Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Akil Baddoo taking a baseball to the beans, broadcasters describing groin shots, and players deciding whether to wear cups. Then they compare a resurgent Joey Gallo and a slumping Andrew Benintendi (20:25), recall reliever Zack Littell’s affinity for cruise ships (33:22), forecast MLB’s international future (37:22), consider the Dodgers’ secret Ugandan academy (47:06), discuss an update on MLB’s integration of Negro Leagues stats (1:13:40), and assess their levels of anxiety about game-fixing in light of two college gambling scandals (1:30:21), plus a Past Blast (1:42:35) from 2006.

Audio outro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Baddoo play

Link to first cup tweet

Link to second cup tweet

Link to MLB nutshots compilation

Link to another nutshots video

Link to swinging nutshot video

Link to Ben Clemens on Gallo

Link to Ben L. on Gallo in 2014

Link to Gallo’s juggle catch

Link to Gallo on New York

Link to Gallo on New York again

Link to Littell article

Link to old Littell EW episode

Link to MLB international plans

Link to South Korea game info

Link to Uganda academy article

Link to info on Dodgers’ DR academy

Link to info on academies’ impact

Link to prospect exploitation report

Link to Horace Wilson article

Link to article on Negro Leagues stats

Link to Ben on MLB’s reclassification

Link to Ben on reclassification again

Link to Baumann on the Ala. scandal

Link to Sheehan on the Ala. scandal

Link to Iowa scandal story

Link to Iowa State info

Link to 2006 Past Blast source

Link to 2022 article on Jones

Link to David Lewis’s Twitter

Link to David Lewis’s Substack

Link to Rasmussen info

Link to 2022 Megill story

Link to 2023 Megill story

 Sponsor Us on Patreon

 Effectively Wild Wiki

 Get Our Merch!

 Email Us: [email protected]