TABLE OF CONTENTS The Cubs Buy Sushi*Chop the Chop (in Colorado)*Ryan Davis: Credentialed and Fatigued*A Dynasty Simultaneously Achieved and Denied*Were the Brewers Just Better?*Chili Davis is an Innocent Man!*Do Joe Maddon’s Lineup Changes Hurt Young Players?*In Praise of Tommy La Stella*The Terrance Gore Memorial Roster Spot*If You Swing Enough Times…*Kyle Hendricks, Pitching Detective (Guest-Starring Steve Adkins)*The Jason Heyward Problem*Heyward, Juan Soto, and Ronald Acuna*So Long, Addison...
Oct 12, 2018•2 hr 12 min
TABLE OF CONTENTS The Trial of Dizzy Dean*Dizzy Dean Balks*David Roth: Let’s Remember Guys Named Herm*Misplacing Bob Melvin and Maligning Tony Armas*A Quick Look at Dominic Smith*Questions of Confidence and Security in Baseball and Other Areas*And $200,000 in Nationals Tickets*Drunk People Are Boring*The 2018 Postseason*The A’s and the Brewers (1982 Milwaukee Brewers Appearances Appraised and Rick Mahler too)*Steve’s 1988 Story*The Career and Post-Career of Pete Vuckovich*The David Wright Farewe...
Oct 05, 2018•1 hr 37 min
TABLE OF CONTENTS The Baltimore Orioles Were Over So Long Ago*McGraw/Chase Redux*Tommy and Roy*Jeff Pearlman: Why is the USFL remembered more fondly than other failed sports leagues?*It’s not the players, it’s the owners*The Strange Owner of the Los Angeles Express and Other Fallacies About the Rich*Did the USFL Need Ban Johnson?*The Dumbest Trade in the History of Mankind*The Villain Arrives (It’s Not a Political Book)*Mexico Will Pay for Doug Flutie?*“Please Bring Your Final Purchases to the R...
Sep 29, 2018•1 hr 29 min
An Addison Russell Problem of Morality*The Pennant Race Decided By a Squeeze Play* Cliff Corcoran: A False Start*Who should be NL MVP?*Ban the Bullpen!*Possibly ignorant analogies from basketball and hockey*Openers and Followers*Shrink the Strikezone!*Mid-Inning Pitching Changes Are the Spawn of Satan*Bring Back Long Relievers*The Poignancy of Taking One For the Team*The 2018 Pennant Races, Such As They Are*It’s All Asdrubal’s Fault*Properly Valuing Defense*Miguel Andujar: Clank! (But Still a Ne...
Sep 22, 2018•1 hr 54 min
Baseballs Try to Murder Fritz Ostermueller* Permanent Rainout, September 21, 1938*Stephon Johnson: The New York Amsterdam News/Advocacy Journalism*When Did African Americans Lose Interest in Baseball?*The Buttoned-Down Culture of Baseball*Fisk and Sanders, Showalter and Griffey*Racists on the Rise*“Baseball Needs Another Rickey Henderson”*Dexter Fowler Calumnied*John Kruk: J’Accuse!*Keith Hernandez vs. Dave Parker*The Effect of the Missing African American Teachers*The Financial Barriers to Bein...
Sep 15, 2018•1 hr 36 min
TABLE OF CONTENTS Wes Ferrell Walks Off*Mediocre White Players/Jimmy Collins’ Unplanned Vacation*Mike Bates and Bill Parker: The historic 2018 season: The Baltimore Orioles and Shohei Ohtani*Rudy Pemberton and Phil Clark*Babe Ruth’s Warning to Ohtani*Who are the Angels?*The Past is More Populous Than the Present*Ski Melillo?*Charlie Hollocher*Elmer Flick and Bill Bergen Too*Gary Gaetti ‘s Awakening*The 2018 Minnesota Twins in Review*The Byron Buxton Conundrum*Joe Mauer in Retrospect*Buy-Low Move...
Sep 09, 2018•1 hr 45 min
WARNING: One excretory cussword. TABLE OF CONTENTS Tony Horton and Dolphin Shows of the Apocalypse*Extinctions and an Apology*Jeff Heath’s Bat*The West Coast is on Fire*The Kendrys Morales Sublimations*Don’t Gamble on Baseball Because the Orioles*Goodbye for Now, Troy Tulowitzki*Fare Thee Well, Josh Donaldson*Do the Blue Jays Need to Bottom Out?*The Thrill of Discovery at Baseball-Reference*Expertise/Finding Jeff Heath*The Intersection of Sharing Knowledge and Sharing Emotion*Misogyny: The Socia...
