Meg Rowley returns to talk about the discontents of the Shohei Ohtani decision and its aftermath, as well as sundry other topics, and somehow it all ends up being related to “Star Wars.” Plus: A ballplayer with more than one family and the last play of Richie Ashburn’s career.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Arthur Irwin, Baseball Bigamist*Feeling like a loser, feeling like a Phillie*Meg Rowley: The Shohei Otani decision*Ed Whitson and Cecilio Guante*The platonic ideal of the Jerry Dipoto Plan*The Dee Gordon trade*Buck Showalter is the Dick Clark of baseball*The Marlins and the Mariners*“We put all this faith in business”*A Charlie Brown Christmas vs. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown*Pre-Christmas Gift Ennui*A Star Wars moment*Otani and Star Wars possessiveness*Goodbyes.

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?