Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s return from vacation and Meg and Sam’s episodes in his absence, former Angels minor leaguer Mike Fish (not to be confused with Mike Trout ), and a roundup of recent news, including Stephen Strasburg opting out, J.D. Martinez not opting out, Mookie Betts trade rumors, robot umps coming to the minor leagues, new old Hall of Fame candidates,...

Sam Miller and Meg Rowley revisit a fast-moving 1916 afternoon tilt between the Asheville Tourists and the Winston-Salem Twins with some historic significance, and engage in an Effectively Wild experiment. Audio intro : Ben Gibbard and Feist “ Train Song ” Interstitial: Muddy Waters “ Train Fare Home Blues ” Audio outro : Oscar Peterson Trio “ Things Ain&#82...

Meg Rowley and Sam Miller banter about Ben Lindbergh’s vacation-induced absence, an unusual umpire Wikipedia entry, and the acceptability of failure, before turning their attention to a few listener emails answered during the Jeff Sullivan era, including what would happen if Giancarlo Stanton only tried to hit home runs, how they would prefer to consume baseball if they could only do so thro...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Nationals’ well-earned World Series victory, the Nationals players they’re happiest for, the a strange, all-road-wins series, the brilliance of Zack Greinke , the decisions of A.J. Hinch (including a bad bunt, pulling Greinke, using Will Harris , and not using Gerrit Cole ), Max Scherzer ’s high-wire act, the futures of the Nationals...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about a wild World Series Game 6, including a controversial interference call on Trea Turner , a strange conference call with New York, the ejection of Dave Martinez, the greatness of Stephen Strasburg , George Springer , Anthony Rendon , and Juan Soto , bat-carrying briefly becoming the new bat-flipping, a Max Scherzer sighting, why this series has been strange...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about audible umpires, Lance Barksdale’s ball/strike calls in World Series Game 5, the Nationals’ offensive outage in Games 3-5, Max Scherzer’s neck spasms, Dave Martinez’s moves, why the series has been somewhat unexciting, the Nationals’ and Astros’ outlooks going into Game 6, the Astros’ retraction of their statement...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the latest on the Astros and the benefits and limitations of front-office diversity, Rob Manfred’s new comments about the baseball, Kris Bryant ’s grievance against the Cubs, umpire Rob Drake’s apology for a bad tweet, and Yu Darvish’ s good tweets, then answer listener emails about Juan Soto’ s age and clubhouse drinking, the Nati...

