Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rich Hill ’s latest (and hopefully not last) pitching exploits, then discuss how Rob Manfred’s desire to craft his legacy as commissioner could shape the sport’s direction, why sports commissioners’ tenures last so long, what qualities of the World Series-winning Dodgers rival teams might try to emulate, rumors surrounding the Dodgers and Roki Sasaki , and more. Audio intro : Moon Hound, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Justin Peters, “ Effective...
Nov 22, 2024•1 hr 26 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley solicit listener suggestions for an upcoming podcast series, discuss what they would ask potential employers if they were on a Juan Soto -esque free-agent tour, and banter about the Orioles dismantling “Walltimore,” the far-less-settled-than-expected situations of the A’s and Rays, differing medical evaluations and Brusdar Graterol ’s role in the Mookie Betts trade, the AL and NL Rookies of the Year, and the most interesting aspects of the Hall of Fame ballot. Audio ...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 33 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the resolution of the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy hearing, how declining broadcast revenue could lead to labor strife, and the Pirates’ reward offer for a baseball card that comes with a patch from Paul Skenes’ s debut jersey, then (28:42) bring on Patreon supporter Craig Wingbermuehle to discuss his job and Effectively Wild origin story and then (38:25) answer listener emails about why we don’t talk more about postseason revenue, why extensions rend...
Nov 16, 2024•1 hr 47 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on previous banter about the best title for a president of both baseball and business operations, then deliver fresh banter about how Derrek Lee ’s 2005 RBI total was a sign of its time, where the Rays will play in 2025 and beyond, the Marlins’ new manager, and a slew of modest Angels signings. Then (48:02) they’re joined by UPenn professor and post-doctoral researcher, respectively, Douglas Jerolmack and Shravan Pradeep , to discuss their recent research a...
Nov 15, 2024•1 hr 28 min
Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen banter about how to abbreviate Twins executive Derek Falvey’s new dual role as president of both baseball and business operations, then (5:23) discuss Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki from a scouting perspective, touching on how good he could be, how a team could ease him into MLB, what tweaks he could make to his repertoire, the bonus pool system that could help determine where he signs, and more. After that (50:16), Ben and Meg talk to NPB ...
Nov 13, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a listener proposal to artificially designate (and trade) a two-way player, then (19:28) conduct the 10th annual free agent contract over/under draft, plus closing banter (1:09:45) about the new Sacramento team’s city designation, a Philly front-office shuffle, and POBO priority. Audio intro : Philip Bergman, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Ian Phillips, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to typing monkeys research Link to typing monkeys research s...
Nov 09, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Ben Lindbergh and FanGraphs writer Ben Clemens banter about the latest batch of Scott Boras puns, position changes for Willson Contreras and Mookie Betts , surgery for Shohei Ohtani , Skip Schumaker’s move to Texas, and Buster Posey ’s front-office philosophy, then (47:21) discuss Other Ben’s top 50 free agents list—focusing on Juan Soto , Blake Snell , Corbin Burnes , Pete Alonso , Gleyber Torres , underrated/overrated options, and market trends—and (1:19:12) MLB’s most interesting offseason st...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 42 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about team/player option/opt-out decisions involving Gerrit Cole , Cody Bellinger , Blake Snell , and Eugenio Suárez , the Royals re-signing Michael Wacha , the players who received qualifying offers, the Minasian brothers as rival GMs (and potential PoBros), Carlos Santana ’s historic Gold Glove, an international signing scandal (on multiple levels), evidence of racial bias in player development, a Japan Series upset, and more, plus a postscript. Audio intro ...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 33 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about offseason EW, Tommy Kahnle’ s love affair with changeups, the Yankees’ preparation and fundamentals, Aaron Boone’s managing, the Dodgers as a dynasty, the White Sox hiring Will Venable, Alex Kirilloff ’s retirement, two prediction anecdotes, glove flips as the new bat flips, the check-swing challenge system, the Premier12 tournament, the Women’s Pro Baseball League, Eric Adams and the World Series, a Yankees executive keeping things in perspective, a rec...
Nov 02, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Games 4 and 5 of the World Series, with an emphasis on Game 5’s error-plagued fifth inning, managerial moves and bullpen performance, the significance of the Dodgers’ victory and the future of the franchise, puzzling stats about sweeps and teams that fall behind 3-0 in best-of-seven series, cluttered fun facts, fan interference mishegoss, and much more. Audio intro : Gabriel-Ernest, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Daniel Lewis, “ Effectively Wil...
