Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler discuss Lindsey’s transition from blogging to beat writing, how to talk to players and become comfortable in the clubhouse, the contrasts between the Yankees and Mets (and Aaron Boone and Mickey Callaway), writing about teams vs. writing about baseball’s big picture, the beat-writing fraternity, being a beat writer on Twitter, and more. Then (32:01) they bring on former MLB Director of Business Public Relations Jeff Heckelman to explain why MLB players struggle to become superstars, the sport’s structural disadvantages from a publicity perspective, whether MLB is doing a bad job of marketing the sport, what makes people become baseball fans, why baseball players are so straitlaced on the field and on social media, MLB’s crackdowns on video-sharing, the demise of the MLB Fan Cave, how the league could improve its marketing message, and more. Audio intro: Ringo Starr, "Give Me Back the Beat" Audio interstitial: Pete Townshend, "Popular" Audio outro: Elvis Costello, "The Beat" Link to Lindsey’s writing at The Athletic Link to Bryan Curtis’s article about baseball dying Link to Jeff’s Twitter thread  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Coors Field, Domingo German, the amazing Max Scherzer, Tyler Chatwood, Kole Calhoun‘s comeback, the writing process, Marcell Ozuna‘s catch attempt, Ichiro and the Home Run Derby, and the AL playoff picture, then bring on 31-year-old MLB-player-turned-FanGraphs-writer Nate Freiman (20:22) to talk about his recent embrace of advanced stats, coding, and blogging, his record-setting college career, his short-lived attempt at being a two-way player, how being 6-foot-8 affects hitting (and catching), getting picked in the Rule 5 draft, being a platoon player, why pinch-hitting is hard, pressure and clutchness, clubhouse chemistry, the WBC, the 2014 AL wild card game and Jon Lester’s pickoff yips, playoff shares, coordinating pickoff attempts, hitting stats vs. pitching stats, playing in indy ball and Mexico, deciding to stop playing, interacting with the media, golfing vs. hitting, and more. Audio intro: The Jayhawks, "Comeback Kids" Audio interstitial: XTC, "Ten Feet Tall" Audio outro: The Baseball Project, "Twilight of My Career" Link to Jeff’s Domingo German post Link to J.P. Hoornstra’s Kole Calhoun article Link to Marcell Ozuna play Link to Meg Rowley’s AL playoff picture article Link to Jeff Passan’s report on the Mexican League Link to Nate’s xWOBA post Link to Nate’s bullpens post Link to Ben’s Mexico City altitude post Link to Nate’s WBC post  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Steven Brault‘s national-anthem performance, Brandon Morrow‘s ignoble injury, the Kelvin Herrera trade, banana ambivalence, a suspicious baby-powder puff, Vinny Castilla‘s bat-boning, an interleague-play update, Jose Urena‘s control, the New Orleans Baby Cakes and minor-league team names, the senseless Giants-Marlins beanball war, the debut of Jonathan Loaisiga, and a sound-of-strikes study, then answer listener emails about hoax broadcasts, Jon Gray’s confusing stats, public pitcher MRIs, whether American teams license their names to Asian teams, managers whose ages are higher than their teams’ win totals, linking DHs to starting pitchers, the most games played in a single season, pitchers who don’t know which batters they’re facing, trading draft picks for Mike Trout, baseball mulligans, and the ideal baseball era, plus Stat Blasts about Rich Sauveur and the longest rookie eligibility periods and the most beneficial batter strikeouts ever. Audio intro: Sparks, "Angst in My Pants" Audio outro: Elton John, "White Lady White Powder" Link to Steven Brault’s national-anthem performance Link to Meg Rowley’s Lind article Link to Maldonado’s HBP puff Link to Jeff’s interleague-play post Link to Vinny Castilla’s bat boning  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Juan Soto‘s timeline-rearranging home run, Adrian Houser throwing up mid-game, Nick Markakis and Braves all-star voting, a Mets official’s donut metaphor, and Mike Trout’s continued excellence, then (17:35) talk to longtime MLB umpire and crew chief Dale Scott about miking up umpires, manager-umpire arguments, the Tom Hallion/Terry Collins clip and the expression “ass