The Infinite Inning

Ian Coss of "Forever is a Long Time" talks marriage, divorce, and facing your doubts by looking at the past. Plus tales: Managers are hired/quickly fired and a catcher's career ends too soon. TABLE OF CONTENTS Buck Showalter, Billy Herman, and the Fallacy of Managers*The DeLancey Story*Ian Coss: A Thoughtful Show*Ignorance is a Kind of Shield*It Could Happen to You*Change is the Enemy but Change i...

Craig Calcaterra returns to baseball’s lockout, teenage drunkenness, and division of labor in marriage. Plus tales: Ralph Houk’s prophecy/Jim Bouton’s waltz and Babe Ruth sacrifices his socks for the greater good. TABLE OF CONTENTS Fate, Ralph Houk, and Bobby Murcer*Babe Ruth in the Snow*Craig Calcaterra: Dessert Wine*Raymond Chandler’s Evenings*1990 Gut*Cash-Laden Ships that Have Sailed*The Stran...

A solo episode with an owner-player conflict that anticipates the tenor of the current lockout (with some amazing stats) and the question of which Harry Frazee show really killed the Red Sox is taken on (A: None, or maybe all of them)! Plus excuses for being tardy. TABLE OF CONTENTS The New Babe Ruth Holds Out*Please Excuse My Son’s Absence From Class*The Old Babe Ruth is Sold, But Not for the Rea...

Cliff Corcoran talks hot stove baseball and ice cream in plastic batting helmets. Plus tales: The thief who just had to go to the Dodgers-Giants game and current Hall of Fame candidate/long-neglected pitcher Cannonball Dick Redding and his times. TABLE OF CONTENTS Killer at the Polo Grounds*Cannonball Dick Redding’s America*Cliff Corcoran: The Browns’ Brownie’s Brownie Sundae*Carvel and the Ground...

Lincoln Michel talks his science-fiction/noir/baseball novel THE BODY SCOUT. Plus tales: An umpire does something unforgivable to a great pitcher and the players vs. teams in the Hall of Fame. TABLE OF CONTENTS Dolf Luque, Bill Klem, and the Very Bad Word*Buster Posey and the Hall of Fame*Lincoln Michael: An Idea on Every Page*Context and Electric Forks*It Would Happen to the Mets*Philosophical Ne...

Gabrielle Starr (Fansided) discusses the Red Sox fall out of the playoffs, the hazards of being a female in sports online, and rails against analytics. Plus tales: Charlie Morton isn’t the first pitcher throw with a broken leg and the tomahawk chop is once again placed in its sad and objectionable context. TABLE OF CONTENTS Bobo Newsom and Charlie Morton*The Tomahawk Chop Revisited*Gabrielle Starr...

Hall of Fame senior curator Tom Shieber, co-author of Picturing America’s Pastime, talks about great images of the game as art and as documentary. Plus tales: Bobby Grich feels provoked and responds in kind, the Phillies achieve “a truly elite system” with mixed results. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Bobby Grich Method of Anger Management*When the Phillies Actually Rebuilt*Tom Shieber: You’ll Believe John...

Dan Taylor discusses Lights, Camera, Fastball, his new history of the Hollywood Stars baseball team. Plus tales of great Giants catchers of the distant past and George Steinbrenner fires a third-base coach because of a controversial playoff send. TABLE OF CONTENTS Buck Ewing Would Like a Word With You*George Steinbrenner’s Postseason Tantrum ‘80* Dan Taylor: The Hollywood Stars and the Studio Star...

Mike Ferrin, Kevin Goldstein, and Steven Goldman, once the hosts of Baseball Prospectus Radio on SiriusXM, reunite to discuss that Chicago vibe, awkward interviews, and debate just how the San Francisco Giants are doing it. Plus tales: A fringe player gets on the wrong train and the longest winning streak of all time amounts to nothing. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Fats Dantonio Story*The Big Streak*Mike...

Cliff Corcoran, David Roth, Jesse Spector with a rare collective sighting as the starting rotation reflects on four years of episodes, 20-plus years of writing about baseball, managers who aged before our eyes, Javier Baez, and so much more. Plus tales of a manager making that one fatal mistake and Tris Speaker gets a heart. TABLE OF CONTENTS Babe Ruth Doesn’t Quite End Two Careers with One Hit*Tr...

A new hour-long mini-episode features yet another John McGraw insult, a discussion of vaccine mandates, Holocaust analogies, and the logical fallacy of hasty generalization both in and out of baseball (Babe Ruth has two legs and plays baseball and Isan Diaz has two legs and plays baseball, so they must be exactly the same), and a tale of catching great Ernie Lombardi mouthing off to his boss with...

A medically-necessary solo episode has a lesson about keeping your eye on the ball rather than your fingers on the banjo, some Zen advice from Casey Stengel, and the tale of a busted prospect who could have used some Zen of his own. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Pirates Try to Sing Their Way to a Pennant*Just Tra-La-La (Yankees and Mets versions)*Sympathy for Roy Parmelee*Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is...

David Roth returns to discuss the Mets’ fall from the pennant race, the Baltimore Orioles’ complete absence therefrom, and the 1982 Yankees vs. the Afghanistan withdrawal. Plus tales: A pitcher who did everything right and yet everything went wrong and the Orioles compared to the Mary Celeste. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Book of Koob*Rebuilding vs. Tanking vs. Not Giving a Damn*David Roth: Maine is Anot...

