We consider the legacy of the great Venezuelan players who have graced the game going back to Alex Carrasquel in 1939, constructing an all-star team of players from that beleaguered nation. What can any one of them tell us about Venezuelans as a whole? Hint: it’s the same thing that a highway serial killer can tell us about your best friend’s gramma. Then we return to the strange, inebriated world of Shufflin’ Phil Douglas. Did he betray not just the game and himself, but his wife as well?

The Infinite Inning is a journey to the past to understand the present using baseball as our time machine. America's brighter mirror, baseball reflects, anticipates, and even mocks the stories we tell ourselves about our world today. Baseball Prospectus's Steven Goldman discusses the game’s present, past, and future. Expect history from inside and outside of the game, politics, stats, and Casey Stengel quotations. Along the way, we'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?