in the jackpot,” automated strike-calling, catcher framing, other factors that affect the strike zone, coming out as the first publicly gay MLB ump (and the possibility of a player coming out), replay reviews on slides, pace of play and time between pitches, how umps develop their punchouts, why balks are confusing, whether strikes have a sound, his history with concussions, and more, plus (1:12:59) follow-ups on the stumble play and other topics and closing banter about a bad baseball scene on Netflix and a Pablo Sandoval patience secret. Audio intro: The Delgados, "Hate is All You Need" Audio interstitial: The Posies, "I May Hate You Sometimes" Audio outro: Porcupine Tree, "Don’t Hate Me" Link to Adrian Houser throwing up Link to Mike Trout fun-fact-a-thon Link to article about Dale Scott coming out Link to Dale Scott’s punchout Link to Ben’s ALDS Game 5 oral history Link to list of players who appeared in a suspended game “before” their MLB debut Link to article about Steven Brault’s national-anthem debut Link to baseball scene from Set it Up  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on Terry Collins, trick running plays, Steven Brault‘s disappointing strikeout, the Mariners, and Justin Miller, banter about Takuya Nakashima’s 200th career sacrifice bunt, the Astros’ enviable depth, the most exciting rookies of 2018 (including Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, Walker Buehler, and Adam Cimber), and MLB’s attendance decline, and talk to Hans Van Slooten about his years building and maintaining Baseball-Reference.com as Sports Reference’s manager of baseball operations, his decision to accept a new job as a baseball systems developer with the Minnesota Twins, the pros and cons of working for an MLB team, writing words vs. writing code, the differences between public and private and big and small(er) data, how Baseball-Reference adds (or doesn’t add) information, the expanding Sports Reference empire, his favorite finds on B-Ref, Barry Bonds’s WAR, comparing current players and long-retired players, how the “opener” strategy and Shohei Ohtani affected the site, and how to have his job. Audio intro: The Police, "Too Much Information" Audio interstitial: Elf Power, "Back to the Web" Audio outro: Keith West, "On a Saturday" Link to Steven Brault strikeout GIF Link to Takuya Nakashima t-shirt photo Link to Travis Sawchik’s attendance post Link to Sports Reference site index Link to Sports Reference web developer job listing  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the end of Steven Brault‘s strikeout streak, Brandon Nimmo‘s non-HBP, Jacob deGrom‘s and Mike Trout’s latest futile heroics, the Mariners’ luck, leaked umpire audio, Hank Aaron on bottle boning, the new-and-improved Jordan Hicks, Miguel Cabrera being done for the year, post-substitution ejections, and a clever college play, then answer listener emails about Manny Margot, lineup loopholes, technical fouls, LeBron James, and Steph Curry, a league of John Jasos, strikeout-free shutouts, doubleheader hangovers and the AL East, and AL fans vs. NL fans, plus Stat Blasts about players per team, teams with the most impending retirees, and MLB fathers vs. MLB sons, two more J.R Smith analogs, and two more DH updates. Audio intro: The Drifters, "Jackpot" Audio outro: Jon Auer, "Bottom of the Bottle" Link to Jeff’s Brandon Nimmo post Link to Ben’s article about the Mariners’ luck Link to linked umpire audio Link to the Gators’ trick play Link to Ben’s Jordan Hicks article Link to research on doubleheader hangovers Link to research about player fatigue effects Link to data on players per team Link to data teams with the most swan songs Link to data on father-son WAR totals  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Masahiro Tanaka‘s double hamstring strain, Joey Gallo‘s bunt against the shift, and Nationals reliever Justin Miller‘s amazing stats this season. Then they discuss the short- and long-term effects of Shohei Ohtani’s elbow injury, critique several baseball-fixing proposals by Nick Elam, inventor of basketball’s “Elam Ending,” and wrap up with an update about the endangered Nick Markakis fun fact. Audio intro: First Aid Kit (with Jack White), "It Hurts Me Too" Audio outro: The Zombies, "Don’t Go Away" Link to Masahiro Tanaka scoring on a sac fly Link to Joey Gallo’s bunt against the shift Link to Ben’s article about moving the mound back Link to Jeff Passan article about Nick Elam’s ideas  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

