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?

Warning: There is a smattering of cusswords this week. Hiding the children should not be necessary unless they are very sheltered children.

In the opener, Steve talks about addiction and then details one of the origins of the non-waiver trade deadline.

Table of Contents

Darryl Strawberry, Steve Howe, and Tommy Lasorda*Whitey Witt, Jumping Joe Dugan, and the Magic Bottle*David Roth: The End of Vice Sports*Ken Rosenthal and the all-video future* “I can’t say that it’s right or wrong, I just know I can’t control it”*The relationships you forge in the workplace, and sometimes lose*David’s Mike Pelfrey T-shirt*Eighteen Plastic molded Baseball Guys*Losing your industry-leading collection of overweight ballplayer JPGs*Whitey Herzog vs. Bob Horner*The Pirates’ Handsome Boys *Donruss sends the All-Stars to Sears*Writing the back of the baseball card*Bob Walk’s rookie year*Would you believe we talked about Marty Bystrom?*Avant-garde decision-making in 1980s Cleveland*Zack Wheeler’s stress reaction and how bad teams create good teams*The Royals at the deadline one mo’ time*David’s elegy for Chris Christie and us all*Finding new ways to be excited (The Tao of Whit Merrifield)*Jayson Stark, eternal enthusiast*The cat in the baby carriage*Looking ahead to the stretch drive*Goodbyes.