Jesse Spector returns to talk everything from Olympic softball to Australian-rules football with a great deal of trade deadline chatter in-between. Plus tales of a player whose bat-control skills got him punched in the face and some Negro Leaguers recall one time they struck back. TABLE OF CONTENTS Twenty-Seven Foul Balls Equals One Punch*Revenge on Bobo*Jesse Spector: Olympic Ennui*Softball, Carl Mays, Dan Quisenberry*Watching for the Joy of It*Trade Deadline for the Unvaccinated/State of the Y...
Jul 31, 2021•1 hr 58 min
Warrior for the Underdog Sheryl Ring returns to discuss Trevor Bauer, the limits of consent, and why it’s so difficult to escape an abusive situation. Plus tales of a Yankees-Braves trade that nearly happened but didn’t and we look at the lessons of a shooting outside the Nationals game. TABLE OF CONTENTS Roberto Kelly for Jeff Blauser*Shooting at the Nats Game*Sheryl Ring: Eviction Moratorium*Collapse in Florida*Trevor Bauer: Power and Control*It’s So Very Hard to Leave*On Consent*The Differenc...
Jul 22, 2021•2 hr 5 min
Craig Calcaterra returns to talk All-Star Game Ennui, Enjoyable MLB 2021 surprises and disappointments, Richard Donner’s “Superman,” and much more. Plus tales of bad knees and collapsing teams in both baseball and the larger world. TABLE OF CONTENTS Mourning Ronald Acuna’s Knee and Other Things as Well*The Orioles, the Astros, and the Danger of Deferred Maintenance*Craig Calcaterra: “Swell” and “Superman: The Movie”*The All-Star Game Blahs*Are We Over Validation by Authority Figures?*The Rural P...
Jul 13, 2021•2 hr
David Roth returns to discuss the upcoming trading deadline, climate change, and Mets injury-setbacks that aren’t setbacks. Plus the Yankees’ disappointing season provokes a remembrance of George Steinbrenner’s cruelty and generosity and (TRIGGER WARNING) Trevor Bauer is discussed in the context of a great old baseball horror story. TABLE OF CONTENTS Some of George Steinbrenner’s Greatest Hits*George Steinbrenner and the Vets’ Reunion at Yankee Stadium*Trevor Bauer and “Foul Play”*David Roth: “C...
Jul 03, 2021•1 hr 56 min
Cliff Corcoran returns to talk sticky stuff and celebrate the Negro Leagues, plus tales of players having catastrophic organ failure on the field and reacting to some of the game’s longest losing streaks. TABLE OF CONTENTS When Your Organs Fail Mid-Pitch and Other Digressions*Nazi Losing Streaks Never End (with the Arizona Diamondbacks)*Cliff Corcoran: No team in a sombrero*A “Bring It On” Reference on the Infinite Inning?*The Cheaters (Waiving the White Shirt)*There’s a Bathroom on the Right*Aa...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 53 min
Jesse Spector returns to talk grip-enhanced cheating and “snack cakes,” plus tales of Satchel Paige under attack by a man imitating a pig and John McGraw hit below the belt. TABLE OF CONTENTS Piersall, Paige, and the Walk-Off Grand Slam*The Church of B’Grobus*McGraw, Crossfire, and an Accusation*Jesse Spector: Hostess vs. Drakes*Gerrit Cole, Spider-Grip, Et Al*Jacob deGrom in the Age of the Inquisition*“Sticky Stuff is Central to Both”*The Disappointing Yankees*The Post-Farm System Era?*Rewind J...
Jun 14, 2021•2 hr 1 min
Mike Bates and Bill Parker (This Week in Baseball History) talk about the baseball stories you keep and a Twins team you might want to return to the store: Plus tales of unscarred players and damaged veterans meeting on a train, dairy-splashed homers, Lou Gehrig at Coney Island, and games called for wardrobe failures. TABLE OF CONTENTS Braves Ashamed on the Train*Dairy Homer*Lou Gehrig Day Thoughts*The First Baseman Has No Pants, the Catcher Has No Shoes*Bates & Parker: Turn a Baseball Sayin...
Jun 05, 2021•1 hr 53 min
Eric Stephen returns to talk about the Dodgers’ up and down season and what it’s like to cover the team from inside a Zoom window. Plus tales: The most and least hits in a game put into perspective and the relationship between an intense third baseman and a crooner remembered. TABLE OF CONTENTS When You’re Cold, You’re Cold*The Ballad of Hoak and Corey*Eric Stephen: The Risk of Hot Takes*Post-COVID Back in the Ballpark*The Postgame Zoom Session*Depleted Dodgers Depth*Why Not David Price?/A Greg ...