Craig Goldstein (Baseball Prospectus) returns to talk Dodgers, diving for balls, and salary caps. Plus tales: A short shortstop fails to measure up and Roy Campanella asks the wrong team for a job. TABLE OF CONTENTS Tommy Macmillan and the Non-Magical Manger*Campy’s Plea to the Phillies*Craig Goldstein: Baseball is Everything it Touches*The Trea Turner: Time-Traveler?*Cool Papa Calls In/Joe DiMagg...

Cliff Corcoran returns to talk trading deadline and Olympic-mandated underwear worn as outwear. Plus tales: A player loses half of what he’s got below the waist and another loses everything, period, on two hellish plane-flights. TABLE OF CONTENTS Schang!*Cool Papa Bell and Roy Parnell*Proper Comportment for Airline Passengers, 1935 and 2021*Cliff Corcoran: The Busiest Trading Deadline in History*T...

Jesse Spector returns to talk everything from Olympic softball to Australian-rules football with a great deal of trade deadline chatter in-between. Plus tales of a player whose bat-control skills got him punched in the face and some Negro Leaguers recall one time they struck back. TABLE OF CONTENTS Twenty-Seven Foul Balls Equals One Punch*Revenge on Bobo*Jesse Spector: Olympic Ennui*Softball, Carl...

Warrior for the Underdog Sheryl Ring returns to discuss Trevor Bauer, the limits of consent, and why it’s so difficult to escape an abusive situation. Plus tales of a Yankees-Braves trade that nearly happened but didn’t and we look at the lessons of a shooting outside the Nationals game. TABLE OF CONTENTS Roberto Kelly for Jeff Blauser*Shooting at the Nats Game*Sheryl Ring: Eviction Moratorium*Col...

Craig Calcaterra returns to talk All-Star Game Ennui, Enjoyable MLB 2021 surprises and disappointments, Richard Donner’s “Superman,” and much more. Plus tales of bad knees and collapsing teams in both baseball and the larger world. TABLE OF CONTENTS Mourning Ronald Acuna’s Knee and Other Things as Well*The Orioles, the Astros, and the Danger of Deferred Maintenance*Craig Calcaterra: “Swell” and “S...

David Roth returns to discuss the upcoming trading deadline, climate change, and Mets injury-setbacks that aren’t setbacks. Plus the Yankees’ disappointing season provokes a remembrance of George Steinbrenner’s cruelty and generosity and (TRIGGER WARNING) Trevor Bauer is discussed in the context of a great old baseball horror story. TABLE OF CONTENTS Some of George Steinbrenner’s Greatest Hits*Geo...

Cliff Corcoran returns to talk sticky stuff and celebrate the Negro Leagues, plus tales of players having catastrophic organ failure on the field and reacting to some of the game’s longest losing streaks. TABLE OF CONTENTS When Your Organs Fail Mid-Pitch and Other Digressions*Nazi Losing Streaks Never End (with the Arizona Diamondbacks)*Cliff Corcoran: No team in a sombrero*A “Bring It On” Referen...

Jesse Spector returns to talk grip-enhanced cheating and “snack cakes,” plus tales of Satchel Paige under attack by a man imitating a pig and John McGraw hit below the belt. TABLE OF CONTENTS Piersall, Paige, and the Walk-Off Grand Slam*The Church of B’Grobus*McGraw, Crossfire, and an Accusation*Jesse Spector: Hostess vs. Drakes*Gerrit Cole, Spider-Grip, Et Al*Jacob deGrom in the Age of the Inquis...

Mike Bates and Bill Parker (This Week in Baseball History) talk about the baseball stories you keep and a Twins team you might want to return to the store: Plus tales of unscarred players and damaged veterans meeting on a train, dairy-splashed homers, Lou Gehrig at Coney Island, and games called for wardrobe failures. TABLE OF CONTENTS Braves Ashamed on the Train*Dairy Homer*Lou Gehrig Day Thought...

Eric Stephen returns to talk about the Dodgers’ up and down season and what it’s like to cover the team from inside a Zoom window. Plus tales: The most and least hits in a game put into perspective and the relationship between an intense third baseman and a crooner remembered. TABLE OF CONTENTS When You’re Cold, You’re Cold*The Ballad of Hoak and Corey*Eric Stephen: The Risk of Hot Takes*Post-COVI...

Craig Calcaterra returns to talk ballpark villages, elevator test shafts, and Robert Culp: Guest-Star. Plus tales of relationships that went wrong or never happened with the sharp-tongued outfielder Bibb Falk and Reds relievers in the Summer of Love. TABLE OF CONTENTS Bibb Falk Alone*McCool, Davidson, and a Gun*Craig Calcaterra: The Greatest American Hero, Bob Culp, and “Columbo”*The Low Maturity...

Frank Guridy discusses THE SPORTS REVOLUTION: HOW TEXAS CHANGED THE CULTURE OF AMERICAN ATHLETICS. The arrival of the Texas Rangers, the rise of the Astrodome, the origins of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and much more! Plus tales: An outfielder participates in a rundown but doesn’t run into a tree, and a true bigot is inspired to great heights of rhetoric by a stolen base. TABLE OF CONTENTS Don...