Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about their raffle for Hurricane Harvey relief, the Justin Upton trade, walk-off hit by pitches, the brief baseball career of Olympic javelin thrower Jan Zelezny, Rich Hill and pitcher bunting, the Pirates placing Juan Nicasio on outright waivers, and infield dirt, then talk to musician and artist Will Johnson about how he started doing his popular portraits of baseball players, why baseball lends itself to art, and the Mookie Wilson work that he’s auctioning off for the Houston Food Bank. Audio intro: Slim Thug, "Welcome 2 Houston" Audio interstitial: Centro-matic, "Monument Sails" Audio outro: Centro-matic, "Calling Thermatico" Link to raffle instructions Link to Jan Zelezny pitching video Link to Carson’s article about Rich Hill’s bunts Link to Will’s Mookie Wilson auction  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the AL wild card race, whether the Dodgers are doing anything wrong by using the 10-day DL liberally, then answer listener emails about packaging Pujols with Trout, Gio Gonzalez’s league-leading (but also not league-leading) WAR, the pitfalls of Statcast for pitchers, Steven Souza and home-run imbalance by handedness, an especially silly save, how many major leaguers are being missed, baseball’s hidden superheroes, and more. Audio intro: Cate Le Bon, "Wild" Audio outro: Beach House, "Wild" Link to Rob Arthur’s Dodgers DL piece Link to Ben’s Giancarlo Stanton article  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan discuss the hot start of Phillies rookie Rhys Hoskins, the recent improvement of Byron Buxton, the position-player-pitching of White Sox minor leaguer Grant Massey, the Marlins’ Stanton-driven surge to .500 (and beyond), the Tigers-Yankees brawl, picking on umpires, and Michael Conforto’s injury as the latest symptom of the sad state of the Mets. Audio intro: Jethro Tull, "Commons Brawl" Audio outro: Levon Helm, "Kingfish"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Rich Hill’s heartbreaking no-hit bid and the new and not-improved Carter Capps, follow up on Albert Pujols and player nicknames, and answer listener emails about what constitutes a “journeyman,” Ryan Braun and the Hall of Fame, Ryan Goins’ new type of small-sample success, what would happen if teams played all of their games against each opponent in a single extended series, Harvey Haddix and the best starts ever, a pitcher’s single-minded pursuit of no-hitters, the uniqueness of Joey Gallo, Boston’s mysteriously league-leading intentional-walk total, how to talk to players, and more. Audio intro: Paul and Linda McCartney, "Monkberry Moon Delight" Audio outro: The Beatles, "Two of Us"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh, Jeff Sullivan, and a special guest conduct a nighttime, roundtable discussion (around a rectangular table) in Jeff’s living room about the Effectively Wild eclipse event and Sam Miller’s listener-inspired ESPN article about the longest play in baseball history. Audio intro: The Rolling Stones, "Sing This All Together" Audio outro: Belle and Sebastian, "The Power of Three" Link to Sam’s longest-play piece Link to Ben’s Salina Stockade article Link to Ben’s eclipse-event recap  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s broken mic and common cold, an almost-record day for home-run hitting (and a juiced-ball update), Arthur “Doc” Irwin and the Irwin Glove, Joey Votto’s Hall of Fame case, the increasing difficulty of projecting players, the AL wild card race and the odds (and potential ramifications) of a five-way tiebreaker, the Marlins sale and the future of Giancarlo Stanton, the Dodgers’ Curtis Granderson trade, and more. Audio intro: Rage Against the Machine, "Mic Check" Audio outro: The Long Blondes, "Five Ways to End It" Link to Craig Wright’s newsletter Link to Ben’s five-way-tiebreaker article  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about their upcoming eclipse event, Jered Weaver’s retirement, a Tommy Pham tweet, and two recent examples of unorthodox positioning, then follow up on player nicknames, odd fields, two-touch fielding, and Khris Davis’s arm and, finally, answer listener emails about the Indians’ record and run differential, the Giants’ disaster season, whether javelin throwers would make amazing pitchers, Chris Davis striking out on pitches down the middle, whether Albert Pujols is underpaid, a blind free-agent market, the deadline acquisitions that have paid off the most so far, and more. Audio intro: Pusha T, "Sweet (Freestyle)" Audio outro: Kanye West, "Chain Heavy"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about “Babe Ruth’s Legs,” then talk to researcher and statistician David Neft about how he rebuilt baseball’s historical record to create the Macmillan Baseball Encyclopedia, or “Big Mac,” which provided the most comprehensive and accurate account of the sport’s statistical past when it was published in 1969, and which made baseball’s sabermetric revolution possible. Audio intro: A.C. Newman, "Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns" Audio interstitial: Village People, "Big Mac" Audio outro: The Cure, "Accuracy" Link to Rob Neyer’s article about the Big Mac  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan talk to 17-year-old Jack Dumoulin, the first American winner of the Microsoft Excel World Championship, about how baseball stats helped him get good at spreadsheets, his high-school baseball career, how he won the championship, and his dream of working for an MLB team. Then Ben and Jeff answer listener emails about overlooked players near the top of the WAR leaderboard (with a focus on Tommy Pham), Joe Sewell on bat boning, player injury-prone-ness, whether sac bunts should be counted as outs, Leo Mazzone and a velocity mismatch, whether defense is underrated, and what would happen if two fielders had to touch a ball before one of them threw it to first. Audio intro: Julian Lennon, "Make it Up to You" Audio outro: Jethro Tull, "17"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the new-look, less-stuff Carter Capps, then bring on MLB on FOX reporter and MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal to discuss how and when Rosenthal relaxes and takes vacations; how baseball news leaks; how the Dodgers’ deep front office works; how he knows when a source has ulterior motives; how he evolved from a beat writer to a well-known national writer, and the differences between covering baseball nationally and locally; whether he’s learned from news-breakers in other sports; his contacts list; the origin of his bowtie-wearing; sticking to sports; Fox’s shift to video and the future of media; and more. Audio intro: The Apples in Stereo, "No Vacation" Audio outro: You Am I, "Ken (The Mother Nature’s Son)"  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Get Our Merch!  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source