Infinite Inning 148: The Deficiencies of the Closer Mentality in Everyday Living

Jesse Spector returns to discuss the non-return of baseball, an old baseball arcade game, and his decision to join the revived Deadspin. Plus: Tales of an early Cuban star who might have been a very young revolutionary and the poison dispensed by the most evil Red Sox player/manager/executive of all time. TABLE OF CONTENTS The Brief, Laudatory Career of Armando Marsans*Earl Wilson’s Cryptic Reply*Jesse Spector: Back in the Saddle Again*The “Baseball Owes Us” Crowd (Vs. Jayson Stark)*MLB’s Mysterious Covid-19 Plans*The Closer Mentality in Everyday Life*Stark vs. Gammons*“You Need” vs. “I Want”*Old Nintento Sports Games and “World Series: The Season”*Old-Time Coin-Up Baseball Games*Bigotry at the Bowling Alley/The Curse of a Strong Memory*The Revived Deadspin*When It Ends, It Ends: That’s a Freeing Thing*Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?