Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley review the latest lack of progress toward starting the MLB season, touching on the false hope offered by a meeting between Rob Manfred and Tony Clark, the subsequent breakdown in talks, a poll about where the public places blame for the standstill, what negotiations without leaks would look like, how the parties will proceed, and more. Then they discuss a series of COV...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss Rob Manfred’s rapid flip-flop from expressing 100 percent confidence about an MLB season starting to expressing a lack of confidence in an MLB season starting, his ultimatum to the union, how Manfred has floundered at a pivotal time and how that failure effects his future, how some owners’ reluctance to start the season is hurting themselves and the...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller interview AJ Shnack , the director of ESPN’s new 30 for 30 documentary about the 1998 home run race, Long Gone Summer , touching on the involvement of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa , how AJ structured the story, which slugger was the star of the race, the myth that the home run race “saved baseball,” whether he thought about interviewing Ken Griffey Jr....

MLB Draft Week 2020 Mock Draft 2.0 Beyond Round 5: The Best Later-Round Draftees, Part 1 Let’s Field an All Late-Round Team The 2020 Draft Primer Beyond Round 5: The Best Later-Round Draftees, Part 2 Statistical Diamonds in the Rough Opportunities Missed: Which Teams Have Failed to Sign the Most Talent Mock Draft 3.0: The Day Of Day 1 Mega Draft Night Chat Day 1 Draft Recap Effectively Wild: Draft...

Ben Lindbergh talks to Braves outfield prospect Trey Harris about how he’s processed the murder of George Floyd and learned from the ongoing protests, how race and racism have affected his life and career, the additional barriers black players face, how he’s tried to talk to teammates, coaches, and friends about systemic racism and recent events, why baseball has historically been quie...

Ben briefly explains this week’s podcast hiatus. Link to Joon Lee on players’ statements Link to Marc Carig on MLB’s response Link to Bradford William Davis on team and league statements Link to Randy Wilkins on MLB’s statement Link to Doug Glanville and other ex-players on race and baseball Link to Shakeia Taylor on civil rights and black baseball Link to Stephon Johnson o...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the results of a survey of sports fans about fake crowd noise on telecasts, then discuss a difficult, frustrating week for baseball, touching on ownership overreach and intransigence, widespread releases of minor league players, teams and players that have made more commendable choices, baseball’s lost opportunity to lead, the disaster scenario the s...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about MLB’s ongoing labor negotiations, the team-to-team differences in minor-league pay and front-office furloughs, and the perils of believing that baseball is purely for profit, follow up on the previous episode’s discussions of Carney Lansford ’s claim to be a descendant of Sir Francis Drake and a forward-thinking 1989 Cy Young voter, and a...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about viral particles, Mike Trout’ s self-identified best at-bat, Carney Lansford’s possible link to Sir Francis Drake, sports card “breakers,” a perplexing story involving Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner , Wilbert Robinson ’s five birthdays, why a love of playing baseball often translates to a love of anything connected to baseball, the s...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a mystifying comment on the back of track star and Oakland A’s designated runner Herb Washington ’s 1975 Topps card, the phenomenon of wildly inaccurate appraisals of player value, and the utility of pinch-running specialists. Then (21:48) they talk to ESPN broadcaster Jon “Boog” Sciambi about calling KBO games from home, learning a...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the reliability of betting on baseball using the Grays Sports Almanac from Back to the Future Part II , then answer listener emails about a baseball broadcaster reality show, awarding bonuses for success in specific batter-pitcher matchups, and whether there’s any way to make pitchers into less terrible hitters, plus Stat Blasts about how a bandbox b...

Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley banter about MLB’s proposed in-game distancing measures and what degree of difference from the norm would prevent the game from still looking like baseball, then draft and discuss their favorite highly specific ways in which to follow a baseball game, whether in person or from afar. Audio intro : Sloan, " Listen to the Radio " Audio&nb...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the announcement of a second Astros sign-stealing documentary and what they would want out of a sign-stealing docuseries, the ongoing negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA about starting the season, the public perception problems the players face, the way the media has covered the financial component of the talks, the long-term effects of 2020 on what bas...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the difficulty of interpreting the context of old articles about baseball and a man obsessed with smashing certain plate glass windows, then answer listener emails about what qualifies as hitting a ball out of the ballpark and eliminating force outs, plus Stat Blasts about the all-time defensive indifference leaders (inspired by Armando Galarraga ’s...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about an anecdote in David Halberstam’s book The Teammates about prescient Cardinals pitcher Harry Brecheen , the uproar when players were first prevented from leaving their gloves on the field, and the 20th anniversary of Glenallen Hill ’s rooftop home run, then revisit Michael Jordan’s motivations for playing baseball and discuss the etymolog...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an aggressive umpiring demotion in the KBO, FanGraphs adding KBO stats, and the pleasures of falling asleep with baseball on in the background. Then (16:30) they talk to former lefty pitcher Andy Van Hekken , who pitched professionally for 21 seasons across nine countries, about being one of the most-traveled pro players of all time, his memorable MLB debu...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about KBO season excitement and answer listener emails about MLB precedents for Warwick Saupold ’s KBO complete game, whether MLB fandom would work if teams didn’t play games in their “home” cities, the ethics of time travel in Tommy John surgery rehab and if and when it makes sense to sacrifice life expectancy for greater achievement, Jo...

Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley banter about fear of criticism, Eddie Murphy vs. Eddie Murray, and dreams, then take turns building the best imaginary Hall of Fame exhibits they can by picking five baseball items from their lifetimes for Cooperstown preservation, drafting one artifact apiece from each of five categories. Audio intro : Death Cab for Cutie, " Pictures in an Exhib...

Facing the prospect of a season without fans in the stands, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley console themselves and fight baseball withdrawal by revisiting classic accounts of going to games. The authors of three revered books based on single games—Arnold Hano, the author of A Day in the Bleachers (1955), Dan Okrent , the author of Nine Innings (1985), and Rob Neyer , the author of Power Ball (2018)—j...

Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and senior writer for The Athletic Andy McCullough banter about the people they would be (or have been) most nervous about interviewing and two new noteworthy articles, then discuss Andy’s and Rustin Dodd’s highly controversial ranking of the 30 greatest baseball songs of all time, the dispute about John Fogerty’s “Centerfield,” the best and...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Johnny Vander Meer ’s ear boils and the surprisingly ancient origins of the phrase, “A walk is as good as a hit,” then answer listener emails about why some players prove to be flashes in the pan, whether a home run derby would work under current conditions, whether the pandemic makes MLB expansion more or less likely, what one would lear...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about beverage consumption, foreign baseball leagues’ potential for popularity in the U.S., and the life and death of legendary flamethrower Steve Dalkowski, who passed away this week. Then they talk to Rob Liu of CPBLStats.com (25:48) and Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net (58:22) about two leagues that have beaten MLB back to action, Taiwan’s Chinese Professio...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss the results of MLB’s investigation into Boston Red Sox sign stealing, touching on Boston’s lighter penalties and seemingly lesser offenses compared to the Astros’, whether Boston’s front office and coaches deserved to be absolved, the moral hazard of the advance scout who doubles as a replay-room operator, and more. Then they answer list...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the Effectively Wild community’s least-disliked MLB teams and two unjust Cy Young/MVP snubs, then discuss what Michael Jordan’s brief baseball career taught us about Jordan and about baseball. Audio intro : Willie Nelson, " Why Do I Have to Choose " Audio outro : Emmylou Harris, " Jordan " Link to EW MLB Survivor g...

With MLB in limbo, Ben Lindbergh investigates virtual baseball, talking to the designers of three new baseball video games— Ramone Russell of Sony San Diego, makers of MLB The Show 20 , Markus Heinsohn of Out of the Park Developments, makers of Out of the Park Baseball 21 (37:56), and Scott Drader of Metalhead Software, makers of Super Mega Baseball 3 (1:21:50)—about the histories of their respect...