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 Meg Rowley banter about a Chris Sale vs. Jacob Misiorowski matchup and how often anticipated pitching duels live up to the hype, a controversial fair/foul call and ball-tracking tech in baseball compared to other sports, and what stadium decibel levels say about whom baseball belongs to, then (57:26) answer listener emails about the AL MVP race, Brayan Bello’s bullpen turnaround, the highest-scoring game in which each run was driven in by a different batter, the potential downside of a closer entrance spectacle, the oldest player who could go yard in a home run derby, the value of freezing time on the field, a game between players dressed as their teams’ mascots, and what makes players fun.

Audio intro: PJ Harding, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Sale vs. Miz article

Link to Miz zone rate by month

Link to Miz velo by month

Link to Miz/Sánchez close call

Link to Miz/Skenes close call

Link to pitching leaders since 4/12

Link to Sale jersey article

Link to Ben on Sale in 2018

Link to LaRoche retrospective

Link to Alonso call article

Link to Yankees booth’s reaction

Link to Petriello tweet

Link to Tango tweet 1

Link to Tango tweet 2

Link to baseball exceptionalism wiki

Link to Kepner on baseball usage

Link to NFL measurement tech

Link to goal-line tech wiki

Link to hockey tech article

Link to FoxTrax wiki

Link to NBA tech article 1

Link to NBA tech article 2

Link to soccer connected ball info

Link to Miller/Grogu video

Link to hippo talk episode

Link to latest loudness article

Link to loudness article 2

Link to loudness article 3

Link to loudness article 4

Link to loudness article 5

Link to loudness prompt

Link to “Nothing Night” origin

Link to FG WAR leaderboard

Link to Bello SP/RP split

Link to biggest SP/RP splits

Link to 1-RBI-guys games

Link to urinalysis info

Link to Mariners derby article

Link to Ichiro derby video

Link to Clair on Appling

Link to Ben on Ichiro homers

Link to list of MLB mascots

Link to McCutchen “furries” lore

Link to listener emails database

Link to MLBTR on Anderson

Link to leaguewide games per year

Link to Small Axe Studios news

Link to Batman/Superman comic

Link to comic heroes roster

Link to Benge article 1

Link to Benge article 2

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Brewers’ record-tying shutout/blowout of the Mariners (warning: profanity), Bryce Rainer and the continued absence of a post-Ohtani two-way wave, the latest manifestation of Paul Skenes’s protracted struggles, the tater turnaround of Fernando Tatis Jr., the reason(s) for the diminishing viewership of “MLB at Field of Dreams,” and which baseball figure (or feature) could extend the Vin Scully/Connie Mack fun fact.

Audio intro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Mariners vs. Brewers box score

Link to biggest blowouts

Link to Julio mistake

Link to Mount Rainier wiki

Link to Laurila on Rainer

Link to article on Rainer’s signing

Link to The Board at FG

Link to Sam on Ohtani’s two-way balance

Link to best past two-way prospects

Link to Olerud pitching retrospective

Link to article on Jobe vs. Skenes game

Link to Tigers vs. Pirates game data

Link to Tigers vs. Pirates box score

Link to Stumpf on Skenes

Link to Sawchik on Skenes

Link to Oler on Skenes

Link to Verducci on Skenes 1

Link to Verducci on Skenes 2

Link to Skenes photos

Link to Skenes gamelog

Link to Ashcraft gamelog

Link to P/IP leaders

Link to Tatis before

Link to Tatis after

Link to BP on Tatis

Link to MLB at Field of Dreams wiki

Link to article on Hall of Famers

Link to article on audience size

Link to EW Field of Dreams episode

Link to MLB Speedway Classic wiki

Link to Sam’s Scully/Mack piece

Link to Ben’s comment

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the deepening monetary morass surrounding Mark Walter and whether it will eventually ensnare the Dodgers, the struggles of Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker, L.A.’s incentive to try for a bye, the Dodgers’ and Mets’ offseason oopsies, Pete Crow-Armstrong’s heroics, the hot hitting of Denae Benites and the WPBL’s offensive environment, Joshua Báez and MLB’s debutant ball, Colt Emerson’s hidden hurt, the AL’s wild card mid-off, a four-team whirlwind for Jake Rogers, the longest team trade droughts, and more.

Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Walter Mitty wiki

Link to Ben on Walter

Link to Bloomberg on Walter

Link to WSJ on Walter

Link to Baker on Walter

Link to Reuters on Walter

Link to The Athletic on Walter

Link to Chelsea shares story

Link to Ohtani clause story

Link to Walter tweet

Link to more on Walter

Link to Tucker/PCA tweet

Link to one-day WAR

Link to Opta/PCA fun fact

Link to 1957 Power game

Link to FG WAR leaderboard

Link to Tucker miss 1

Link to Tucker miss 2

Link to Tucker home offense

Link to Tucker road offense

Link to Karros comment

Link to BP on Tucker

Link to Tucker in the dugout

Link to Tucker and Ohtani

Link to Tucker summary

Link to Díaz IL story

Link to Dodgers bye incentive

Link to Sheehan on Stearns

Link to Sam on Stearns

Link to Ben on the Mets

Link to WPBL leaderboard

Link to WPBL RA9

Link to MLB RA9

Link to BP on WPBL offense

Link to Benites wiki

Link to BP on Benites

Link to Benites MLB comps

Link to Cade Skywalker

Link to Simmons Mariners tweets

Link to Emerson story 1

Link to Emerson story 2

Link to Nightengale on Wilson

Link to Murphy’s hidden injury

Link to Watchmen quote

Link to Watchmen meme template

Link to Ben on debutant batters

Link to debutants spreadsheet

Link to MLB Báez video

Link to ESPN Báez video

Link to Callahan triple video

Link to Callahan triple story

Link to Cobb/Irwin article

Link to Paine on post-deadline confusion

Link to FG playoff odds

Link to post-deadline odds changes

Link to wild card standings

Link to Crizer on the AL standings

Link to Rogers fun fact

Link to Rogers feature

Link to Rogers wedding story

Link to trade droughts article

Link to Atlanta-Philly trades

Link to Cleveland-KC trades

Link to Dodgers-Tigers trades

Link to Red Sox-Yankees trades

Link to fourth out wiki

Link to Jaffe on John

Link to Episode 1580 Stat Blast

Link to Cubs-Cardinals game

Link to Cubs-Nationals game

Link to Hembekides clip

Link to Hembekides graph

Link to Wilson overturn

Link to Yan tweet 1

Link to Yan tweet 2

Link to Burgos gamelogs

Link to Burgos post

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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 banter about the latest apparent change in the baseball’s behavior (this time it seems to be deader) and, in a tribute to Tommy John (11:35), retrace the timeline of his trailblazing surgery and his return to a major league mound 50 years ago through contemporaneous accounts and quotes. Then (55:58) they bring on top-tier Patreon supporter Jamie Verbrugge to discuss his podcast and baseball backgrounds before answering listener emails (1:05:02) about the upper bounds of a cup of coffee, a really entertaining but trophy-less season vs. a really boring championship season, an undercover baseball robot, whether Jefry Yan would celebrate a strikeout on an overturned ball call, whether fans are suggestible enough to be fooled by fake home run distances, an ultimate frisbee-style integrity rule for baseball, the value of Ron Washington, and the advisability of bringing the infield in, followed by Stat Blasts (2:01:49) about Pete Crow-Armstrong leading his league in offense and defense, every team in a divison having the same recent record, team games with high matching run, hit, and walk totals, pitchers who got a win, a loss, and a save in a single three-game series, team games with streaks of the same start to each offensive inning, bullpens where one pitcher out-WARed all the others combined, and strikeout-free shutouts.

Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio interstitial: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Sheehan on the ball

Link to Savant drag dashboard

Link to earlier ball analysis 1

Link to earlier ball analysis 2

Link to John’s statement

Link to MLB.com on John’s statement

Link to Reuters on John’s illness

Link to Tommy John wiki

Link to Frank Jobe wiki

Link to Jaffe on John

Link to career IP leaders

Link to Grant on Posey/Avila

Link to NanoNeedle article

Link to Maness repair article

Link to TJ timeline links

Link to TJS database

Link to Strom surgery article

Link to Bordley surgery article 1

Link to Bordley surgery article 2

Link to Ben’s baseball/America course

Link to Ben C. on Skubal and Detroit

Link to Dickson on “cup of coffee”