Sep 01, 2018•1 hr 58 min
TABLE OF CONTENTS Casey Stengel removes a pitcher*The Babe Ruth Visitors Center*Potential, with Andy Cohen and Rogers Hornsby*Hairstons and Harstons*The Great Gee Walker*Goodbyes. THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra. THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with like-minded people! The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the...
Aug 24, 2018•48 min
TABLE OF CONTENTS WARNING: The odd cussword is spoken aloud and sometimes thought in this episode. In addition, there is a discussion of an ancient case of rape and manslaughter in the second segment. Pea Ridge Day chooses free will*Fatty Arbuckle and Benny Kauff*David Roth: Bodega cats*The one bad review (Your mother-in-law and the Portland Sea Dogs)*Offending Will Pennyfeather*Easy-access basketball and a visit to Revolutionary War Princeton*David dreams “The Terminal” and other digressions*Sm...
Aug 17, 2018•1 hr 47 min
TABLE CONTENTS Tall Tales of Josh Gibson*Call-In Radio and WAR*Will Leitch: Productivity*Writing while disappointed*Don’t check the numbers*Cutting High School Memories*Why social media?*Cookies from Twitter*Jaded in the press box*“My fandom is mine”*Mike Matheny and Mike Schildt and The Matheny Manifesto*Ranking 900 Woody Harrelson movies*”Star Wars” vs. “Annie Hall.”*Goodbyes. THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra. THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP: Socialize with...
Aug 11, 2018•1 hr 40 min
TABLE OF CONTENTS Hartnett, Landis, and Capone*Willie Montanez: Tap-Tap*Jesse Spector: Rockies players like tacos and chess*Pregame non-conversations with Derek Jeter and Paul O’Neill at the old Yankee Stadium*Reconciling with Paul O’Neill’s affiliations*The Trevor Story story*The Dome Over Fenway Park*Why take owner finances on faith?*David Wright and Brandon Webb*The parsimony of the Lerners*Roberto Osuna*A glance askance at Josh Hader et al*The Astros throw Justin Verlander under the bus*The ...
Aug 04, 2018•1 hr 34 min
TABLE OF CONTENTS Ken Hunt’s Half-Season of Glory*Jack Morris/Yoenis Cespedes*More on Luke Heimlich*Cliff Corcoran: Diseases of cattle and ballplayers*The pointlessness of trade coverage*Trades that ripple through history*Revising opinions of the Francisco Mejia trade*The Jesus Montero analogy*Everything wrong with the Indians*Red Sox needs*Moving Salvador Perez*The Billy Hunter digression*Mike Moustakas, lame duck*Why Cole Hamels? And other pitchers*How do you make a package for Jacob DeGrom?*Z...
Jul 27, 2018•1 hr 59 min
Mary Craig (Baseball Prospectus, The Hardball Times podcast) returns to talk Manny Machado, Papa John-style privilege, and the Home Run Derby. Plus, Steve tells stories of a Hall of Famer with a bigger heart than Josh Hader and the Brooklyn Dodgers defeat the America First Committee. WARNING: Luke Heimlich, an amateur pitcher with a record of child abuse, is discussed extensively during the second half of the show. Also, there is one brief profanity in the first half of the show. TABLE OF CONTEN...
Jul 21, 2018•1 hr 57 min
Steve is joined by Christopher Bonanos, author of Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous to discuss the photographic great who documented what went on in the naked city, the nighttime New York of the 1930s and 40s, after the ballplayers had put their gloves away for the day. Plus, Tom Seaver is traded as the ‘70s Mets force a big-market team into a small-market suit, and a Dodgers fan gets ribbed with fatal results. TABLE OF CONTENTS Mets Get Small*Toxic Dodgers Fandom and twin .45s*Christopher ...
