a worse position for the future, Tony La Russa’s intentional walk on a 1-2 count, whether the weather and the humidor can explain MLB’s sudden upticks in fly-ball distance and home-run rate, the testing of experimental, legalized sticky stuff in the minor leagues, Hunter Greene’ s rain-shortened run at a Statcast no-hitter, how the Card...
Jun 11, 2022•1 hr 50 min
With Meg Rowley on the road, Ben Lindbergh talks to a trio of guests. First (4:10), he’s joined by Mr. King , the creator of Northwoods Baseball Sleep Radio, to talk about baseball as ASMR, crafting a fictional league, broadcaster, and collection of players, replicating the soothing, white-noise sounds of a baseball broadcast, putting his listeners to sleep, and more. Then (34:32) Ben brings on coach and journalist John W. Miller to examine how the rise of private travel baseball clubs and pay-t...
Jun 10, 2022•1 hr 57 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Yastrzemski trying the “KK play,” the distinctive smell of rat urine, Buck Showalter making a mid-PA pitching change, Dave Roberts running afoul of a position-player-pitcher rule, the wording of the zombie-runner rule, Nick Pivetta’ s near-miraculous mechanical adjustment, and Mike Trout ’s slump, plus a baseball-history fact from 1859. Then (38:54) they talk to former Phillies front-office executive Lewie Pollis about how working for an MLB team be...
Jun 06, 2022•1 hr 30 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joe Girardi’s firing and where the Phillies go from here, the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez extension, the dip in DH offense, and the trade deadline, then answer listener emails about MLB.TV highlights, the upside of ignoring playoff odds, getting plunked on a full count, things that haven’t happened in an MLB game, players being coached by their romantic partners, and what would happen if no one wanted to play catcher, plus a history tidbit from 1858 and a few...
Jun 04, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce the availability of new Effectively Wild T-shirts, then follow up on the latest, Mike Trout -related developments in the Tommy Pham – Joc Pederson fantasy-football/slap story as well as Josh Donaldson ’s comments about his teammates not supporting him. After that, they banter about a home-run robbery that wasn’t, the homer hitting of Aaron Judge , a successful use of the “KK play” to deke a runner into leaving third base early, the return of MVP-caliber Mook...
Jun 03, 2022•1 hr 37 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Nick Castellanos ’s uncanny tater timing, and then (4:43) Ben attempts to explain the Joc Pederson – Tommy Pham fantasy-football dispute (and resulting slap) to Meg. After that (44:42), they discuss the Reds’ resurgence, an umpire’s hot mic, updates on defensive-positioning restrictions and the forthcoming pitch clock, and whether the standings will present enough suspense this summer. Finally (1:19:42), they debut a new history segment about an event th...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 41 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley answer listener emails about why we don’t see more hidden-ball tricks in MLB, why big leaguers practice fielding grounders between innings, comparing the careers of Paul Goldschmidt and Freddie Freeman , how baseball broadcasts should discuss domestic-violence suspensions, whether Rickey Henderson would still have stolen bases if he’d been inflicted with Glass Ass Syndrome, and whether teams could get more favorable calls by riding umpires even harder than they alrea...
May 28, 2022•1 hr 39 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the apparent end of Mike Trout’ s long-lasting SuperPretzel sponsorship, Willians Astudillo ’s return to the majors, the Phillies’ fielding and a seeming surfeit of amusingly bad defensive plays across the league, the arrival of overall no. 1 prospect (and Orioles catcher) Adley Rutschman and how to tell when a prospect is really ready, the postponement of the 13-pitcher limit, the Yankees signing Matt Carpenter , different facial hair changing players’ ...
May 27, 2022•1 hr 35 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to Kelly Pracht , the CEO and co-founder of predictive analytics startup nVenue , which has provided the real-time probabilities displayed on this season’s MLB Network-produced Friday Night Baseball broadcasts on Apple TV+. They discuss nVenue’s origin story, its sports-betting ambitions, its 100-plus-input machine-learning model, which factors are and aren’t predictive of performance, Ben and Meg’s misgivings about some of the displayed probabilities, and much ...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 47 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley pay tribute (for the umpteenth time) to the great Roger Angell, who died at 101 on Friday, then banter about which underperforming hitters are most in need of the kind of breakout game that slow-starting Trevor Story had this week. After that (21:41), they bring on listener and top-tier Patreon supporter Aaron Hartman to discuss his Effectively Wild, baseball, and betting origin stories, answer listener emails about umpire punch-out calls in the robo-umps era, quanti...
