Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley welcome back former co-host Sam Miller to banter about his return to public baseball writing, his current relationship with baseball, and his new Substack, Pebble Hunting . Then (17:10) Ben, Meg, and Sam talk about a 1913 article about unprecedented events at the ballpark, the cliché about seeing something new at every game, the supreme examples of that phenomenon from...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about catcher Grayson Greiner’ s height, Shohei Ohtani ’s titanic homers, tight t-shirt, and pepper-grinding in WBC exhibitions, and a few preview-related trivia questions, then continue their 2023 season preview series by discussing the Toronto Blue Jays (15:02) with Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic , and the Kansas City Royals (55:25) with Anne Roge...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Kenta Maeda pitching well despite PitchCom giving away his signs, spring training injuries (5:26), the upsides and downsides of pitchers beginning to call their own pitches with PitchCom (9:03), and the reasons why hitters collectively seem to swing more often than they should (20:18). Then they continue (and pass the halfway point of) their 2023 season pr...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley begin with a little loose talk about Kiké Hernández ’s revelation that he sharted during the 2020 NLDS, and pin down the precise instant of the accident with audio evidence. Then (23:59) they banter about whether it’s oxymoronic for MLB to have multiple “co-exclusive” official betting partners, MLB hiring local media execs to prepare for an RSN...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Manny Machado ’s extension, whether the Padres have spending constraints, and what the team’s future might look like, then (18:51) discuss their impressions of the pitch clock in spring training so far and offer a brief update on their podcast editor search (30:42). After that, they continue their 2023 season preview series by discussing the St...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce that they’re hiring a new podcast editor and solicit applications for the position, then (9:40) banter about another zombie-runner-related update to dictionary.com, MLB’s latest crackdown on sticky stuff, displaying the pitch clock on broadcast score bugs, Albert Pujols’ s 10-year personal services contract with the Angels, and Rays pitcher R...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Prospect Week at FanGraphs, a misleading email, and Ben’s daughter’s cold, then discuss Alex Rodriguez as a budding book author, social-media maven, and flawed (anti)hero (9:19), non-revelatory news about Shohei Ohtani ’s future (24:07), a secret Mets spring training drill (32:07), and Ben’s reviews of two baseball books that were r...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the USA World Baseball Classic roster’s so-so starting pitching, the difficulty of recruiting top pitchers for the tournament, and Japan’s staff, Meg’s college baseball weekend and Juan Soto sighting, Orioles owner John Angelos’s latest comments, and MLB’s new Economic Reform Committee, plus a Stat Blast (31:56) about the grea...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the release of FanGraphs’ playoff odds and the biggest differences between the FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus playoff and World Series odds, then continue their 2023 season preview series by discussing the Seattle Mariners (18:28) with Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and the Chicago White Sox (1:03:48) with The Athletic ’s James Fegan , plu...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the temperature in Phoenix, writers taking photos of bases, and Meg taking photos of the writers, then discuss Meg’s takeaways from MLB’s presentation to media members about this season’s new rules, MLB.TV adding minor league games, the Padres signing Michael Wacha (and changing their revenue-sharing classification), and early pitcher inj...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley lament the newly codified permanence of the zombie runner, rededicate themselves to “ghost runner” reeducation, and banter about a new position-player-pitching limitation, Andrew Chafin’ s surprisingly modest contract, Derek Jeter joining Fox Sports, baseball’s leading newsbreakers vs. the leading newsbreakers in other sports, baseball officiati...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Yu Darvish’ s extension, then continue their 2023 season preview series by discussing the Los Angeles Angels (10:11) with The Athletic’ s Sam Blum and the Boston Red Sox (59:32) with The Boston Globe ’s Alex Speier , plus a Past Blast (1:47:29) from 1967, an impromptu chat between Ben and former MLB umpire Joe West about whether/why West...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Effectively Wild listener/Patreon supporter Alana Crockett banter about Alana’s baseball background, pitcher representation in the MLB and MLBPA logos, and former umpire Joe West allegedly editing his own Wikipedia page, then (26:44) answer listener emails about a “cheap team tax” in trades, a pitching coach superpower, trading for the Rays’ f...