After an update from Ben Lindbergh on the Astros’ firing of Brandon Taubman and inadequate apology, Ben and Sam Miller follow up on a discussion of postseason chase rate, talk more about Taubman, and break down the first two games of the World Series, focusing on what went right for the Nationals, what went wrong for the Astros, why putting balls in play can be both good and bad, what lesson...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about their playoff livestreams, the Yankees’ ALCS defeat, why pitchers are allowed to demand new baseballs, and pulling a catcher from the game when a team is leading, then discuss Sports Illustrated reporter Stephanie Apstein’s report about the post-ALCS behavior of Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman, the Astros’ response to that report, the...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their upcoming live event, review ALCS Game 4, the Yankees’ precarious position, and the career and last appearance of CC Sabathia , then discuss the significance of MLB both allowing investment funds to take minority stakes in multiple clubs and proposing to downsize and reorganize the minor leagues before wrapping up by answering listener emails ab...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss the Nationals’ sweep of the Cardinals, why the Nationals are good and fun, Stephen Strasburg and the history of no. 1 draft pick pitchers, Gerrit Cole ’s performance in ALCS Game 3, how Wednesday’s rainout affects the Yankees and Astros, and the Angels’ opioid problem and hiring of Joe Maddon as manager. Then (36:22) they talk to writer...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller break down the latest ALCS and NLCS action, touching on the Cardinals’ offensive outage, Mike Shildt’s old-school managing, the Nationals’ pitching, the Astros’ purported pitch-tipping and sign-stealing, Aaron Boone’s quick hooks, and the de-juiced ball, plus a Stat Blast about this October’s anomalous bullpen usage. Audio intro...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Sam’s thoughts on Clayton Kershaw , Joe Kelly , and Dave Roberts, Tyler Glasnow’ s pitch-tipping, Gerrit Cole ’s strikeout streak, and the future of the Rays, the Astros-Yankees and Nationals-Cardinals championship series matchups, and whether it ever makes sense to predict a postseason sweep or a series lasting the maximum number of game...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the wild NLDS Game 5 between the Dodgers and the Nationals and the wild (in a different way) NLDS Game 5 between the Braves and the Cardinals, touching on Clayton Kershaw ’s blown lead and postseason career, what Dave Roberts was thinking and what’s next for him, the Nationals winning a postseason series, the Cardinals’ 10-0 first-inning...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Sam’s delayed postseason viewing schedule and five macro traits of the playoffs thus far (low batting averages with runners in scoring position, starters outperforming relievers, high pitch counts, the ball not carrying, and late-debuting postseason players), then analyze aspects of every ongoing and completed division series, including Mike Shildt&#...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss and reflect on the first two games of the Nationals-Dodgers and Braves-Cardinals NL division series and the first games of the Astros-Rays and Yankees-Twins AL division series, focusing on playoff win probabilities, the Nationals’ aggressive/desperate usage of Max Scherzer , the greatness of Stephen Strasburg , a perplexing but ultimately not costly inten...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller discuss the AL and NL wild card games (touching on Max Scherzer , Stephen Strasburg , Nick Anderson , Oliver Drake , Yandy Díaz , Avisaíl García , Josh Hader , Trent Grisham , and others), bid farewell to the Brewers and A’s, and analyze the Rays’ and Nationals’ division series prospects, then answer listener emails about the the Rays’ and Yanke...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller follow up on banter about Mike Minor ’s pop-up do-over and guaranteeing homers, revisit an earlier discussion about whether the 2019 regular season was good, and then preview the postseason, touching on every team in the playoff field, the difficulty of predicting playoff success, the most compelling matchups, the different ways to pick a playoff rooting interest...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s mental preparations for Félix Hernández ’s probable last start as a Mariner, the dubious appeal of playing spoiler, the biggest hits of the season according to Championship Win Probability Added, Rowdy Tellez delivering on a promised home run, what Meg loves about baseball, both hosts’ experiences in the Arizona Fall League, Mike Mi...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the diminishing roles (and salaries) of MLB managers, then answer listener emails about whether it’s better for teams to be balanced than unbalanced and how to decide whether to upgrade on offense or defense, how consistently good a player has to be to make the Hall of Fame without ever leading the league, and what they love most about baseball, plus...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Cody Bellinger ‘s and Keston Hiura ’s home runs, the Cardinals’ climactic four-game sweep of the Cubs, the Brewers’ surge sans Christian Yelich , the rapid reversal in the NL Central playoff picture, Craig Kimbrel , Dallas Keuchel , and the narrative about players signed at midseason, what went wrong for Chicago and how we should pe...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to two Atlantic League players with the Somerset Patriots, pitcher Rick Teasley and catcher Yovan Gonzalez , about the experimental rules being tested in the league this season as part of a partnership with MLB. They discuss how Rick and Yovan first heard about the new rules, how players have perceived the changes and the effect of the rules on team morale, the el...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the return of Luis Severino and the Yankees’ prospective playoff roster, how teams will use their pitchers in the playoffs, a Sonny Gray fun fact that sort of checks out, Yu Darvish ’s strikeout spree, and an extremely long September game, discuss the arrest of Felipe Vázquez , and answer listener emails about Mookie Betts and Mike Trout , when...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the Twins’ missed opportunity for a mid-plate-appearance pitching change, more mind-boggling home run facts about the year of the dinger, fun facts about the Diamondbacks and Jarrod Dyson , Guy Fieri endorsing Spencer Torkelson and which celebrity character references might make them draft a player higher, and how to answer the Phillies’ interv...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Kyle Lewis’ s debut, Rich Hill’ s brief return, Daniel Palka ’s second hit of the season, the Braves and Dallas Keuchel , and the Diamondbacks’ Brewers-style rebuild, then (18:13) talk to Will Leitch about what (if anything) Dave Dombrowski’s firing says about MLB teams’ competitive priorities, how the Cardinals (and Jac...