May 21, 2022•1 hr 58 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the rabidity of opossums and Eugenio Suárez ‘s keepie-uppie skills, then discuss the White Sox offense and Tony La Russa’s rationale for batting Andrew Vaughn ninth, Max Scherzer ’s oblique injury, and the possibility of a Juan Soto trade, before meeting major leaguers (53:30) Logan Gillaspie (Orioles) and Brandon Hughes (Cubs), and Stat Blasting (1:06:26) about the rapid Tyler/Taylor takeover of MLB player names. Audio intro : We Are Scientists, “ I Don...
May 20, 2022•1 hr 27 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about two of the worst defensive plays of the season, which came courtesy of the Tigers and Nationals, Albert Pujols pitching and walking, the Pirates winning without a hit (but with one correct prediction), and the breakout of Taylor Ward ; answer listener emails about banning gray uniforms, baseball jugglers, listing pitchers’ batting handedness in the universal-DH era, vetoing shifts and pitching changes, and catchers squatting too close to hitters; then St...
May 18, 2022•1 hr 33 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a wave of baseball ads for cryptocurrencies and NFTs coinciding with crashes in the crypto and NFT markets, injuries to Bryce Harper and Clayton Kershaw , the dominance of the Dodgers, Yankees, and (especially of late) Astros, the early NL West race, Robinson Canó getting a job as Jarred Kelenic loses one, the Mariners’ player development and the franchise’s future, the managerial line of succession and an unlikely player-manager scenario, and Devin Will...
May 14, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about which is more impressive, Reid Detmers throwing a two-strikeout no-hitter or right-handed hitter Anthony Rendon homering from the left side against a position-player pitcher, recount (11:50) the surprisingly long, largely forgotten history of the 20-seconds-between-pitches rule and the pitch clock in pro ball and the big leagues, and assess whether the upcoming introduction of the pitch clock to MLB will work better than a short-lived attempt in 1969, th...
May 13, 2022•2 hr 14 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Josh Naylor’ s record eight RBI after the eighth inning and the hot-hitting Guardians, José Ramírez taking a hometown discount to stay in Cleveland, Rangers manager Chris Woodward’s seemingly misinterpreted joke about Yankee Stadium, the perils of interpreting text-only quotes, Mets hitting coach Eric Chávez’s theory about MLB selectively juicing the ball, another way in which life is getting harder for hitters, Josh VanMeter’ s nightmare inning as an em...
May 11, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the joys of a pitcher’s duel between Shohei Ohtani and Rich Hill , have a spoiler-free discussion about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness being a baseball movie, examine whether the historically hapless Reds are truly tanking or are just a case of Nutting gone wrong, and talk about the state of the standings (including which teams have seen their playoff odds rise or fall the most in the first month of the season), followed by an update on leag...
May 07, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Madison Bumgarner ejection, players having to be held back, and sensual sticky-stuff inspections, the historically slow start of the Reds and Joey Votto’ s response to a FanGraphs article about his season-opening slump, and a study on which teams improve pitchers. Then (24:10) they discuss how John T. Brush of the 1889 Indianapolis Hoosiers discovered the “times through the order” penalty, implemented midgame pitching changes, and was forced to abandon...
May 05, 2022•1 hr 51 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about April’s low offensive numbers and Zack Greinke ’s deadball-style success, then (7:11) talk to 32-year MLB umpire Dale Scott and SABRcast host Rob Neyer , co-authors of Scott’s new memoir The Umpire is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self , touching on the definition of “nutcutter,” how Dale and Rob teamed up, whether Dale’s memories were accurate, the art of the umpire memoir, whether the book is a tell-all, umpire mechanics, the 7th inning of 2...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 38 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to MLB’s decision to suspend Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer for an unprecedented 324 games, then (22:25) discuss Justin Verlander and Ronald Acuña Jr. looking like their old selves and pitcher Tucker Davidson ’s critiques of the minor league pitch clock before answering listener emails about the Cardinals and how to evaluate teams whose pitching approaches seem out of step with the times, skeuomorphs and baseball terminology of uncertain origin, whether batters s...