Jul 14, 2018•1 hr 49 min
Business of baseball writer Maury Brown (Forbes) joins Steve to talk about the future of labor relations in the game, the shift from television to on-line viewing, the stadium-financing boondoggle, and more, plus tales of Pepper Martin and Joe DiMaggio in distress. TABLE OF CONTENTS Pepper Martin’s breaking point*Joltin’ Joe’s lack of leverage*Maury Brown: The usual hat talk*Do the players get a cut?*The players and online revenue*The legal landscape of a baseball labor war*Maury Year One (a Bay...
Jul 06, 2018•1 hr 44 min
Sam Miller (ESPN, Baseball Prospectus, The Only Rule is It Has to Work) joins Steve to talk about joy in baseball, which fun facts matter and which don’t, and how to alienate your colleagues your first day on the baseball beat. Plus, overlapping tales of puppy love and Billy Herman and a remembrance of the late Harlan Ellison. WARNING: There is one cussword, baseball’s “magic word,” at about the 24-minute mark. Hide the children. TABLE OF CONTENTS Billy Herman’s first day*Goodbye, Harlan Ellison...
Jun 29, 2018•1 hr 49 min
Steve flies solo in an attenuated episode this week which focuses on current events that take place outside of baseball but find their echoes within in it. WARNING: A disgusting racial epithet concerning African Americans is quoted in the course of this episode in the telling of a historical incident TABLE OF CONTENTS The most evil man in baseball history*The black dog and “I Am So Proud”*When they slandered Rickey Henderson*Hunter Strickland and Doyle Alexander*“Give us a little ‘Lambeth Walk’”...
Jun 22, 2018•50 min
Eric Stephen (True Blue LA) returns to explain the strange odyssey of the 2018 Dodgers, plus this year’s Orioles versus your great-grandfather’s Browns, bad fan behavior in 1970s Pittsburgh, and a Yankees tugboat not delivered. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Pirates keep the nickel*The Schleuter-ization of the Orioles*Billy Martin’s tugboat*Eric Stephen: The Dodgers’ child does not resemble the parents*An entire rotation on the DL*Prophetic words from 1973*Dave Roberts’ approach*Cody Bellinger’s slump an...
Jun 15, 2018•1 hr 36 min
Cliff Corcoran (The Athletic) returns to talk baseball, and then is joined by film critic Scott Tobias (The Next Picture Show podcast) to talk about “Solo,” the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, and the curse of the summer movie season. Prior, Steve has two stories of Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst, plus a protest of sorts. TABLE OF CONTENTS Stan Musial’s kid and mine*Popeye thoughts*Red Shoendienst, Stan Musial, and Trader Frank Lane*Cliff Corcoran: The Montgomery Biscuits cap et al*The integr...
Jun 09, 2018•2 hr 13 min
Rotation regular Jesse Spector rejoins Steve for a discussion that starts dark and soon gets silly, with Jesse fighting to the death to abolish the June amateur draft. Also features Steve stories on Hank Greenberg, Tyler O’Neill, and Long Tom Winsett. TRIGGER WARNING: In the Hank Greenberg segment, Greenberg himself is quoted describing anti-Semitic slurs to which he was subjected. There is also a cussword embedded in a quote early on. Hide the children. TABLE OF CONTENTS With Great Winsett Powe...
Jun 02, 2018•1 hr 57 min
Deadspin’s David Roth returns like a periodic comet to discuss the joy of Shohei Ohtani, ripping old packs of baseball cards on camera, and debate the state of the baseball and the national anthem. Plus Steve Stories on Joe Cronin managing his way to a walk-off loss and early game-throwing pitcher Jim Devlin. WARNING: As in all David Roth episodes, there is the occasional cussword. We contritely apologize. THE INFINITE INNING ARCHIVE: All episodes available, popcorn extra. THE INFINITE INNING FA...
May 25, 2018•1 hr 43 min
Steve is joined by former major league manager Davey Johnson to discuss his life and adventures as described in his new autobiography, Davey Johnson: My Wild Ride in Baseball and Beyond. This week’s tales include taking the permanent exit from a Babe Ruth-era Yankees game and a Johnson-inspired story of an Orioles no-hitter gone wrong. THE INFINITE INNING FACEBOOK GROUP can be found here. TABLE OF CONTENTS Ruthian Fatality*Barber’d and Bauer’d*Davey Johnson: HoJo at short*Hank Bauer*Earl Weaver,...