Nov 01, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about and break down the lopsided first three games of the World Series: what went as expected, what was surprising, Aaron Judge’ s postseason struggles, Freddie Freeman’ s heroics, Shohei Ohtani ’s injury, pivotal plays, Aaron Boone and Nestor Cortes , TV ratings, and much more, followed by (1:06:47) a brief, a not-about baseball voting PSA. Audio intro : Justin Peters, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Ted O., “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to FG pla...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Craig Goldstein, editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus , discuss the passing of Fernando Valenzuela , and his importance to both the Dodgers and baseball more generally. Then they preview the 2024 World Series between the Dodgers and the Yankees. They detail the relative strengths and weaknesses of both teams, breaking down the lineups, rotations, and bullpens, and discuss the players who might make the difference, from big stars like Ohtani, Betts, Judge and Soto, ...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Meg Rowley and guest co-host Eric Longenhagen, FanGraphs’ lead prospect analyst, discuss some of the eliminated playoff teams, Meg’s grand unified theory of Grimace, and a few of the things they are looking forward to in the coming Dodgers-Yankees World Series. Then they discuss what Eric does and doesn’t look for in his Arizona Fall League looks, and how things are going for a few of the Fall League’s big prospects, including Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter , Braves catcher Drake Baldwin , Dodg...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s surprise presence and PitchCom conspiracies, recap the big moments (and big swings) from the end of the ALCS and NLCS, compare and contrast Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton , consider the 2025 outlooks for the Guardians and Mets, discuss the implications of a World Series matchup between big spenders, preview the Series, and share stats about Emmanuel Clase ’s postseason implosion, the meeting of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge , and the star-studded-...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Game 3 of the ALCS and Game 4 of the NLCS, follow up (39:05) on replay review, fly-ball classifications, and executive titles, answer listener emails (53:22) about retiring numbers for both home and road teams and correctly labeling bat “flips,” and Stat Blast (1:03:46) about postseason despair, ball behavior, and roster turnover, plus (1:50:49) a postscript. Audio intro : Tom Rhoads, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Benny and a Million Shetland ...
Oct 19, 2024•1 hr 59 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a report that Jerry Reinsdorf might be willing to sell the White Sox, then (13:22) discuss the tactics and storylines of ALCS and NLCS Game 2, including controversial Vogt decisions, how Yankees fans would perceive a pennant or championship, the importance of Max Muncy , visualizing success, Shohei Ohtani ’s small-sample splits and playoff history, and more. After that (1:08:02), they answer listener emails about people who don’t know Ohtani can pitch, w...
Oct 18, 2024•1 hr 46 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a mayoral Yankees/Mets cap and the history of politicians flubbing comments about baseball, tease their next playoff livestream, and discuss when it’s acceptable to call a game “winner take all,” the conclusion of the Division Series round, José Ramírez the motivator, the Tigers’ 2025 outlook, nobody believing in the Dodgers (supposedly), how Dave Roberts is doing, injury-compromised players, the first games of the NLCS and ALCS, the clutch hitting of Ki...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 42 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about not sleeping on the less star-studded but still exciting AL Central Division Series, a David Fry prediction, the reliever familiarity effect, an abhorrent TV shot, the Yankees’ ALDS victory, when the Royals will return to October, the Braves firing a few coaches, the future of Tropicana Field, and how MLB will weather climate change. Then (1:00:24) Ben clears out a backlog of seven Stat Blasts, on: Jon Berti and starting at a position for the first time ...
Oct 12, 2024•2 hr 5 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the possibility of players predicting opponents’ home runs, the Mets’ NLDS victory, New York’s title drought, Padres-Dodgers Games 3 and 4, Walker Buehler’ s “earned” runs, Manny Machado ’s clever, controversial dash, ALDS updates, a green-screen response and broadcast nitpicks, the possibly impending sale of the Twins, whether the ’25 Angels can pull a ’24 Royals, TJ3 deets, and a drastic injury-prevention prescription, plus a postscript. Audio intro : ...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 58 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest home run predictions (by Carlos Estévez and Lawrence Butler ), top closers blowing leads, the compelling, competitive postseason, highlights of recent games, broadcasters invoking momentum, replay controversies, and Padres-Dodgers bad blood, plus follow-ups on green screens (or the lack thereof) on baseball broadcasts, fun-fact qualifiers, and the Reds and the Selig Rule, and closing banter about the Brewers and Willy Adames . Audio intro : El...
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 51 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Pete Alonso ’s huge homer off of Devin Williams , the chaos and colorful characters surrounding the Mets, the difficulty of counting the qualifiers in an Alonso fun fact, Alonso’s free agency, the compelling nature of the Division Series matchups, previews of each series, the front-office shake-ups of the Cardinals and Giants, the Reds hiring Terry Francona and the state of the Selig Rule, Triple Tommy John surgery, how uncertainty about broadcast deals ...