May 30, 2021•1 hr 46 min
Craig Calcaterra returns to talk ballpark villages, elevator test shafts, and Robert Culp: Guest-Star. Plus tales of relationships that went wrong or never happened with the sharp-tongued outfielder Bibb Falk and Reds relievers in the Summer of Love. TABLE OF CONTENTS Bibb Falk Alone*McCool, Davidson, and a Gun*Craig Calcaterra: The Greatest American Hero, Bob Culp, and “Columbo”*The Low Maturity Level of Old-Time Television*The Oakland Coliseum Site Dismissed*The MGM Analogy*An Island in Oaklan...
May 22, 2021•2 hr 1 min
Frank Guridy discusses THE SPORTS REVOLUTION: HOW TEXAS CHANGED THE CULTURE OF AMERICAN ATHLETICS. The arrival of the Texas Rangers, the rise of the Astrodome, the origins of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and much more! Plus tales: An outfielder participates in a rundown but doesn’t run into a tree, and a true bigot is inspired to great heights of rhetoric by a stolen base. TABLE OF CONTENTS Don’t Die on Third!*Hi Myers and the Well-Placed Tree*Frank Guridy: Racist Rangers?*The White Sox Break...
May 13, 2021•2 hr 3 min
Amanda Smith (Disaster Girls podcast, Le Renard Argente) returns to cope with the pandemic, discuss emotional distance in disaster films, dating while living a public life, and the Dodgers’ up-and-down start. Plus tales: The Braves stake a hat on a pair of rookie outfielders and a third baseman for not being famous tells a story of his own. TABLE OF CONTENTS Schulmerich, Worthington, and Seize the Day*Harry Eisenstadt’s Sand Crab Yarn (and Roman Quinn Too)*Amanda Smith: Transition to Unemploymen...
May 06, 2021•1 hr 43 min
Cliff Corcoran (The Cycle newsletter) returns to run down the state of the early season, plus tales: Death stalks the Polo Grounds and Gallen and Bumgarner meet Dizzy and Paul. TABLE OF CONTENTS Multiple Fatalities at the Polo Grounds*Dizzy but Not Daffy*Cliff Corcoran: Rougned Odor and the Yankees*Low Offensive Levels/The Strikeout Rate*A Strikeout Was Just Another Out*How We Watch Now*Fix Baseball (No Forks)*Dodgers v. Padres*Dodgers Depth-Magic*Padres Appreciation Society*Joba Chamberlain/Din...
Apr 28, 2021•2 hr 1 min
David Roth returns to talk baseball and social responsibility during our still-ongoing pandemic. Plus tales: Pee Wee Reese undeflected and Casey Stengel taunts a cross-eyed pitcher (and throws up his breakfast). TABLE OF CONTENTS Pee Wee Reese’s Journey*Casey and the 1922 Tour of Japan*David Roth: Owning a Zamboni*Baseball-is-Back Euphoria*Pow! Bullpen Management*The Clubhouse 15 Percent Has the 85 Percent Hostage*Tailgating Analogy*Andrelton Simmons Will Not Explain Himself*Super-Aggrieved on S...
Apr 20, 2021•2 hr 5 min
Luke Epplin, author of OUR TEAM: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series that Changed Baseball, talks about three key players and one owner who made the 1948 Cleveland team the unique creation it was. Plus tales: No-hitters don’t influence the future and a Casey Stengel rule is applied to Domingo German. TABLE OF CONTENTS Joe Musgrove, No-Hitters, and Fate*Mike Marshall, Casey Stengel, Domingo German*Luke Epplin: Why 1948?*The Browns and Eddie Gaedel Project*Veeck, Paige, Doby, and Felle...
Apr 12, 2021•1 hr 49 min
Andrew Maraniss, author of Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke, discusses the abuse heaped on the majors’ first openly gay player. Plus tales of a Pacific Coast League trainer who was singled out in a different way, plus two murders and Major League Baseball’s moving the All-Star Game out of Georgia. TABLE OF CONTENTS Fate Hunts a Trainer*MLB and Voting While Black in Georgia*Andrew Maraniss: Sports, Social Justice, and Perry Wallace*Glenn Burke: No Resolution*Bad Timing*What Does Who You...
