Infinite Inning 275: Saving Mr. Williams

A pitcher has a dominant game despite accusations that his balls are greasy, and then we go to the immediate postwar period to discuss the early days of the Cold War, its relationship to the current election, and what should be the fundamental goal of all governments: Keep Ted Williams on the field.

Sources for this Episode include: In the Time of the Americans (David Fromkin); The United States and the Origins of the Cold War (John Lewis Gaddis); Strategies of Containment (Gaddis); The Cold War: A New History (Gaddis); A Covenant with Power (Lloyd C. Gardner); The Wise Men (Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas); America, Russia, and the Cold War (Walter LaFeber); The Origins of the Cold War (Thomas G. Paterson and Robert J. McMahon, eds).

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 game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?