Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Charlie Finley’s dual “innovations,” Harvey and Little Blowhard, then answer listener emails about Chris Davis and why some veteran players may be unwilling to change, whether Gerrit Cole could regress away from Houston, the purpose of punishing the Astros for sign-stealing and how many years of draft picks […]

Effectively Wild Episode 1462: Bring Back Little Blowhard

Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary

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Baseball

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Pirates calling up top pitching prospect Paul Skenes, Mookie Betts’s shortstop defense, Willson Contreras, the causes of increasingly common catcher’s interference calls, and catcher technique in an ABS world, rampant reliever shuffling, Chase Anderson as a Phiten necklace “endling,” two ways in which amateur prospects are possibly […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2162: The Kershaw Narrative

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Riley Greene’s latest pants-related wardrobe malfunction, the Padres-Marlins Luis Arraez trade, the continued scuffling of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a C.B. Bucknor bit, and more. Then (52:30) they’re joined by Neil deMause, author of Field of Schemes, and J.C. Bradbury, author, stadium-funding researcher, and professor of economics, finance, and […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2161: The State of Stadium Funding

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a recent uptick in base stealing and why Mike Trout’s loyalty to the Angels is criticized more than it’s celebrated. Then (16:39) they’re joined by Patreon supporter Alex Levy to discuss Alex’s background as a podcast listener, baseball fan, and mail carrier and answer emails (43:49) about a […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2160: Mail Call

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s unexpected experience at the bee-delayed Diamondbacks game, Shota Imanaga’s hot start, Reed Garrett and the phenomenon of pop-up relievers, Steven Kwan appreciation, how Mike Trout’s and Bryce Harper’s careers will be remembered, José Abreu being optioned to the minors, and a declined penalty in baseball, plus follow-ups […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2159: The Bees and the Birds

After a podcast preface by Ben Lindbergh about Mike Trout’s knee injury (sigh), Ben and Meg Rowley banter (4:19) about a weekend White Sox sweep, the overdue news that Nike is supposedly fixing the much-maligned MLB uniforms, follow-ups about rule rollbacks, ballplayer dirt ingestion, the “group Maddux,” and promotion/relegation, and the Twins’ summer sausage. Then […]

Effectively Wild Episode 1462: Bring Back Little Blowhard

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