Apr 07, 2021•2 hr
Jesse Spector returns for a super-sized episode! The third annual Infinite Inning Opening Day song! Ted Williams says never let anyone change your swing! Is Miguel Andujar doing this old-time Dodger’s career swan dive? Will the 2021 Tigers be more fun to watch than the 2021 Red Sox? These and other questions await within! TABLE OF CONTENTS Carl Yastrzemski, Ted Williams, the Bad Science Teacher, and the Ordeal of Self-Determination*The Third Annual Infinite Inning Opening Day Song: Champions of ...
Mar 29, 2021•2 hr 13 min
Lincoln Mitchell returns to discuss his new book “The Giants and Their City: Major League Baseball in San Francisco, 1976-1992,” a tome redolent with cold Candlestick nights and hot Crazy Crab days. Plus tales: Casey Stengel uses some overly esoteric signs, rookies have short-lived breakouts, and more. TABLE OF CONTENTS Blinking Lights and Spitting Signs*Harl! The Musical*Lincoln Mitchell: Why the Giants So Bad Between Willie Mays and Barry Bonds?*How a Farm System Dies*Will Clark and Robbie Tho...
Mar 22, 2021•1 hr 46 min
Craig Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus returns to discuss Baseball Prospectus 2021, highlight some of the best comments, and debate the best approach to writing about players: Plus tales: Did Duster Mails do in one season what other players do in 20? And should a manager be fired for being too blunt with the boss? The Cubs did it. TABLE OF CONTENTS Duster Mails: All-Time Great in One Season*Manager Fired for Candor*Craig Goldstein: The 26th or the 28th Annual*BP in the Pandemic*Sticking to Sport...
Mar 15, 2021•2 hr 14 min
Matthew Trueblood (Baseball Prospectus, Penning Bull newsletter) talks about the Twins, the Mariners, disparate batting styles, and using the Cubs as a self-diagnostic. Plus Rogers Hornsby is mean to Duster Mails and Duster Mails is mean to himself. TABLE OF CONTENTS When Cruelty was the Point for Rogers Hornsby*Don’t Run Yourself Down, Duster Mails*Matthew Trueblood: Taking Notice of Player Quirks*Tim Anderson and Non-Conformity*Constructing Trevor Bauer*Willie Wilson as Object Lesson and Why B...
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr 58 min
Cliff Corcoran returns to talk some actual my-first-baseman-is-better-than-yours with regards to the AL East, free agent Jackie Bradley, Jr, and Juan Soto’s defensive capabilities. Plus, ex-Mariner Kevin Mather steps in it and the Herculex Body Battery cures all! TABLE OF CONTENTS The Herculex Body Battery Sees All, Cures All*Pie in the Sky When You Die in Seattle*Cliff Corcoran: The comprehensive Cycle*Spencer Torkelson’s Freshman Dorm Moment*“Don’t Know How to Smile,” Starring Charlie Morton*W...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 49 min
Solo-mini-diet episode in which there are stories of people getting hit, both in the sort of fun baseball way and also the sad other kind. Also, a look at San Diego Padres scolds. TABLE OF CONTENTS Art Fletcher, Oil-Man (Not that Kind)*The Price of Ice in Pittsburgh*Odubel Herrera/Joe Giradi/Sherry Magee*Let Fernando Tatis, Jr Play (For What He’s Worth)!*Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, a...
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr
Mark Armour (Joe Cronin: A Life in Baseball, and Paths to Glory: How Great Teams Got That Way, SABR Board President) talks about the Hall of Fame shortstop, MLB’s retroactive changes to the Negro League’s standing, and great baseball history books. Plus tales of Lou Gehrig, Eleanor Gehrig, and milkfat. TABLE OF CONTENTS Eleanor’s Bracelet and Ival’s Two Pounds of Butter*Eleanor Gehrig Alone*Mark Armour: The SABR Bio Project*The Missing Biographies*Why Joe Cronin?*A Portly Shortstop on His Knees*...
Feb 14, 2021•1 hr 52 min
Kevin Goldstein returns! Plus, tales of a pitcher who shouldn’t and Lou Gehrig: Great American. TABLE OF CONTENTS A Day in the Life of the Zion Hill… Billies*Lou Gehrig Knew*Kevin Goldstein: The best restaurants in San Pedro de Macoris*The Moment You Found Out*Carlos Correa Claps Back*The Email*The Best Way to Understand What the Rockies Are Doing*Billion-Dollar Franchises*Racism in the Dominican Republic*Evaluating Teenage Players in the Dominican*“These Kids Are My Heroes”*Make-Up Digs*Evil Pl...