Apr 30, 2022•1 hr 29 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MacKenzie Gore and how long a player’s career has to be for something he does to be described as a “career high,” Nick Senzel ’s proclivity toward catcher’s interference and the Reds’ ice-cold start, the first-place Los Angeles Angels, the hot starts of Mike Trout , Carlos Rodón , Joe Ryan , Kevin Gausman , and others, the aesthetics of swinging strikes vs. called strikes, the return of Ronald Acuña Jr. , a Cardinals-Mets beanbrawl, the Orioles embracing...
Apr 29, 2022•1 hr 23 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unsealing of the so-called “Yankees Letter” and what, if anything, it revealed about the past prevalence of sign stealing, the end of NPB pitcher Roki Sasaki’s consecutive outs streak and Matt Shoemaker’ s bid for perfection, the White Sox’s injury-plagued, disconcerting slump to start the season, Michael Conforto ’s season-ending surgery, whether Belli and Yeli ( Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich ) are or might soon be back to their old selves, fu...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the reaction to and tactical underpinnings of the Yankees’ controversial decision to walk Miguel Cabrera , the balance between win expectancy and entertainment, and whether analytically-driven changes have hurt baseball as a spectator experience more so than other sports, then (15:19) meet major leaguers Simón Muzziotti of the Phillies and Gosuke Katoh of the Blue Jays, Stat Blast (30:31) about whether increased time between pitches or rising pitch count...
Apr 23, 2022•1 hr 41 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about exactly how many feral cats have infested the Oakland Coliseum and exactly how few fans have attended A’s games this season, Miguel Cabrera’ s impending 3,000th hit and the potentially long time that may elapse before another player joins the 3,000-hit club, the recentism of MLB.TV highlights, the Guardians’ Gabriel Arias starting his career by reaching on error in two consecutive plate appearances (and the nickname of Icehouse Wilson ), an uptick in wea...
Apr 22, 2022•1 hr 53 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Angels manager Joe Maddon’s befuddling bases-loaded intentional walk to Corey Seager , NPB phenom Roki Sasaki’s perfect followup to his perfect game, Hunter Greene and velo-induced fear for young starters, injury close calls for Byron Buxton and Mike Trout , the rise of non-fastballs leaguewide and what Andrew Heaney’ s sweeper-iffic success says about player development, more stringent pitch clocks reducing game times in the minors, unvaccinated players...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr 36 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an unlikely grand slam on a major meatball pitch and the hot start of Seiya Suzuki , then answer listener emails about how to make baseball sound most appealing, the effect of using different-colored balls to denote different pitch types, whether umpires would be better at calling balls and strikes if they had PitchCom devices, Yandy Díaz and what makes a player a “beef boy,” whether we need a new signal for replay review now that umpires don’t use over-...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 24 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down a watershed week in overturning traditions, discussing the Dodgers pulling Clayton Kershaw after seven perfect innings and provoking a “baseball is dying” debate, the Giants flouting the unwritten rules, Alyssa Nakken debuting as the Giants’ first-base coach (under vexing circumstances), the new-look Alex Cobb , Andrew Heaney , and Jesús Luzardo , a three-homer game by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , the callup of Padres pitcher Mackenzie Gore, Albert Pujols calli...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 21 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about NPB phenom Roki Sasaki’ s 19-strikeout perfect game for the Chiba Lotte Marines, the historic crop of prospect debuts in the first week of this MLB season, the unprecedented career-starting hot streak of (and long-term outlook for) Cleveland’s Steven Kwan , A’s catcher Sean Murphy ’s butt photogenically taking one for the team, Alec Bohm and the Phillies’ bad-defense, good-offense approach, an exposé on the Pirates’ (lack of) spending, Reds ownership say...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 20 min
