Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh and Ben Clemens banter about some suspicious variability in the ball’s behavior and whether the low-drag, high-home-run-rate times of the late 2010s have returned, Carlos Mendoza’s “departure” from the Mets, the Blue Jays’ dominance of “Phase 1” of All-Star voting, the hitters and pitchers who have most overperformed and underperformed their projections through the halfway point of the regular season, forsaking single-team fandom, platoon god Paul Goldschmidt, Dalton Rushing’s clash with Shohei Ohtani, the Pope’s audience with A.J. Pierzynski, MLB’s economic proposals, and more, plus Stat Blasts about an unusual homestand and the Nationals’ latest, not-so-greatest bullpen blowup(s).

Audio intro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLFAD scoreboard

Link to bouncing ball wiki

Link to Savant drag dashboard

Link to ball carry analysis

Link to Nathan post 1

Link to Nathan post 2

Link to Nathan post 3

Link to Nathan post 4

Link to March/April scoring

Link to May scoring

Link to story about May offense

Link to June scoring

Link to MLB/Rawlings story

Link to scoring/attendance research 1

Link to scoring/attendance research 2

Link to scoring/attendance research 3

Link to scoring/attendance research 4

Link to Mets announcement tweet

Link to Mets announcement post

Link to MLBTR on Mendoza

Link to MLBTR on Green

Link to Rosenthal on Mendoza/Stearns

Link to Ben L. on team turnover

Link to FG playoff odds

Link to Phase 1 ASG voting results

Link to Sogard contest post

Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard

Link to 2025 trade value series

Link to Dan S. on batter ZiPS movers

Link to Dan S. on pitcher ZiPS movers

Link to batter preseason projections

Link to batter pace leaders

Link to batter paces vs. projections

Link to pitcher preseason projections

Link to pitcher pace leaders

Link to pitcher paces vs. projections

Link to MLBTR on Ragans

Link to Cashman on running back the roster

Link to Goldschmidt tOPS+ query

Link to Goldschmidt sOPS+ query

Link to 1B JAWS leaders

Link to Petriello on Goldschmidt

Link to Other Ben’s VEB archive

Link to Jensen HR off of Kimbrel

Link to Rushing/Ohtani video

Link to Rushing quotes

Link to Rushing postgame video

Link to Ohtani postgame video

Link to Roberts postgame video

Link to contested challenge clip

Link to dugout conferences clip

Link to mound conference clip

Link to costly missed catch

Link to Rushing bench reaction

Link to Ohtani’s Smith/Rushing splits

Link to Rosenthal on Pope/Pierzynski

Link to Papal infallibility wiki

Link to MLB proposals article

Link to MLB proposals tweet

Link to MLBPA response

Link to article on player aging

Link to aging curve research 1

Link to aging curve research 2

Link to late homestands spreadsheet

Link to BP on the Phillies comebacks

Link to Langs on the Phillies comebacks

Link to 2026 team RP WAR

Link to worst-ever team RP WAR

Link to Phillies comeback gamer

Link to last-strike-comebacks data

Link to non-Einstein quote investigation

Link to The Athletic on the Nats’ pen

Link to The Athletic on the Nats’ pen again

Link to Rockies comeback gamer

Link to Other Ben on inherited runners

Link to Stat Blast on inherited runners

Link to listener emails database

Link to SCG Con

Link to MLBTR on Minasian/Mozeliak

Link to Miz 105.5 mph story

Link to fastest tracked pitches

Link to Miz postgame comment

Link to Miz postgame clip

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the rise and fall of Ildemaro Vargas, the Mets’ and Cubs’ David Peterson swap, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s refusal to wear a cup, the Giants’ response to Pride Night fallout, and the owners’ CBA strategy. Then (56:41) Ben brings back John Brebbia to discuss the Rockies reliever’s return to the majors, how he’s handling the journeyman phase of his career, when to opt out of a contract, Colorado’s player-dev improvements, Triple-A attitudes, how the minors have changed, the greatest major league luxury, dugout pitch-calling, challenging, his entrance song, how he and other players are following the labor talks, and more.

Audio intro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio interstitial: The Spaghettis, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)”

Link to Lennon song

Link to MLFAD

Link to “Train Daddy” article

Link to “Railroad Daddy” article

Link to Brebbia’s first appearance

Link to Vargas hot streak

Link to Vargas cold streak

Link to Voros’s Law

Link to gambler’s fallacy

Link to Vargas collision

Link to Flowers for Algernon adaptations

Link to Charly

Link to TV movie

Link to Awakenings

Link to “Snakes alive” slogan

Link to Nora Morse wiki

Link to FG post on the Cubs

Link to MLBTR on Peterson

Link to Gary Cohen quote

Link to Mets’ six errors

Link to Chisholm clip

Link to Chisholm story

Link to Mariners testicle injury thread

Link to Haniger story

Link to risk compensation wiki

Link to catcher helmets interview

Link to lollipop story

Link to Davitt interview

Link to Posey clip

Link to SF Chronicle on the Giants

Link to The Athletic on the Giants

Link to KNBR interview story

Link to Devers apology story

Link to Vitello’s The Town reference

Link to Manfred letter

Link to The Athletic on MLB’s proposals

Link to MLBTR on MLB’s proposals

Link to Play Sun Smart initiative

Link to Rockies team attitude story

Link to Senzatela pitch mix

Link to Bull Durham scene

Link to Collins quote

Link to dugout pitch-calling story

Link to dugout pitch-calling story 2

Link to Ben on dugout pitch-calling

Link to Wham! song

Link to story about Brebbia’s song

Link to Zoolander scene

Link to Meyer quote

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joey Meneses and John Brebbia being back in the big leagues, Mike Trout’s hamstring strain, Dillon Dingler’s dominance, a Blue Jays All-Star voting update, the latest Home Run Derby format change, MLB’s radical amateur drafts proposal, the DOJ’s MLB investigation and the York Revolution’s Pride event, Rafael Devers vs. Tony Vitello, and the struggle-bus swan songs of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, plus (1:40:06) a postscript.