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley introduce the 11th annual Effectively Wild season preview series, then kick things off by previewing the 2023 San Francisco Giants (13:03) with The Athletic’ s Grant Brisbee and the 2023 Minnesota Twins (55:48) with The Athletic ’s Aaron Gleeman , plus a Past Blast (1:33:43) from 1965. 2023 EW Season Preview Series AL BAL CHW ATH BOS CLE HOU NYY DET LAA TBR...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about pre-Opening Day milestones and the upcoming EW season preview series, then (7:59) draft and discuss their favorite offseason transactions (and non-transactions), followed by a Past Blast from 1964 (1:16:19) and a Stat Blast addendum (1:21:18) about Pinky Higgins , Roxie Lawson , and hits-related records. Audio intro : Marshall Crenshaw, “ You&#8...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley issue a sexiness-comment correction and banter about Jazz Chisholm Jr.’ s MLB: The Show cover-model credentials, the 2023 Opening Day schedule, more ways in which baseball is and isn’t different from other sports (14:35), Chad Green ’s convoluted contract (31:35), and their appreciation of Zack Greinke . Then (43:49) Ben chats with former All-Star Sha...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about players being in the sexiest shape of their lives, Rockies owner Dick Monfort’s comments about the Padres’ spending, and how Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy might affect the future of baseball broadcasting, then (28:09) discuss more ways in which baseball stands out from other sports. After that (35:35), they answer listener emails abou...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Orioles owner John Angelos reneging on his offer to show reporters the team’s financial information, the O’s acquiring Cole Irvin , the Astros hiring the Braves’ Dana Brown as their new GM, and the Twins trading for Michael A. Taylor to be Byron Buxton ’s backup, plus more ways in which baseball is different from other sports (27:12...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Scott Rolen ’s election to the Hall of Fame, Billy Wagner , Andy Pettitte , and relievers vs. starters as Cooperstown candidates, the Adalberto Mondesi trade (and a wager about Mondesi and Shohei Ohtani ), and (32:40) more ways in which baseball stands out from other sports. Then (45:00) they talk to FanGraphs senior writer (and The Cooperstown Caseb...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the yips, more ways in which baseball is different from other sports, big leaguers playing against kids, and Rogers Centre’s new dimensions, plus a Past Blast (36:49) from 1959. Then (41:54) they talk to Sam Blum and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Pedro Moura of Fox Sports about how the Angels have neglected their Spanish-language broadcasts, the...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about 53-year-old Dae-Sung Koo 구대성 pitching in Australia, provide a final(?) update on Brandon Belt ’s beloved Toronto chicken tenders, discuss the invisible strike zone as a feature that sets baseball apart from other sports (along with listener responses to other differentiating factors), bemoan the results of a Reddit poll about what to call the extr...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about passing the halfway point of the offseason, another way in which baseball is unusual among team sports, a few minor transactions, and (11:15) recent PR missteps by the Reds and Orioles owners’ respective sons. Then (39:16) they talk to writer Dan Moore about his reporting on public stadium subsidies, the financial cost of keeping teams in a city and...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about players snacking on the field and a baseball equivalent of the EGOT before (23:01) Ben brings on Ron Shelton, the Oscar-nominated writer and director of Bull Durham and the author of The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham , to reminisce about Shelton’s minor league career, how conditions in the minors have evolved, the future big leaguers...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a “Dear Abby” baseball column, Andrew McCutchen ’s return to Pittsburgh, Nelson Cruz signing with San Diego, the Dodgers reacquiring Miguel Rojas , catcher deking and the ball-strike challenge system, and inaccurate outfield-fence distances, follow up on Toronto chicken tenders (and how a new Canadian law could affect the Blue Jays), the...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the conclusion of the Carlos Correa free agency saga, breaking down his new, actually finalized contract with the Twins, reviewing his offseason odyssey, and trying to anticipate his future. Then (28:20) they banter about Trevor Story ’s elbow surgery, the Blue Jays’ and Marlins’ signings of Brandon Belt and Johnny Cueto , respectively (and Belt...