The Infinite Inning

Jesse Spector returns as the Infinite Inning begins its own trading deadline negotiations. Episode #13 begins with a personal tale from Steve’s college days and proceeds to one of the most bizarre episodes in baseball history, the O’Connell-Dolan affair during the 1924 National League stretch drive. It’s a scandal that has echoes in a present-day controversy. Jesse enters with sitcoms on his mind, but in short order the subject turns to various trade and pennant race scenarios, Yoenis Cespedes, Daniel Murphy, the Royals, Cubs, and, finally, a near nervous breakdown when Jesse is forced to think of Yankees executive Randy Levine.

Say your team is done and you’re ready to quit on the season. Should you catch up on summer films? Film critic and podcaster Scott Tobias (The Next Picture Show) catches us up on the good and bad of the summer film season, revisits the experience of co-founding the lauded but ultimately short-lived film site The Dissolve, and advocates for The Brady Bunch Movie (necessary) and Albert Brooks (speaks for himself). In the first segment, Steve revisits controversies involving Greg Bird, Rickey Henderson, and Babe Ruth.

How do you go from unpaid contributor to a key man in a huge media company? And what does Cody Bellinger have to say about it? Steve is joined by Eric Stephen, the longtime auteur of True Blue LA to talk about how he got just such an opportunity and took it all the way from couch-surfing to the Dodgers clubhouse. They also talk Bellinger, Yasiel Puig, Justin Turner, and how the Dodgers are dominating the NL West. This week’s conversation starters include Joe Hauser, Bobo Newsom, Leo Durocher, and ruminations on outright lies.

We go for the Cliff Corcoran threepeat and a topical episode that encompasses the AL Central race, overly complicated uniform pants, and looks forward to both the All-Star rosters and the trading deadline.

This week, after Steve takes an esoteric approach to segments concerning Amed Rosario and the Congressional ballgame shooting, Ben Lindbergh (The Ringer MLB Podcast, the Effectively Wild podcast) arrives to talk about his investigation of the new rabbit ball, the way home runs are now dominating the game, the insomniac experience of editing Baseball Prospectus, Game of Thrones, and how he forced himself to overcome his natural reserve to become a frequent public speaker and podcast host.

Steve is joined by Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra for a rollicking discussion of baseball, to stick to sports or not to stick to sports, the psychological benefits of pets, and how to survive making the hardest decision of your life. Steve discusses two controversial ballplayers in Al Simmons and Mike Donlin, the former a denizen of the Infinite Inning, the latter someone who should have been.

David Roth returns! Steve and David struggle manfully to avoid talking about the Mets, but their allure as a metaphor for the culture as a whole proves too strong to resist. There are also visits to Giants Stadium and the bleachers at old Yankee Stadium, where profane songs are sung to the likes of Rob Deer. Finally, David explains everything. Seriously, everything. Steve begins with two old-time ballplayers who met an early demise, one among the best-loved players in history, the other largely forgotten, and both object lessons in fate.

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?

The most topical episode of the Infinite Inning’s brief run features visits from veteran baseball writer Jon Heyman and cohost Jesse Spector. With his finger on the pulse of the trade market, Heyman shares his sense of which teams will be adding at the deadline and talks a bit about his method, while Jesse mourns the momentary loss of Mike Trout and deplores head-hunting pitchers, or in Hunter Strickland’s case, butt-hunting. Steve’s intro features a personal encounter with a lost utility infielder and a visit with Snooks Dowd, the fastest player no one wanted.

After Steve opens with Rogers Hornsby envy and a Jeremiad on Chick Gandil, Cliff Corcoran jumps his turn in the rotation to return a week ahead of time. He leads a discussion that ranges widely from Al Leiter’s origins in Toms River, New Jersey to his condemnation of stathead perceptions of pitching to his opinion on “balls.” Along the way, there are segments on Chuck Berry and the Beatles, rising strikeout rates and the death of the squeeze play are deplored, “guts” are measured with wearable devices, and the IQ of hitting is investigated.

This week, Steve is joined by special guest Mike Ferrin, longtime host on SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio and pre- and post-game host (as well as occasional play-by-play man) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, to talk about managing fan expectations in both of his jobs, and the secret to succeeding in either of those endeavors: Don’t be a jerk. In addition, Grantland Rice appears for the second consecutive week, outfielder Johnny Cooney is compared to faking your way through a term paper, Zack Greinke’s personality is explored, Marty Brennaman is surprisingly defended, Mike admits to tuning out sometimes, Casey Stengel unsurprisingly appears about three times, and old Disney references seem to be occupying Steve’s mind.
Warning: There is exactly one cussword in this episode.