The Infinite Inning

The namesake of a Hall of Fame pitcher and pioneer of the game opts not to become a player but turns into a star nonetheless, while a third baseman who wasn’t a star (but was sometimes celebrated as one) tries to find a way to live with himself—and Philadelphia fans. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran,...

The Yankees stash one of the game’s founding generation in their press box and a traded player gets sweet revenge against the manager who dissed him, possibly with his buttocks. Plus, players object to nun costumes, look like babies, and are blocked by famous Pittsburgh outfielders. SUPPORT THE INFINITE INNING: Visit our Patreon page . The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of...

Two tales of players punished by time and sundry other flaws. First, Jimmy Dykes loses his legs, then Hall of Famer Al Simmons loses his career, his wife, his life, and his final bottle. Plus: A brief complaint about the present Yankees. 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...

A brief history of Popup John, original Yankee, and his run-in with Ring Lardner, while another great writer explains a crusade against injustice in terms of a pitcher’s love-life. Plus the usual sidelights and digressions, from Luis Arraez to falsely-accused exhibitionist baseball writers. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse S...

The annual arrival of Jackie Robinson Day brings tales of an early series between Rube Foster’s Giants and Ty Cobb’s Tigers, one that proved a point without changing anything, while a Hall of Fame pitcher levels a strange accusation against the National League regarding Robinson receiving preferential treatment—but even if it were true, would it have been wrong? Plus notes on the abandonment of A’...

Losing Pitcher Mulcahy loses one more game for his country, a discussion of a fictional crossdressing firefighter of 1930 and objections thereto, and two Chicago Cubs come to blows over their grandpas’ participation in the Civil War. 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 gue...

Branch Rickey confronts his mortality and misses the date, players rally in slow motion, and the Dodgers pitch a prospect’s arm off, but not before he was part of a minor-league tiff that anticipated pitch-clock violations. 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...

Infinite Inning 252: Thanksgiving in March (The Unpopular Dad) In an odd bit of timing, this week the Infinite Inning presents two stories about birds, one about a manager and an all-time great slugger who both got into the turkey business—maybe not together but sequentially—and another who tried to leverage his chickens into avoiding a pay-cut… and the whole thing is secretly about parenting. Who...

TABLE OF CONTENTS Eleven Bites*Scooter and Where to Find Grover Cleveland When He’s Dead*The Children of Greater Boston Want Twinkies*Vice-President in the Clubhouse*All Alone on the Mound*Grantland Rice and “To Any Athlete” Redux*Stephen Strasburg’s Surgery*“I’m An Outfielder Now”*Ed Morris Callback/“Poker Face” Crossover*The Lonesome Death of Deerfoot Milan*The Lonesome Photographs of Lewis Hine...

“The $100,000 Muff” as a state of being and the tale of a shortstop who tried to play only when he felt up to it. TABLE OF CONTENTS Casey Stengel’s Imitation of Fred Snodgrass in America*A Very Simple But Important Note About the Hazardous Nature of an Open Drawbridge*Ray Chapman vs. Charlie Hollocher*How Many Shortstops Have Hit .340?*The Phantom Stomachache*Playing Through Pain*Going Home and th...

An episode about having generosity for broken infielders, both the capable and relatively incapable, the healthy but unproductive and the productive but slain by inanimate objects. TABLE OF CONTENTS Meet Linus*Meet Linus’s Watercooler*A Listener Makes a Complaint*Frameworks and Platforms*The Great Nations of Europe*George Stovey’s 1.13-ERA Season*What is This Show About, and Who Gets to Decide?*Th...

In which the player called “Honey-Boy” is traded by the Cubs to great derision and a rebuild movement is compared to the art of long-term self-deception. TABLE OF CONTENTS All the Lies That Are My Life: A Story by Harlan Ellison and/or Self-Deception by a Dead-End Manager*You Don’t Belong Here*The Challenge-Trade*An Odd Swap of Catchers*My Outfield for Your Outfield*All the Lies That Are Your Rebu...

A tale for New Year’s Eve: A Giants prospect wins a job but fails to cope with harsh fate. Plus the usual asides and digressions, including Satchel Paige’s Six Rules for Staying Young, with commentary. TABLE OF CONTENTS Satchel Paige’s Six Rules for Staying Young, with Commentary*The Shinners Factor*Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotat...

A solo because-it’s-Christmas episode in which Casey Stengel stages a protest but it’s the umpire who pays the ultimate price. TABLE OF CONTENTS Intro: A Branch Rickey Christmas*The Reserve Clause, Player Choice, Happiness, and “Richard Corey”*Is Steve Cohen a Rational Actor?*Casey Stengel sulks in Pittsburgh*The Yellow Telegram*Saranac Lake*Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball...

