The Infinite Inning

Due to a case of Covid, we have a mini-episode this week in which the pandemic is ruminated upon and a catcher of ancient days bungles the dismount. 

A cluster of insanity among 19th century players with Louisville, starring a Gladiator and a Chicken, with resonance to the present day. Plus we visit a forgotten MVP-level season authored by Silent George Stone, pause for  a what-if moment with Whitey Herzog as Rockies manager, and so much more. Gibberish by Timbre, Metrostock99, JohnLaVine333, Vtrmrll, Djgriffin, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Cas...

For very personal but with luck very premature reasons, we ask whether the great Giants manager John McGraw ever made peace with his father and explore the confused timeline of his passing before briefly discussing a badly failed prospect from the extremely early Yankees, with stops along the way. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses the game...

Christy Mathewson pitches one of his worst best games and John McGraw gets ejected, though probably not because of his umbrella; Gene Woodling smokes a pipe while playing for the Mets; and does complete conformity make for better ballplayers, with or without their choice of peanut butter? The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses the game’s presen...

A Yankees player’s marriage goes wrong faster than he could steal bases and Judge Landis makes a category error.  The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses 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...

A return engagement for Pepper Martin in which he loses his cool in a big way and we consider an obscure reliever… With a cameo from the late M*A*S*H star McLean Stevenson? The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions,...

Young Ruth Nollard meets the wrong baseball player in 1900, and we realize that in some ways very little has changed, plus a number of famous players come to the border and some try to turn them away. Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of stalking, possible sexual assault, and murder. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman discusses the ga...

In which the hazards of playing baseball without first properly girding one’s loins is investigated through the person of Pepper Martin, with other plentiful stops along the trail. 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...

The host is sick, Dizzy Dean is overweight, and an umpire threatens to do the impossible to a rookie second baseman. 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 s...

A pitcher has a dominant game despite accusations that his balls are greasy, and then we go to the immediate postwar period to discuss the early days of the Cold War, its relationship to the current election, and what should be the fundamental goal of all governments: Keep Ted Williams on the field. Sources for this Episode include: In the Time of the Americans (David Fromkin); The United States a...

This week, a lighthearted look at a Hall of Famer who spent four games demolishing one of Casey Stengel’s early teams and then an extended discussion of a catcher and a pitcher who both had off-the-field habits that rendered them (or should have) unfit to play. Trigger Warning: There is an extended discussion of domestic violence and sexual assault, in sometimes graphic terms, in this episode. “Cr...

In which a veteran pitcher gets the last strikeout of his career in a meaningless inning and yet the moment is somehow triumphal—or tragic, depending on your point of view—and several pitchers with missing fingers make an appearance but not all of them experience equal success. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff...

A forgotten left-handed great goes to Augusta and finds three other players in search of a destiny, but none of them gets precisely what he wants, and the Red Sox bring back a managerial great to turn things around—but does he? 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 di...

A shortstop has two wives (but finds time to invent the padded glove), a .330-hitting outfielder is driven off because of his tan, and a Native American pitcher wills himself to begin again—but not until cutting up with America’s most ubiquitous bird. TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains a brief discussion of suicide. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Gol...

This week a discussion of sadism as a way to pass the time with two tales from the early 20th century, one involving a violent Red Sox second baseman and the other an obnoxious Yankees shortstop named after the wrong condiment, plus more rioting fans, players who studied dentistry for no reason, a manager who got ejected for wearing a mask (not Bobby Valentine) and a personal encounter with Morgo...

Kate Claxton’s Six Rules for Staying Young versus Satchel Paige’s, plus the changing nature of public danger; more on fighting in baseball, with some 1924 ejections; more on Ed Kontechy, the “Bohemian Chocolate-Dropper,” and what that means (plus “enrober-strokers?”); umpires versus photographers in Cincinnati; have you ever tried Kipling, the biggest tomato, so much more! The Infinite Inning is n...

Infinite Inning 268: A Broom of Twigs as Are We All Casey Stengel, Winston Churchill, the 1962 Mets, Lavengro , what a besom is, Theodore Roosevelt, the Reverend Dr. Russell M. Brougher, the efficacy of prayer, Ed Konetchy, infidelity and early marriages, early chocolate beverages, Hernan Cortes, polyamory in the early 20th century Phillies ownership suite, managed by a dentist, dear old dad, Bobo...

A World War II hero battles his way back to the mound and is given both rough and tender treatment by Ted Williams, a discussion of the Black Sox and the 14th Amendment, and the wildest pitching day in history fails to end a career. 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 gues...

The last episode of 2023! A pitcher undergoes a questionable treatment on his arm and loses a unique oral talent, a utility infielder gets drunk, violent, and convicted, and a clarification about Jackie Robinson’s political mission to San Francisco. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, an...

Famous last words, including Casey Stengel’s, a shortstop who liked semi-pro leagues better than the majors (and desperately needed a dermatologist), and an argument about moral relativism which ends in a pyramid of skulls. 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 discus...

No Peckinpaughs were hurt in the recording of this episode, but we do visit the 1925 World Series, where Babe Ruth makes a dad joke that tempts fate, check in on a pitcher who may or may not have been a war correspondent, consider the greatest double-play combinations of all time, and question when getting to be a major league manager is less of an opportunity than it first appears, starring the A...

In which a rookie’s arrogance (mildly) tests Earl Weaver and a pitcher nicknamed “Bucher Boy” prompts a mass ejection event. 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....

We begin with a player whose bid for a major league roster spot was deflected by fish-on-human violence and whose sense of humor was deflected by something more tragic, then we turn to Jose Urias’s second arrest for domestic violence and take a tour through player misbehavior both inside and outside the institution of marriage. Transition music by ERH and Klankbeeld. The Infinite Inning is not onl...

Could there have been a Tigers first baseman more ill-fated than Spencer Torkelson? Yes, by far, especially when his manager thought he couldn’t play and his own trainer tried to bake him. Plus, an early player gets in touch with his inner divinity and faces fatal consequences—but always dresses the part. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating...

A wide-ranging episode in which we cover the greatest pitching staffs of all time, Ted Lyons, Al Lopez, Tony Cuccinello, an underachieving White Sox team, and a first baseman named Supply. 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 fut...