May 18, 2018•1 hr 16 min
Steve is joined by Meg Rowley (Fangraphs, The Hardball Times) to discuss some unlikely Mariners success, including James Paxton’s no-hitter, defense-first first base prospects, and the batting-out-of-order rule. Plus SteveStories of the Singing Umpire and a continuation of last week’s discussion about Ty Cobb. WARNING: Late in the show, there is a cussword uttered in regards to Chuck Knoblauch. It is a quote. More seriously, a racial epithet from a newspaper article printed in 1892 is spoken at ...
May 11, 2018•1 hr 50 min
Steve is joined by major league veteran Greg Pryor to discuss his forthcoming book, The Day the Yankees Made Me Shave: A Baseball Autobiography, and share tales of the game in the 1970s and 80s. Plus, SteveStories on the meaning of 3,000 hits and the way Ty Cobb’s racism is misused. TABLE OF CONTENTS Paul Waner’s two 3000th hits*Abnormalizing Ty Cobb*Short pants and South Side Hitmen*The Syracuse Mustache Rebellion*“No one ever seemed satisfied with me”*A dark scouting report*The Harry Chappas: ...
May 04, 2018•1 hr 47 min
Cliff Corcoran (The Athletic) takes his turn in the rotation to pursue topics within topics, from the widening space between balls in play to a sinister plan to headhunt an 11-year-old girl. Cliff also quotes Dr. Dre, which is a first for this program. SteveStories include Dan Ford’s infamous baserunning mishap and how outfielder Johnny Mostil’s darkest day collides with a Harlan Ellison adage on resiliency. WARNING: There is an extended discussion of a ballplayer’s long-ago suicide attempt in t...
Apr 27, 2018•1 hr 48 min
Craig Calcaterra (NBC’s Hardball Talk) returns to assess the start of the 2018 season, envision the damage that tanking is doing to the game, and reminisce about some really bad Atlanta Braves teams. Plus, SteveStories about drowned ballparks in Cincinnati and Tampa and a baseball “witch-hunt.” The Infinite Inning now has a Facebook group! Come one, come all, come as you are, come as Reggie Jackson ’77. TABLE OF CONTENTS Ballpark in Atlantis*Witch-Hunts and Redlegs*The Infinite Inning has a Face...
Apr 20, 2018•1 hr 41 min
Jacob Pomrenke, editor of Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox and SABR’s Director of Editorial Content joins Steve to explore the relevance of the Black Sox to our time, appreciate and criticize both the book Eight Men Out and its filmed counterpart, and attempt to fix the roles of both Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver in throwing the World Series. In addition, this week Steve offers tales of an unappreciated player from the 1940s and of the world of the Black Sox as seen from a sma...
Apr 13, 2018•1 hr 49 min
David Roth returns to talk about competitive balance, over-monitoring mound visits, and the pernicious nature of social media (not back on it, still on it). Meanwhile, Steve tries to turn a nonsensical Jerry Coleman call into something dark and disturbing and rants about outfielders from 1934 to the present day who were damaged, sometimes severely, by unpadded outfield walls. The Haunting of Bruce Benedict*Hazards in the Outfield, with Billy McKinney, Dustin Fowler, Earle Combs, and Pete Reiser*...
Apr 06, 2018•1 hr 57 min
Russell Carleton (Baseball Prospectus, author of The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking) joins Steven to discuss things we don’t have words for, and surprising findings on third-base coaches, the effect of managers, and, of course, the shift. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Day the Sun Shone on Ty Tyson*Reframing the problem of Alex Johnson*Russell Carlton: Man with a Doctorate*You can’t control for Salvador Perez’s knee*Baseball and Arkham Asylum*Fire all the third base coaches*A book about p...
Mar 30, 2018•1 hr 47 min
Steve is joined by Marty Appel, author of Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character and other books, plus a cautionary tale about time and Bob “Fats” Fothergill and another about all the times Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons failed to duck. TABLE OF CONTENTS Fats Fothergill, Ronald Acuña and the tyranny of time*Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons, Human Target*Marty Appel: “Give me a good team”*Stengel vs. Joe Torre*Stengel vs. Phil Rizzuto*Stengel vs. Joe DiMaggio*Stengel vs. Mickey Mantle*Mrs. Stengel’s memoir...
Mar 23, 2018•1 hr 6 min