Audio intro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Garrett Krohn, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLB.com on Meneses

Link to MLBTR on Meneses

Link to MLBTR on Brebbia

Link to Ben on Meneses

Link to Brebbia on EW

Link to “Cecilia”

Link to MLB.com on Trout

Link to latest All-Star tallies

Link to AL “as 2B” leaders

Link to “primary 2B” leaders

Link to team OF rankings

Link to AL WAR leaders

Link to FG framing leaders

Link to Savant framing leaders

Link to on-pace leaders

Link to catcher batting leaders

Link to Derby report

Link to Derby format wiki

Link to The Athletic on MLB’s proposal

Link to ESPN on MLB’s proposal

Link to Cohen tweet

Link to BA on MLB’s proposal

Link to Dan S. on MLB’s proposal

Link to DOJ investigation story

Link to DOJ investigation story 2

Link to player reaction to investigation

Link to York Revolution statement

Link to York Revolution news story

Link to York Revolution wiki

Link to York Revolution news segment

Link to Teter clip

Link to story on Treinen

Link to Manfred letter

Link to York County voting results

Link to York County voting story

Link to Devers/Vitello interaction

Link to Devers/Vitello story 1

Link to Devers/Vitello story 2

Link to MLB.com on Scherzer

Link to Verlander quotes

Link to Verlander’s 25 things

Link to Upton story

Link to Verlander’s pitching splits

Link to Fleisig paper

Link to “tree of liberty” quote

Link to “rigor mortis” quote

Link to Worthington obit

Link to Episode 1505

Link to Shreiber obit

Link to Draft No. 4

Link to One Writer’s Beginnings

Link to Red McDermott at B-Ref

Link to Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the backlash to MLB’s initial statement about the Giants’ objectors to Pride Night, the league’s subsequent expanded statement, and the facts about the policies and punishments (or the lack thereof) pertaining to uniform alterations. Then (37:10) they banter about the Blue Jays’ ballot dominance in early All-Star voting, the history of teams being overrepresented on All-Star rosters, the Mariners’ piggyback pitching plan, and Curtis Washington Jr. as the ultimate phantom ballplayer, answer emails (1:19:28) about where the next two-way player might come from and whether Pete Crow-Armstrong’s defensive value is underrated, and Stat Blast (1:31:56) about where franchise scoring records tend to be set, the biggest run differentials in games with equivalent times on base, days when one team outscored many other teams combined, Boston’s lack of late comebacks, and teams whose win totals did or didn’t match their WAR totals.

Audio intro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to wisdom teeth etymology

Link to Domínguez tooth news

Link to Ohtani gamer

Link to MLB’s initial statement

Link to assorted bad tweets

Link to MLB’s second statement

Link to story about statements

Link to Hawley letter story

Link to story about backlash

Link to CBA

Link to Josh Hawley fleeing footage

Link to Noah Hawley wiki

Link to Vesia tribute story

Link to California Post story

Link to All-Star vote totals

Link to AL 2B WAR leaders

Link to Blue Jays voting story 1

Link to Blue Jays voting story 2

Link to Blue Jays WAR leaders

Link to team All-Star records

Link to 2015 Royals voting story

Link to 2015 Royals All-Stars

Link to 2026 YoY attendance

Link to 2015 YoY attendance

Link to 2023 Braves All-Stars story

Link to Mariners piggyback plan

Link to Ben on the ’93 A’s

Link to Washington call-up story 1

Link to Washington call-up story 2

Link to Washington call-up story 3

Link to Washington scouting report

Link to Washington demotion story

Link to Rob Mains on roster limits

Link to Ben on Padres Rule 5 guys

Link to phantom ballplayers wiki

Link to Ben on Ohtani’s origin story

Link to Las Vegas stats

Link to Rockies record score

Link to scoring differentials data

Link to 9/2/01 scoreboard

Link to ninth-inning scoring splits

Link to FG mailbag answer

Link to team WAR/wins data

Link to listener emails database

Link to HRD format report

Link to HRD format history

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Ben Lindbergh and The Ringer’s Van Lathan banter about Van’s love of baseball, his origin story as a fan, how he got back into the sport, MLB’s resurgence in popularity, advanced stats questions, why the percentage of Black players in MLB fell, how average sports fans perceive MLB’s labor battle, and much more (warning: language). Then (1:25:38) Ben talks to Thomas Gilbert, author of Death in the Strike Zone: The Mystery of America’s First Baseball Hero, about how Jim Creighton revolutionized pitching and reshaped the game, and how Gilbert investigated the many unknowns and misperceptions surrounding the right-hander’s life and death.

Audio intro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Van’s Ringer archive

Link to Van’s baseball outfit

Link to Van’s dad story

Link to Chico Escuela clip

Link to Ben on Dunn and Pierre

Link to B-Ref career WAR leaders

Link to wOBA glossary entry

Link to Field of Dreams scene

Link to Jeter’s dating history

Link to The Simpsons scene

Link to Death in the Strike Zone

Link to How Baseball Happened

Link to Creighton wiki

Link to Thorn on Creighton 1

Link to Thorn on Creighton 2

Link to EW on pesäpallo

Link to The Universal Baseball Association

Link to Defector on Coover’s book

Link to Ella Black series

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

Effectively Wild Subreddit

Effectively Wild Wiki

Apple Podcasts Feed

Spotify Feed

YouTube Playlist

Facebook Group

Bluesky Account

Twitter Account

Get Our Merch!

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