A solo episode dashes from umpires stranded on foggy seas to a Savage pitcher who received multiple Purple Hearts—and somehow conquered his control while doing so—and reflects on what his story warns us about our own times. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Day the Umps Heard “Ahooga!”*Burt Uniform Tops and Burnt YouTubers*Old Starting Rotations and Starting Pitcher Tandems, Starring Justin Verlander et al*An...

Cliff Corcoran returns to discuss the new Hall of Fame ballot, negative associations with certain players and even uniforms, the disparate interpretations possible when reading a key “Peanuts” strip, and more. Plus tales: A pitcher with a problem pitches a no-hitter and then things get weird—and potentially fatal. TABLE OF CONTENTS A Spirited Thanksgiving*Intergalactic Union Day*It Wasn’t the Alco...

A solo episode features a controversial managerial decision that might have lost the 1935 World Series for the Cubs and a look at a moment in baseball and the rest of the nation on August 14 of that year that hints at where we are now. TABLE OF CONTENTS A World Series Inflection Point, 1935*Best Lefties in Cubs History?*Jolly Cholly Visits a Chinese Restaurant*Mr. Rogers on the Interstate*Unresolv...

David Roth returns to discuss the postseason thus far, remember bad Braves teams and worse shortstops, wonder at the complacency of the AL Central, and be psychically assaulted by “Citizens for Sanity.” Plus tales: The Reds’ revival in, and the Yankees aftermath, of the 1976 World Series, and the story of Liz Funk, an outfielder who came up with the wrong team at the wrong time. TABLE OF CONTENTS...

Author Patrick Montgomery discusses his book, THE BASEBALL MIRACLE OF THE SPLENDID 6 AND TOWNY TOWNSEND, the story of a Virginia youth coach who produced more than his share of future major leaguers. Plus tales: The quest for the postseason “Cementhead” via Charles Schulz and one of the most impatient hitters of all time—and a dirty player to boot. TABLE OF CONTENTS Peanuts Baseball and “Cementhea...

Lincoln Mitchell (San Francisco Year Zero) returns to talk the future of both San Francisco and the San Francisco Giants as well as the war against Ukraine. Plus tales: The clouded conception of a Negro Leaguer and the distorted memory of a crucial Giants-Reds game that turns out not to have been all that crucial, but is still certain to meet your expectorations. TABLE OF CONTENTS Herb Souell’s Mo...

Craig Calcaterra (Cup of Coffee, Everything is Broken) returns to adjudicate the AL MVP race, the pitch-clock, the value of managers, and more. Plus tales: The attitudes and abilities of Carl Hubbell and Babe Ruth compared and contrasted over a matter of road selection and how Hubbell always knew where he kept his plow. TABLE OF CONTENTS Carl Hubbell, the Avatar of Yes, and Choosing the Best Road...

Rob Neyer returns to discuss his contributions to Dale Scott’s memoir THE UMPIRE IS OUT and sundry other matters. Plus tales: A reserve catcher meets a grizzly end and a ballplayer is punished for going to his family’s aid. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Short, Sad Ballad of Frank Grube*“Lifestyles”*100-Walk Trios*Rocky Gonna Fly Now (Into the Stands)*Rob Neyer: A worthy subject*Keeping the Voice*Working w...

Eric Stephen (True Blue L.A.) returns to discuss the amazing, weird season of dominance being had by the Dodgers. Plus Tales: An outfielder stands in center field when God presses the “Smite” button and the origin of one of the more unusual player names is explained. TABLE OF CONTENTS Trigger Warning: Beware the Teddy Bears*Lightning Bolts Out of Clear Blue Skies*Ray Caldwell, Ray Fisher, Russ For...

Cliff Corcoran takes over the interview to interrogate Steve on BASEBALL’S BRIEF LIVES: PLAYER STORIES INSPIRED BY THE INFINITE INNING. Plus tales: Teams that played .700 ball and then faltered (that is, just the 2022 Yankees) and false hope from a prospect, starring Dodgers phenom-for-a-moment Cal Abrams—a tale that twisted in the telling as questions of performance were tangled with accusations...

Chris Cotillo (Mass Live) discusses the Red Sox’ incomprehensible season, the beatwriter as a young man, and how to work the pregame clubhouse. Plus Tales: Lessons from a Game-Ending Caught Stealing, Starring the Babe, and a Negro Leagues great goes to Mexico and wins a triple crown. TABLE OF CONTENTS Masters of the Game-Ending Caught Stealing, Starring Babe Ruth and the 2022 Yankees*The Small Sam...