Ben Lindbergh and The Ringer’s Van Lathan banter about Van’s love of baseball, his origin story as a fan, how he got back into the sport, MLB’s resurgence in popularity, advanced stats questions, why the percentage of Black players in MLB fell, how average sports fans perceive MLB’s labor battle, and much more (warning: language). Then (1:25:38) Ben talks to Thomas Gilbert, author of Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America’s First Baseball Hero, about how Jim Creighton revolutionized pitching and reshaped the game, and how Gilbert investigated the many unknowns and misperceptions surrounding the right-hander’s life and death.

Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Van’s Ringer archive

Link to Van’s baseball outfit

Link to Van’s dad story

Link to Chico Escuela clip

Link to Ben on Dunn and Pierre

Link to B-Ref career WAR leaders

Link to wOBA glossary entry

Link to Field of Dreams scene

Link to Jeter’s dating history

Link to The Simpsons scene

Link to Death in the Strike Zone

Link to How Baseball Happened

Link to Creighton wiki

Link to Thorn on Creighton 1

Link to Thorn on Creighton 2

Link to EW on pesäpallo

Link to The Universal Baseball Association

Link to Defector on Coover’s book

Link to Ella Black series

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