Infinite Inning 179: The Giants and Their Crabs

Lincoln Mitchell returns to discuss his new book “The Giants and Their City: Major League Baseball in San Francisco, 1976-1992,” a tome redolent with cold Candlestick nights and hot Crazy Crab days. Plus tales: Casey Stengel uses some overly esoteric signs, rookies have short-lived breakouts, and more. TABLE OF CONTENTS Blinking Lights and Spitting Signs*Harl! The Musical*Lincoln Mitchell: Why the Giants So Bad Between Willie Mays and Barry Bonds?*How a Farm System Dies*Will Clark and Robbie Thompson Arrive*Vida Blue vs. Cruel Fate*Can the Bay Area Support Two Teams?*Why Did Four Ballpark Ballot Initiatives Fail?*And Then the Earthquake*Fay Vincent Tries to Make Things Worse*Al Rosen and Kevin Mitchell*What If: The Tampa Bay Giants?*The Counterintuitive Crazy Crab*Summer at Candlestick Park Was Winter Everywhere Else*What if the Giants Had Moved?*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?