Feb 07, 2021•1 hr 49 min
Will Leitch returns to deflate the hero narrative in sports. Plus tales: Phil Niekro is prematurely dismissed and Home Run Baker runs all the way home. TABLE OF CONTENTS Phil Niekro and Positive Uncertainty*Home Run Baker Goes Home (Then Goes Home Again)*Will Leitch: Family Man*Not Judging the Pandemic Risk-Takers*History Has Its Eyes on Tom Verducci*Clemens and Bonds Retconned*Henry Aaron “Ignored” Racism/The Sanctification of Aaron*A Convention in Cleveland/Escapism*The Wrong “Grierson & L...
Jan 30, 2021•2 hr 13 min
David Roth returns to talk about the Lindor trade, wet presidents, Bip Roberts, and the odor of old cigarettes. Plus Don Sutton doesn’t quite get caught, the Cardinals make a really bad hire, 1970s version, and reflections on Henry Aaron. TABLE OF CONTENTS Doug Harvey Makes a Bad Call on Don Sutton But Derives the Right Lesson*Henry Aaron, Briefly*The Rapp Experiment in St. Louis*David Roth: Cigarettes Covered in Butter*Jim Leyland in the Dugout/Smokers at the Diner/Masks at Walmart*A Bip Robert...
Jan 23, 2021•2 hr 7 min
Cliff Corcoran returns to remember Phil Niekro and Tommy Lasorda, discuss disappointing offseason moves in Cleveland and Chicago, and debate the best way to paint old ballplayers. Plus tales of a president on horseback and a first baseman blocked by Pete Rose. TABLE OF CONTENTS How’s the Mule?*Don’t Inhale in the Clubhouse*Cliff Corcoran: Negro Leagues Baseball Cards*Strata of Players*Against Photo-Realistic Painting?*Gustave Courbet’s Female Genitalia and Norman Rockwell’s Nixon*Realism in Walt...
Jan 16, 2021•1 hr 42 min
Jesse Spector returns to mourn the events of January 6 and talk a little baseball as well. Plus relevant tales: Casey Stengel starts a riot and the Francisco Lindor trade is compared to a national-scale bait and switch. TABLE OF CONTENTS Why Casey was Suspended*Day of the Locust*Jesse Spector: Just Another Day in Democracy*The Space Shuttle Disaster and Tom Green Movies as Pandemic Masks and a Gateway to QAnon*Office Hot Tub and Working From Home*Explaining Trump to Kids/Civics Class/Sore Loser ...
Jan 09, 2021•1 hr 45 min
A special New Year’s episode features tales of something gaining on an umpire during a World Series game and relates the strangely happy last moments of Wee Willie Keeler, with some stops along the way. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abner Dalrymple Remembers*A Question for the Leadership*Wee Willie Keeler Greets the New Year and Then Departs*New Year's Wishes*Instrumental Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corco...
Dec 31, 2020•1 hr 7 min
A special holiday episode features a possibly-fictional tale of Babe Ruth’s moment of reckoning after the difficult, out-of-control season of 1922, plus notes on herd immunity featuring Gee Walker, Max West, and Casey Stengel. TABLE OF CONTENTS Mississippi Field Recordings*Dr. Alexander’s Prescription*A Quick Look at Gee Walker Hurting Himself, Max West Getting Hurt, And Casey Stengel’s Prescription For Speed As Ways Of Ending The Pandemic*The Last Temptation of Babe Ruth: A Story in Three Acts*...
Dec 22, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Dan Szymborski (FanGraphs, ZiPs) returns to talk 2021 projections, mock the Rockies, and speculate about Norwegian cheeses. Plus tales: Lefty Gove has some earned sarcasm and a second baseman named Pep strikes out (a lot). TABLE OF CONTENTS Lefty Grove’s Snappy Answers to Stupid Comments*A Note on the Passing Dick Allen*Personal Note: A Death in the Family/Your Rights vs. Mine*Lem-Pep and the Five Ks*Dan Szymborski: ZiPS, the Actuarial Tables, and the Old Ty Cobb Joke*The Question No One Asked W...
Dec 11, 2020•1 hr 57 min