After Ben Lindbergh briefly mourns the Shohei Ohtani injury news, he and Jeff Sullivan banter about the…impassioned response to Ben’s article about the DH and pitcher hitting, a few DH-related fallacies, Steven Brault’s bullpen conversation, the newly patient Pablo Sandoval, the effective wildness of Tyler Chatwood, and the effective non-wildness of Miles Mikolas, follow up on the Vroom Vroom Guy and an ugly half-inning, and answer listener emails about the Alex Reyes injury, the historic struggles of Chris Davis, Jacob DeGrom’s hard luck, the breakout of Brandon Nimmo, immaculate innings vs. three-pitch innings, a “Mike Trout meets J.R. Smith” hypothetical, a Cubs kids’ book, how to describe complete games, eight-man lineups, and constructing a roster where pitchers never hit, plus a Stat Blast about hitters who’ve reached on catcher’s interference twice in one game and a dramatic reading of anti-DH tweets. Audio intro: Loose Fur, "You Were Wrong" Audio outro: Built to Spill, "You Were Right" Link to Ben’s pitcher hitting article Link to Joe Posnanski’s DH article Link to Jeff’s Pablo Sandoval article Link to Troy Carter’s Vroom Vroom Guy chronicles Link to Troy’s Vroom Vroom video Link to list of immaculate innings Link to list of three-pitch innings Link to list of games like the one described in Good Night, Cubs Link to Travis Sawchick’s “spread of the opener” article Link to Deadspin’s article about the EW Facebook group Link to Arthur Rudolph’s data on EW episode length  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jonny Venters, Max Scherzer and immaculate innings, the futility of pitcher hitting in 2018, the NL’s encouraging interleague record, MLB buying Rawlings, the home-run rate, Ichiro throwing BP, Derek Dietrich’s dangerous juggling, and a world where Jerry Dipoto can trade draft picks. Then they bring on FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Dylan Higgins (20:46) to discuss some big storylines from the amateur draft, including Tigers top pick Casey Mize, the teams with the most at stake, the prevalence (or lack thereof) of two-way players, Yankees switch-everything draftee Anthony Seigler, Jordyn Adams, Kyler Murray, and baseball vs. football in the draft, Luke Heimlich, the role of data in the draft, social-media skeletons, the best draft names, a few favorite picks, and more. Then Ben wraps up with a few updates and news about an additional study about the baseball and home runs. Audio intro: Everclear, "Out of My Depth" Audio interstitial: Unlikely Friends, "Fifteen Rounds" Audio outro: Harry Nilsson, "The Lottery Song" Link to Ben’s pitcher hitting article Link to Beth Davies-Stofka’s Baseball Prospectus article Link to Meredith Wills’ baseball study  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the improving defense of Mike Trout and Matt Kemp, two minor observations prompted by amateur draft coverage, and a confusing quirk in the standings, then time travel back to a dramatically different era in bullpen usage by bringing in the most valuable reliever of the 1970s: Detroit Tigers great, groundbreaking “fireman,” and Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer John Hiller (19:21), who discusses his conversion from hockey to baseball, surviving multiple mid-career heart attacks, training and conditioning (or the lack thereof) among players of his era, learning new pitches, his phenomenal, record-setting 1973 season, the fireman mindset, starting vs. relieving, the evolution of reliever usage, the 1968 World Series, his memories of Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, and Jack Morris, and more. Audio intro: You Am I, "Billy" Audio interstitial: Frankie Cosmos, "Fireman" Audio outro: The Fireman, "Sing the Changes" Link to Ben’s article about Mike Trout Link to Jeff’s article about Matt Kemp Link to Joe Posnanski’s article about John Hiller Link to Ben’s article about Josh Hader Link to list of most valuable 1970s relievers Link to EW interview with left-handed catcher  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source