Link to Asimov’s Robot series

Link to Super Baseball 2020

Link to Baseball Highlights 2045

Link to Data smell Reddit thread

Link to Skenes photos

Link to Yan game video

Link to Yan box score

Link to Yan Savant search

Link to ultimate’s integrity rule

Link to Arraez/Washington article

Link to article on Wash in 2027

Link to SIS infield-in study

Link to Ben on shifting vs. RHB

Link to Stirnweiss SABR bio

Link to PCA/Snuffy Blast spreadsheet

Link to AL Central streaks image

Link to 13-13-13 Stathead query

Link to win/loss/save spreadsheet

Link to leadoff streaks info

Link to 2026 Guardians relievers

Link to bullpen WAR gaps spreadsheet

Link to Tigers-Guardians gamer

Link to zero-K, zero-run games

Link to listener emails database

Link to MLB All-Century Team

Link to BNS Jays play podcast

Sponsor Us on Patreon

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB franchise appreciation, Stat Blast about what the resurgence of three-inning saves and the expanding distribution of saves say about pitcher usage, and learn about a new baseball injury. Then (43:28) they bring on Lindsay Imber of Close Call Sports and the official scorer behind the MLB Scoring Changes account to explain the “fourth-out” rule that confused fans and players this week and to pick nits with the MLB rulebook. Finally (1:30:50), Ben brings back former major leaguer John Poff to read from his new book, reflect on his use of “greenies” and players’ political differences, and share a new fundraising initiative for the Standing Rock Reservation, followed (2:13:45) by a few updates.

Audio intro: The Spaghettis, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio interstitial: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”

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

Link to Yankees “capital infusion”

Link to story about Yankees valuation

Link to story about Lakers sale

Link to impending Padres sale

Link to FIFA takeover attempt

Link to Infantino wiki

Link to Littleton save

Link to save rule

Link to pope hat giveaway

Link to Latz stats

Link to Atlanta’s three-out savers

Link to data on three-out saves

Link to data on save-getters by season

Link to multi-inning RP outings data

Link to Herfindahl–Hirschman index wiki

Link to annual HHI data

Link to HHI graph

Link to Inverse Participation Ratio

Link to THT on three-inning saves

Link to SB Nation on three-inning saves

Link to Medium post on three-inning saves

Link to WSJ closers story

Link to Ben on saves slipping in 2017

Link to Betteridge’s law wiki

Link to parakeet bounceback news

Link to Goodhart’s law wiki

Link to league SP splits

Link to league RP splits

Link to FG post on Goodhart’s law

Link to other FG post on Goodhart’s law

Link to Arrigheti report

Link to more on Arrigheti

Link to Morton’s neuroma wiki

Link to Morton’s neuroma causes

Link to Mayo Clinic on Morton’s neuroma

Link to more on Morton’s neuroma

Link to even more on Morton’s neuroma

Link to Ben on the 2015 ALDS game

Link to Ben on confused counts

Link to @ScoringChanges

Link to @ScoringChanges fourth-out tweet

Link to @CloseCallSports

Link to Close Call Sports website

Link to Close Call Sports YouTube channel

Link to Lindsay wiki

Link to Lindsay’s fourth-out video

Link to Lindsay’s Sale video

Link to Lindsay’s Wheeler video

Link to fourth out wiki

Link to fourth-out story 1

Link to fourth-out story 2

Link to SABR on fourth outs

Link to The Athletic fourth-out explainer

Link to Bois on balks

Link to Sam on balks

Link to xkcd comic

Link to Schneider quote

Link to 2016 Schneider game

Link to Strike Four

Link to Poff Stat Blast

Link to first Poff appearance

Link to second Poff appearance

Link to Halls of Fame discussion

Link to Poff’s first Hall of Fame

Link to Poff’s second Hall of Fame

Link to Poff’s book

Link to Carlin routine

Link to baseball exceptionalism wiki

Link to greenies info

Link to Ben on PEDs and the ball

Link to “Buffalo Bill ‘s” poem

Link to Standing Rock wiki

Link to Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy art

Link to John’s fundraiser

Link to Scherzer’s piano-playing

Link to Kendrick cameo story

Link to Skenes velo graph

Link to Skenes game story

Link to Liquid I.V. powder

Link to Rocker pickle-juice game

Link to Stanton yoga report

Link to Foulke wife tweet

Link to Foulke firing report

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

Effectively Wild Subreddit

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Apple Podcasts Feed

Spotify Feed

YouTube Playlist

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Get Our Merch!

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