Oct 05, 2024•1 hr 54 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about distracting digital and between-pitch ads and ever-present win probability graphs on playoff broadcasts, the concept of controlling your own destiny, Orlando Arcia hugging Manny Machado , consternation about postseason small samples, Monday’s memorable Mets-Braves doubleheader, Carlos Mendoza’s Edwin Díaz decision, the most compelling postseason storylines, the early exits of the Orioles, Astros, and Braves, the futures of the Orioles and Tigers, MLB’s u...
Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 59 min
In (dis)honor of the 2024 White Sox displacing the 1962 Mets atop the modern-era single-season losses leaderboard, Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens , and Yahoo Sports’s Jordan Shusterman conduct a draft of facts and stats about this record-setting Sox season, scored by Sox Machine White Sox reporter James Fegan , who also describes covering the team’s disastrous play. Audio intro : Alex Ferrin, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Jonathan Crymes, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” ...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 26 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the 50th anniversary of the first Tommy John surgery and how baseball would be different if the procedure had never been pioneered, then (15:14) preview the 2024 postseason by pinpointing the biggest strength and weakness of each AL (21:40) and NL (1:00:17) playoff team. Audio intro : Jimmy Kramer, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : The Shirey Brothers, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Link to TJ 50th anniversary info Link to John anniversary interview L...
Sep 28, 2024•1 hr 43 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB’s oddly extended YouTube highlight videos, the league’s handling of a crucial, rained-out Mets/Brave series, the zombie runner rearing its ugly head in games with playoff implications, teams that are well-positioned for an especially free-for-all October, Emmanuel Clase’ s Cy case, the value of top position players vs. top pitchers, and the Pirates’ suspiciously timed ta-ta to Rowdy Tellez . Then (1:02:42) they talk to The Athletic ’s Melissa Lockard...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 47 min
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s return from vacation, Corbin Burnes’ s cutter comeback, the demotion of CJ Abrams , the no-longer-dynamic duo of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer , the firing of Reds manager David Bell, the Tigers promoting Jackson Jobe , Shota Imanaga’ s post-NPB performance, teams refusing to use injuries as an excuse, Charlie Blackmon’ s career and home-road splits, Matt Chapman’ s long, non-homer hits, and whether to discount Shohei Ohtani ’s power-speed expl...
Sep 25, 2024•1 hr 53 min
Ben Lindbergh and FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens dissect the glorious game in which Shohei Ohtani founded the 50-50 and 51-51 Clubs, Ohtani’s most awe-inspiring feats, and his future, followed (29:51) by banter about the state of defensive stats, the mystery of Salvador Perez ’s swing decisions, questionable kudos for Bud Black, whether Victor Robles made the worst steal attempt of all time, and MLB’s Players of the Game. Then (1:19:55) Ben talks to trailblazing journalist Melissa Ludtke , author of Loc...
Sep 21, 2024•2 hr 17 min
In a bonus EW episode, Ben Lindbergh talks to screenwriter and former editor-in-chief of The Onion Robert Siegel about his classic Onion opinion piece, “In My Day, Ballplayers Were For Shit,” how The Onion used to approach sports coverage, the importance of headlines and stock photos, satirizing baseball vs. satirizing other sports, why The Onion hasn’t lost its fastball, and more, plus (55:53) a postscript. Audio intro : Josh Busman, “ Effectively Wild Theme ” Audio outro : Alex Glossman and Al...
Sep 21, 2024
Ben Lindbergh and Joe Sheehan banter about high school, the persistent, befuddling allure of Craig Kimbrel , the Orioles’ recent struggles, the playoff-fumble potential of four teams that previously possessed 90-plus-percent playoff odds, their prediction philosophies, the potential for legislation to curb the excesses of sports betting, and what the surprise “retirement” of Adrian Wojnarowski says about the difference between baseball’s biggest newsbreakers and those of other sports, plus a pos...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Ben Lindbergh and FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski banter about Ben’s timing in respect to Declan Cronin’ s homerless streak, the perils of podcasts, predictions, and regression to the mean, the White Sox cutting payroll and their projections for the rest of this season, next season, and beyond, Gerrit Cole’ s ignominious intentional walk, Alex Cora’s seeming admission that the Red Sox threw at Aaron Judge , Farhan Zaidi’s future in San Francisco, Heliot Ramos’ s historic splash hit, Mike Trout ’s poss...
Sep 18, 2024•2 hr 2 min
